Patents: digital hearing aids and related devices.

is a line of identifiers: the U.S. patent number, the date the patent was issued, the number given the inventor's application for a patent, and the date the application was filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Digital Wearing Aid and Method: Kopke-Wolfgang, Wiener-Peter, Maas-Rainer. Eggerl-Albert. GotzeGerd-Wolfgang. To match the operation of a digital hear-ing aid directly to user requirements, and to reprogram the hearing aid as the hearing aid and/or user response characteristics change, a digital data processing element (12) processing digitized audio signals is connected to a programmable memory such as an EEPROM or an EAIiAM which stores predetermined li-equency vs. amplitude transfer fu~~ct ions in accordance with user requirements or preference andlor hearing aid operation. Additionally, a memory (ROM 17) is provided storing a test program which causes the digital processor to generate test li-equencies or tones at varying amplitudes, so that the transfer function in the programnlable nlemory (15) can be changed or modified by operation of a switch (19) which can be manually user-operated or automatically, for example by measuring stapedius reflexes. After setting or changing the transfer frrnction in the programmable memory (1 5), the normal program of the digital data processor which can be of standard construction is engaged by switch-over by a user-controlled transfer switch (18). US 447 1 171. SEP l 1, 1984. Application No. 466,840; Filed FEB 16, 1983. Hearing Aid with Digital Processing for Correlation of Signals from P1usal Microphones, Dynamic Range Control, or Filtering Using an Erasable Memory: Mosec-Ludwig-M. In an illustrated embodiment a behind-the-ear hearing aid includes a microphone, an amplifierlow pass filter circuit, an analog to digital converter, a digital integrated circuit arithmetic and logic unit for implementing a n-th order transfer function in the 2, clomain, a digital to analog converter and an output transducer, for producing the desired sound response. A memory multiplexer is provided for loading of the multiplier coefficients necessary to adapt the tl-ansfer function circuit to essentially any class of hearing deficiency into an erasable programmable read only melxlory (EPROM). The structure is such that the coefficient lnemory may be loaded after the standard universal hearing aid has been cornpletely assembled, and indeed the hearing aid may be reprogrammed as needed after a period of use, essentially without disassembly. US 418741 3. FEE3 05, 1980. Application No. 894,348;