Characterization of the dominant structural vibration of hearing aid receivers: Towards the moderation of mechanical feedback in hearing aids

Presented are the results from the experimental, analytical, and computational analyses accomplished to characterize the mechanical vibration of hearing aid receivers, a key electro-acoustic component of hearing aids. The function of a receiver in a hearing aid is to provide an amplified sound signal into the ear canal. Unfortunately, as the receiver produces sound, it also undergoes vibration which can be transmitted through the hearing aid package to the microphones, resulting in undesirable feedback oscillations. To gain more knowledge and control on the source of these feedback oscillations, a dynamic rigid body model of the receiver is proposed. The rigid body model captures the essential dynamic features of the receiver. The model is represented by two hinged rigid bodies, under an equal and opposite dynamic moment load, and connected to each other by a torsional spring and damper. The mechanical coupling ratio between the two rigid bodies is proved to be acoustically independent. A method is introduced to estimate the parameters for the proposed model using experimental data. An equivalent finite element analysis model is established and tested against a known and characterized mechanical attachment. The simulated model successfully predicts the structural dynamic response showing excellent agreement between the finite element analysis and measured results.