On the Cutting Edge of Hearing Aid Research
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- COMSOL Multiphysics
- Knowles Transducer Vibroacoustic Models
Tech Stack
- Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
- Multiphysics Simulation
- Laser Vibrometer
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Innovation Output
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Visualization
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
- Life Sciences
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Machine Condition Monitoring
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
Knowles Corporation is a global leader and market supplier of hearing aid transducers, intelligent audio, and specialty acoustic components. The company is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and has a significant presence in the hearing health industry. Knowles is known for its innovative approach to solving complex technical challenges in hearing aid design. The company collaborates with various hearing health customers worldwide to develop and validate advanced models that help improve the design and functionality of hearing aids. Knowles' commitment to research and development has positioned it as a key player in the industry, providing solutions that enhance the quality of life for individuals with hearing impairments.
The Challenge
Engineers face daily technical challenges in hearing aid design, with feedback being a major issue that leads to high-pitched squealing or whistling, limiting the amount of gain the aid can provide. Feedback usually occurs when a hearing aid’s microphone picks up sound or vibration inadvertently diverted from what’s being channeled into the ear canal and sends it back through the amplifier, creating undesirable oscillations. The challenge is to design hearing aids that are compact and unobtrusive, yet still capable of providing a powerful sound output to overcome the user’s hearing loss. This makes solving the feedback issue more challenging, as engineers must cram all the hardware components into the smallest space possible without causing feedback instability.
The Solution
Knowles took a multilateral initiative to develop transducer vibroacoustic models that are easy to implement and compatible with its hearing health customers. These models help hearing aid designs graduate from a prototype stage to a final product more efficiently without sacrificing accuracy. A significant breakthrough came when Dr. Daniel Warren introduced a 'black box' model in 2013. This model uses a minimum amount of simple circuit elements to capture the essential electroacoustic transfer function between voltage and output sound pressure level for balanced armature receivers, while leaving out factors that are unimportant to feedback control. The 'black box' and vibroacoustic models were tested and validated against realistic acoustic and mechanical attachments to the receiver using the COMSOL Multiphysics software and industry-standard tests. This collaboration between Knowles and its hearing health customers started in 2014 and involved measuring the acoustic output and vibration forces simultaneously using a structure that could be easily modeled in FEA. The COMSOL model revealed the dependence of the output pressure and mechanical forces on the applied voltage, frequency, and material properties, showing excellent agreement with physical measurements.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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