Feedback cancellation in hearing aids: results from a computer simulation

Feedback cancellation in hearing aids involves estimating the feedback signal and subtracting it from the microphone input signal. The feedback-cancellation system described updates the estimated feedback path whenever changes are detected in the feedback behavior. When a change is detected, the normal hearing-aid processing is interrupted, a pseudorandom probe signal is injected into the system, and a set of filter coefficients is adjusted to give an estimate of the feedback path. The hearing aid is then returned to normal operation with the feedback-cancellation filter as part of the system. Two approaches are investigated for computing the filter coefficients: a least-mean square (LMS) adaptive filter and a Wiener filter. Test results are presented for a computer simulation of an in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid. The simulation results indicate that more than 10 dB of cancellation can be obtained and that the Wiener filter is more effective in the presence of strong interference