Automatic gain control for implanted microphone

Abstract

A method for use in an implantable hearing instrument, including receiving an output signal from an implanted microphone implanted in a person, identifying a first characteristic of said output signal, based on said first characteristic, amplifying said microphone output signal by at least one of a plurality of gain settings to produce an amplified signal, wherein said plurality of gain setting comprise at least two different gain settings, inputting said amplified signal into a signal processor, processing said amplified signal to generate a transducer drive signal; and using said transducer drive signal to drive implanted auditory stimulation device implanted in a person to stimulate an auditory component.

What is Claimed: 
     
         1 . A method for use in an implantable hearing instrument, comprising:
 receiving an output signal from an implanted transducer implanted in a person;   identifying a first characteristic of said output signal from the implanted transducer;   based on said first characteristic, amplifying an implanted microphone output signal by at least one of a plurality of gain settings to produce an amplified signal;   inputting said amplified signal into a signal processor; and   processing said amplified signal to generate a transducer drive signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transducer is the implanted microphone, and the output signal from the implanted transducer is the implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein identifying said first characteristic comprises:
 identifying a magnitude of said implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 identifying a magnitude of a predetermined frequency range of said implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein amplifying comprises:
 utilizing a non-linear function to amplify said implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action of amplifying comprises:
 amplifying a first frequency portion of said implanted microphone output signal associated with a voice of the person using a first gain setting and amplifying at least a second frequency portion of said implanted microphone output signal with a second gain setting, where said second gain setting is larger than said first gain setting.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action of amplifying comprises compressing an output range of said implanted microphone output signal. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action of identifying the first characteristic includes identifying a characteristic indicative of an own voice event as differentiated from a characteristic indicative of other types of body noise. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said plurality of gain settings comprise at least two different gain settings. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 using said transducer drive signal to drive an implanted auditory stimulation device implanted in a person to stimulate an auditory component.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said plurality of gain settings comprise at least two different gain settings, the method further comprising:
 using said transducer drive signal to drive an implanted auditory stimulation device implanted in a person to stimulate an auditory component.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action of amplifying the implanted microphone output signal is executed using an amplifier, the method further comprises adjusting a gain setting of the amplifier by the at least one of the plurality of gain settings. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising subsequent to the action of processing said amplified signal, determining that the characteristic of interest is not present in a subsequently received implanted microphone output signal, and subsequently amplifying the subsequently received implanted microphone output signal by another of the plurality of gain settings different from the at least one of the plurality of gain settings based on the subsequent determination. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the action of amplifying said implanted microphone output signal includes amplifying first frequencies of the implanted microphone output signal less than second frequencies of the implanted microphone output signal, wherein the second frequencies are different than the first frequencies.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein:
 the first frequencies correspond to frequencies of the person's own voice received by the microphone. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the action of amplifying the implanted microphone output signal includes reducing a gain setting of the hearing instrument relative to that which was the case prior to the identification of the first characteristic of interest.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the action of amplifying the implanted microphone output signal includes amplifying a first frequency portion of said implanted microphone output signal associated with a voice of the person using a first gain setting of the plurality of gain settings and amplifying at least a second frequency portion of said implanted microphone output signal with a second gain setting of the plurality of gain settings, the second gain setting being different from the first gain setting, where said second gain setting is larger than said first gain setting.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein identifying a first characteristic comprises:
 monitoring a predetermined frequency band of said implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the action of amplifying the microphone results in a reduction in the amplification of the frequencies of the monitored frequency band relative to other frequencies of the microphone output signal.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transducer is an accelerometer, and thus the output signal received from the implanted transducer is different from the implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transducer is an accelerometer, and thus the output signal received from the implanted transducer is different from the implanted microphone output signal; and   the method further comprising identifying the first characteristic of interest of the pre-amplified implanted microphone output signal prior to the action of amplifying the implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving an accelerometer output signal from an implanted accelerometer implanted in the person; and   evaluating the accelerometer output signal to determine that the first characteristic is not present therein.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving an accelerometer output signal from an implanted accelerometer implanted in the person, wherein   identifying the first characteristic comprises comparing said output signal from the implanted accelerometer to said implanted microphone output signal.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the action of identifying the first characteristic includes identifying the occurrence of an own-voice event.