No Longer a Joke
Audiologists have long suffered a few standard jokes from patients, first and foremost the old “What” response to queries about hearing difficulty. Running a close second, sadly, is the one where patients ask for a device that will boost sound but turn off their spouses.
Clinicians largely smile and ignore such standup routines, aiming to extinguish the behavior while emphasizing the importance of spousal communication. But, while we’re counseling patients not to turn off their spouses, along comes Acer’s patent #11158301, which promises to do just that. It seems that the joke is on us:
In daily life, one may regard some people’s talking in the vicinity as an interference. At times, one may wish to give his/her ears a break but at the same time does not want to miss other important voice message. Therefore, a specific object voice cancellation mechanism is provided to help the user achieve peace of mind.
The October 2021 Patent List
Description |
Patent Number |
Assignee |
Issued |
Apparatuses and methods for setting cochlear implant system stimulation parameters based on electrode impedance measurements |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Implant magnet system |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Hearing accommodation |
Sorenson IP Holdings LLC (Salt Lake City, UT) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Open-ear headphone |
Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Hearing device or system for evaluating and selecting an external audio source |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Sound signal modelling based on recorded object sound |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Ear-worn electronic device incorporating an integrated battery/antenna module |
Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Wax management system |
Eargo Inc (Mountain View, CA) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Acoustic feedback path modeling for hearing assistance device |
Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Wireless earbud |
LG Electronics Inc (Seoul, KR) |
10/05/2021 |
|
Programmable hearing assistive device |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Human auditory system modeling with masking energy adaptation |
Digimarc Corporation (Beaverton, OR) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Hearing device |
Boco Inc (Tokyo, JP) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Ear cap and earphone |
Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd (Dongguan, CN) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Method of operating a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Listening device with automatic mode change capabilities |
III Holdings 4, LLC (Wilmington, DE) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Hearing device and method for tuning hearing device par |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Wireless earbud |
LG Electronics Inc (Seoul, KR) |
10/12/2021 |
|
Ear visualization system |
3NT Medical Ltd (Rosh Ha’Avin, IL) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Agent for preventing or ameliorating hearing impairment |
Tohoku University (Miyagi, JP); Kake Educational Institution (Okayama, JP) |
10/19/2021 |
|
External speech processor unit for an auditory prosthesis |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Adaptive, integrated, and interactive education and communication system for people with hearing loss and hearing healthcare providers and related methods |
Applicant: Healthcare Technologies and Methods LLC (Fredericksburg, VA) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Ambient sound enhancement based on hearing profile and acoustic noise cancellation |
Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Micro-speaker audio power reproduction system and method with reduced energy use and thermal protection using micro-speaker electro-acoustic response and human hearing thresholds |
Cirrus Logic Inc (Austin, TX) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Method for operating a hearing system and hearing system |
Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) |
10/19/2021 |
|
User adjustable weighting of sound classes of a hearing aid |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Hearing aid and method for use of same |
Texas Institute of Science Inc (Richardson, TX) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Hearing devices and related methods |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Ear canal modeling using pattern projection |
Virtual 3-D Technologies Corp (Charlton, MA) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Anatomically customized ear canal hearing apparatus |
Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Systems for authorizing performance of an operation by a hearing device |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Method of operating a hearing aid fitting system and a hearing aid fitting system |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
10/19/2021 |
|
Magnet management MRI compatibility |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Systems and methods for gradually adjusting a control parameter associated with a cochlear implant system |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) bionics |
10/26/2021 |
|
Method for eliminating specific object voice and ear-wearing audio device using same |
Acer Incorporated (New Taipei, TW) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Ear-worn devices with high-dielectric structural elements |
Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Hearing assistance device using unencoded advertisement for eavesdropping on Bluetooth master device |
Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Method for charging a battery of a hearing aid and a hearing aid with a battery charging unit |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Module of a hearing device, a removal tool, a hearing device and a method of separating a module from a housing |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
10/26/2021 |
|
Bimodal hearing stimulation system |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) bionics |
10/26/2021 |
|
Bone conduction device having a multilayer piezoelectric element |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) |
10/26/2021 |
Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD, owned and operated a dispensing audiology practice in Tucson and was active in management of HearingHealthMatters.org through 2017. She holds BA degrees in Communication Sciences, Psychology and Economics; MA in Communication Disorders; PhD in Hearing Sciences. Following post-doctoral work at Max Planck Institute (Munich, DE) and Eaton-Peabody Auditory Physiology Lab (Boston), she joined the Stanford medical school faculty as director of audiology. She has authored/edited numerous text books, chapters, journals, and articles and taught Marketing and Practice Management in a variety of academic settings. She continues to consult and write on topics related to hearing health care vis-à-vis consumer demands, professional training, technological advancement, capital investment, industry consolidation, regulatory control, product and service distribution, and strategic pricing.