A binaural hearing aid speech enhancement method maintaining spatial awareness for the user

Multi-channel hearing aids can use directional algorithms to enhance speech signals based on their spatial location. In the case where a hearing aid user is fitted with a binaural hearing aid, it is important that the binaural cues are kept intact, such that the user does not loose spatial awareness, the ability to localize sounds, or the benefits of spatial unmasking. Typically algorithms focus on rendering the source of interest in the correct spatial location, but degrade all other source positions in the auditory scene. In this paper, we present an algorithm that uses a binary mask such that the target signal is enhanced but the background noise remains unmodified except for an attenuation. We also present two variations of the algorithm, and in initial evaluations find that this type of mask-based processing has promising performance.