410results about "Implantable hearing aids" patented technology

A component of a bone conduction device, such as a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device or an active transcutaneous bone conduction device, or a percutaneous bone conduction device, used to evoke a hearing percept comprising a housing and a bender apparatus located in the housing, wherein the bender apparatus is a device of a piezoelectric bender.

An apparatus includes signal processing circuitry configured to generate processed data signals in response at least in part to transducer signals from at least one acoustic transducer and filtering signals, and to transmit the processed data signals via at least one communication channel to an actuating assembly of an auditory prosthesis. The apparatus further includes circuitry configured to monitor one or more of the signal processing circuitry, the processed data signals, and the at least one communication channel, and to generate filtering control signals in response at least in part thereto. The apparatus further includes filtering circuitry configured to generate the filtering signals in response at least in part to the processed data signals and the filtering control signals.

A hearing aid system comprises a hearing aid, and a portable auxiliary device’ adapted to establish a communication link between them. The hearing aid comprises a microphone providing an electric input signal, a signal processor, and an output unit. The auxiliary device comprises a microphone providing an auxiliary electric input signal, and a user control interface allowing a user to initiate a specific calibration mode of operation of the hearing aid system. The signal processor of the hearing aid is configured to receive corresponding time segments of said electric input signal and said auxiliary electric input signal to provide an estimate of an acoustic transfer function from said microphone of said auxiliary device to said microphone of said hearing aid. A method of operating a hearing aid system is further disclosed. The invention may e.g. be used in various applications related to own voice detection and estimation.

A component of a bone conduction device, such as a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device or an active transcutaneous bone conduction device, or a percutaneous bone conduction device, used to evoke a hearing percept comprising a housing and a bender apparatus located in the housing, wherein the bender apparatus is a device of a piezoelectric bender.

An assembly is provided which includes a package and a printed circuit board. The package includes a housing bounding a region and an acoustic sensor within the region. The housing includes a base with a first hole. The sensor is configured to generate signals indicative of sound received by the sensor through the first hole. The printed circuit board is in mechanical communication with the base and includes a second hole aligned with the first hole such that sound received by the second hole propagates through the first hole to the sensor. The printed circuit board further includes an electrically conductive layer, at least a portion of which extends across the second hole and is configured to allow the sound to propagate through the second hole and to at least partially shield the region containing the sensor from electromagnetic interference.

Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for wireless communication with hearing devices. A method includes configuring, using a first hearing device configured to be worn or implanted in a first ear of a user, a first device parameter data. The method further includes transmitting, from the first hearing device via a wireless connection to a second hearing device configured to be worn or implanted in a second ear of the user, the first device parameter data. The method also includes receiving, at the second hearing device via the wireless connection, the first device parameter data from the first hearing device, and configuring the second hearing device for coordinated binaural operations with the first hearing device using the first device parameter data.

To provide a bone-conduction hearing unit which is small and has low risk of providing an infection.SOLUTION: The bone-conduction hearing unit according to the present invention is a bone-conduction hearing unit buried in a scalp and includes a vibration generation unit for generating vibrations and an anchor. The bone-conduction hearing unit generates vibrations by applying a varying magnetic field from the outside of a scalp to the vibration generation unit, and transmits the vibrations to the cranial bone through the anchor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Cochlear implant systems can include an inner ear sensor configured to receive a stimulus signal from the cochlear tissue of a wearer and generate an input signal based on the received stimulus signal. The inner ear sensor can be configured to detect pressure, for example, within a wearer's cochlear tissue and generate an input signal based on the detected pressure. The inner ear sensor can be integrated with a cochlear electrode implanted in the cochlear tissue. Systems can include a signal processor programmed with a transfer function and configured to receive an input signal and output a stimulation signal based on the received input signal and transfer function. Systems can include an implantable battery and / or communication module in communication with the signal processor. The implantable battery and / or communication module can be configured to interface with and update the transfer function of the signal processor.

An illustrative cochlear implant system includes a sound processor associated with a sound processor coil, a cochlear implant including a cochlear implant coil configured to form a transcutaneous narrowband inductive link with the sound processor coil when the cochlear implant is implanted within the recipient, and equalization circuitry integrated within the sound processor and configured to facilitate recovery, by the sound processor, of backward telemetry data from a backward telemetry signal transmitted by the cochlear implant by way of the transcutaneous narrowband inductive link.

A headpiece including a housing, a headpiece magnet carried by the housing, and a headpiece antenna carried by the housing.

A system, including an input subsystem configured to receive input and a convolutional based sub-system in signal communication with the input subsystem, wherein the convolutional based sub-system outputs electrode activation sequence based data. In an embodiment, the system is a sound processor system that is part of a cochlear implant configured to provide a signal to the input subsystem based on sound captured by a microphone.

A cochlear including a cochlear lead, a housing including a magnet pocket and a magnet aperture, a magnet, located within the magnet pocket, having a top surface adjacent to the magnet aperture that defines a top magnet outer perimeter and a bottom surface adjacent to the bottom wall that defines a bottom magnet outer perimeter that is greater than the top magnet outer perimeter, an antenna within the housing, a stimulation processor within the housing.

Presented herein are techniques for dynamically generating test materials for implementing speech test to, for example, hearing aid users or users of cochlear implants. Dynamic word list generation techniques are disclosed. Such techniques generate word lists with qualities intended to implement specific speech tests. For example, the disclosed techniques may be used to generate word lists with predetermined phonetic balance and / or perceptual balance. The disclosed techniques also provide for the generation of audio signals associated with the word lists used during the speech tests.

An apparatus including an actuator, such as a piezoelectric actuator, and a first tissue interface device and a second tissue interface device spaced away from the first tissue fixation device, wherein the apparatus is at least a partially extra-middle ear cavity dual bone interface force based implantable tissue stimulation portion of a hearing prosthesis.

Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for removing periodic interference from a telecoil signal for ear-wearable devices. A method includes receiving a signal from a telecoil of a hearing device, and determining a base period of periodic interference present in the signal. The signal is divided into clip samples having a clip length based on the base period, and the clip samples are used to create an averaged clip of the periodic interference. The averaged clip of periodic interference is inverted and summed with the signal to cancel the periodic interference from the signal, and audio from the summed signal is played for a wearer of the hearing device.

The present invention discloses a graphene cochlear implant electrode and a fabrication method thereof. The electrode comprises a tip portion, bendable portions, contact electrodes, an electrode carrier and wire electrodes, wherein the tip portion is disposed at forepart of the cochlear implant electrode, the electrode carrier wraps the wire electrodes and half wraps the contact electrodes connected to the wire electrodes one by one, and each bendable portion is an annular groove disposed on the electrode carrier; each contact electrode comprises an inner contact and an outer contact, when bending, the inner contact faces the modiolus while the outer contact faces away from the modiolus; and each wire electrode is wavy. According to the present invention, the graphene cochlear implant electrode enhances the surface bioactivity of the contact electrodes to facilitate cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, while promoting its formation and integration with peripheral nerves as an implant material, thus improving the surface bioactivity and biocompatibility of the contact electrodes of a cochlear implant.

The utility model relates to an ear-worn hearing aid device and a hearing aid device. A hearing aid device component is disclosed. The component includes a housing that accommodates an electrical or mechanical hearing aid device component and an opening configured to receive an end of an electrical cable assembly, sound tube, or other member. One or more retention members protruding from an inner surface of the opening are configured to mechanically engage an electrical cable assembly, sound tube, or other member disposed within the opening, and resist movement of the electrical cable assembly, sound tube, or other member relative to the opening. The component may be implemented as a RIC unit, a BTE unit of a BTE electrical connector, and other hearing aid device components.

Presented herein are techniques to maintain a balanced loudness across stimulation channels when the volume of a hearing device is adjusted. The volume control techniques provided herein may be used to set an overall balanced map loudness and / or to replace existing volume controls in a stand-alone approach.

This disclosure relates to a hearing aid for placement on head of a user comprising a first second part. The first part may comprise an acoustic input transducer adapted to convert ambient sound picked up at the ear of the user to an electric signal, a signal processor adapted to process the electric signal according to specifications of user into a processed electric signal, and an output transducer adapted to covert the processed electric signal into a transmission signal, The second part may comprise an anchor adapted to fixate said second part under the skin to skull bone of the user, and a receiver adapted to receive the transmission signal and convert the transmission signal to an output signal perceivable as sound by the user. The first part may comprise an inner recess adapted to receive an insert element, where the insert element may comprise a first magnet adapted to in cooperation with the second part to cause the first part to attach to the head of the user.

The utility model relates to an ear-wearing hearing device. The ear-worn hearing device includes a body portion having a sound producing transducer acoustically coupled to a sound channel of a mouthpiece. The resilient portion protrudes from a side of the body portion and includes a physiological or activity sensor coupled to a flexible portion of the flexible harness. The elastic portion at least partially covers a portion of the flexible strap without hindering operation of the sensor, and when the elastic portion is depressed and released, the flexible portion and the sensor can bend towards and away from the body portion.

A hearing aid for placement on the head. The hearing aid includes a first part comprising an acoustic input transducer adapted to convert an ambient sound picked up at an ear of the user to an electric signal, a signal processor adapted to process the electric signal according to specifications of the user into a processed electric signal, and an output transducer adapted to convert the processed electric signal into a transmission signal, and a second part linkable to said first part by magnetic forces and comprising a receiver adapted to receive the transmission signal and convert the transmission signal to an output signal perceivable as sound by the user. Said first part comprises a receptacle adapted to receive an insert element, said insert element comprising protrusions configured for engaging with a recess of said first part by rotating the insert element relative to said first part.

An apparatus includes an arm configured to be in mechanical communication with a transducer configured to be implanted within a recipient's body. The arm includes a first mating portion configured to engage and disengage with a plurality of second mating portions positioned along at least one longitudinal surface of a fixation element implanted within a portion of the recipient's body. The arm is configured to be moved between an unlocked state in which the arm is disengaged from the plurality of second mating portions and a locked state in which the arm is engaged with at least one of the second mating portions. The apparatus further includes at least one elastically deformable element configured to apply a restoring force to the arm such that the arm is in the locked state and to respond to an external force applied to the arm such that the arm is in the unlocked state.

Disclosed technology includes a sensory prosthesis configured to automatically select a broadcast channel based on a comparison with a signal from a sensor of the sensory prosthesis. In an example, a sound processor automatically connects to an appropriate wireless broadcast audio channel by comparing the sound the sound processor receives on a microphone with the audio the sound processor receives from each of the wireless broadcast channels that the sound processor can receive. If the sound processor finds a match between the sound from the microphone and the sound from a broadcast, then the sound processor automatically selects the matching wireless broadcast channel. The sound processor then provides auditory stimulation to the recipient based on the selected broadcast channel.

A device including a housing and a piezoelectric component, wherein the piezoelectric component is supported in the housing via at least one curved surface of a support element. In an embodiment the device is an active transcutaneous bone conduction device. In an embodiment, the curved surface is a spherical rolling element that is rigid.

Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for wireless communication with hearing devices. A method includes configuring, using a first hearing device configured to be worn or implanted in a first ear of a user, a first device parameter data. The method further includes transmitting, from the first hearing device via a wireless connection to a second hearing device configured to be worn or implanted in a second ear of the user, the first device parameter data. The method also includes receiving, at the second hearing device via the wireless connection, the first device parameter data from the first hearing device, and configuring the second hearing device for coordinated binaural operations with the first hearing device using the first device parameter data.

A method, including inputting data to and / or receiving data from a first electronics device, the inputted data and / or received data being related to one or more temporally changeable aspects of the medical device, enabling a user of a second electronics device to and / or using the second electronics device to input data related to and / or receive data related to one or more temporally changeable aspects of the medical device, the second electronics device being a separate device from the first electronics device, initiating the medical device to a human based on data based on data from the first electronics device that was inputted into the first electronics device during the initiation session and initiating the medical device based on data based on data from the second electronics device that was inputted into the second electronics device and / or based on data based on data generated as a result of the receiving data related to one or more temporally changeable aspects of the medical device.

A hearing aid comprises an input transducer configured to convert sound around a user to at least one electrical input signal representing the sound; an output transducer for providing an audible signal based on the at least one electrical input signal; transceiver circuitry configured to establish a wireless audio communication link with a secondary device; and a processor configured to operate the hearing aid in a system mode or a device mode. The hearing aid is configured to initiate establishment of the wireless audio communication link in dependence of a mode control signal. A non-wearable device comprising transceiver circuitry configured for establishing a wireless audio communication link with a hearing aid comprises a processor configured to receive and process at least one electrical input signal from a hearing aid to at least partially compensate for hearing impairment of a user; a power supply interface. The non-wearable device is integrated with another device having a specific other function.

According to a first aspect, a sound processor unit of a cochlear implant system is disclosed. The sound processor unit comprises an electric circuit, which comprises a sound processor antenna with a sound processor antenna capacitance and a sound processor antenna inductance, wherein the sound processor antenna capacitance and the sound processor antenna inductance are connected in series and form a resonant circuit. An improved cochlear implant system is provided in that the electric circuit of the sound processor unit further comprises a switching element connected in series with the sound processor antenna capacitance and the sound processor antenna inductance, and the electric circuit of the sound processor unit further comprises an inductive element connected in parallel with the switching element, wherein when the switching element is in a closed state, the inductive element is in a short-circuited state and the sound processor antenna has a first resonant frequency, and when the switching element is in an open state, the inductive element is in a non-short-circuited state and the sound processor antenna has a second resonant frequency which differs from the first resonant frequency.

Charging and updating of an implantable hearing aid is disclosed, wherein an implantable hearing aid system, including a charger unit comprising a coil unit having a first resonant frequency, a hearing aid and an implantable part comprising an implantable coil; the hearing aid comprising: a rechargeable battery; an inductive coil structure having a second resonant frequency, the inductive coil structure configured to form an inductive charging link with the coil unit to receive a power signal from the charger unit; a step-down converter configured to reduce a voltage of the power signal received from the charger unit for charging the rechargeable battery; and a step-up converter configured to increase a voltage of a signal obtained from the rechargeable battery; and wherein the inductive coil structure is further configured to form a transcutaneous link with the implantable coil to transfer at least one of data and power to the implantable part, and wherein the first resonant frequency and the second resonant frequency are matched or partially matched.

A middle ear implant system includes a disc-shape vibration surface that is configured for implantation within skin lying over skull bone of a patient, with the disc-shape vibration surface parallel to an outer surface of the skin and to the skull bone so that sound vibrations striking the outer surface of the skin create corresponding vibrations in the disc-shape vibration surface within the skin. A rigid ossicle connector has a proximal end connected to the disc-shape vibration surface and a distal end connected to an ossicle in the middle ear of the patient so that vibrations of the disc-shape vibration surface are mechanically coupled to the ossicle for perception by the patient as sound.