Dynamic control of parameter value based on antenna distance

Abstract

A method includes obtaining a measured value indicative of a distance between at least one first antenna of a first device on a body portion of a recipient and at least one second antenna of a second device implanted within the body portion, the at least one first antenna configured to transcutaneously and wirelessly transmit signals to the at least one second antenna. The method further includes comparing the measured value to a predetermined value. The method further includes, in response to the measured value being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a first range to be stored in a memory of the first device as a stored operational parameter. The method further includes, in response to the measured value not being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a second range to be stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter, the second range differing from the first range.

Description

COCLR.093WO PCT APPLICATIONDYNAMIC CONTROL OF PARAMETER VALUE BASED ON ANTENNADISTANCEBACKGROUNDField

[0001] The present application relates generally to systems and methods for controlling parameter values used by a transcutaneous system.Description of the Related Art

[0002] Medical devices are devices that are intended to be used for medical purposes. They can vary in both their intended use and indications for use. Examples range from simple, low-risk medical supplies, such as tongue depressors, medical thermometers, disposable gloves, and bedpans, to complex, potentially high-risk devices that are implanted and / or sustain life, such as deep brain stimulators and cardiac stents. Other categories of medical devices include diagnostic equipment, such as x-ray machines and ultrasound scanners, life support equipment, such as mechanical ventilators and dialysis machines.

[0003] Hearing devices act on an actual or potential auditory perception of an individual, including to improve perception of sound signals, to reduce perception of sound signals, etc. In particular, a hearing device can deliver sound signals to a user in any form, including in the form of acoustical stimulation, mechanical stimulation, electrical stimulation, etc., and / or can operate to suppress all or some sound signals. As such, a hearing device can be a device for use by a hearing-impaired person (e.g., hearing aids, middle ear auditory prostheses, bone conduction devices, direct acoustic stimulators, electro-acoustic hearing prostheses, auditory brainstem stimulators, bimodal hearing prostheses, bilateral hearing prostheses, dedicated tinnitus therapy devices, tinnitus therapy devices, etc.) or a device for use by a person with normal hearing (e.g., consumer devices that provide audio streaming, consumer headphones, earphones and other listening devices), a hearing protection device, etc.SUMMARY

[0004] In one aspect disclosed herein, a method comprises obtaining a measured value indicative of a distance between at least one first antenna of a first device on a body portion of a recipient and at least one second antenna of a second device implanted within the body portion. The at least one first antenna is configured to transcutaneously and wirelesslytransmit signals to the at least one second antenna. The method further comprises comparing the measured value to a predetermined value. The method further comprises, in response to the measured value being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a first range to be stored in a memory of the first device as a stored operational parameter. The method further comprises, in response to the measured value not being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a second range to be stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter, the second range differing from the first range.

[0005] In another aspect disclosed herein, a computing device comprises an interface configured to be operatively coupled with a first system portion. The first system portion is configured to be worn externally on a recipient and to wirelessly communicate with a second system portion implanted within the recipient. The computing system further comprises circuitry configured to communicate via the interface with the first system portion so as to generate at least one measurement indicative of a tissue thickness between the first system portion and the second system portion. The circuitry is further configured to receive input signals from a user, the input signals indicative of a user parameter value to be stored in the first system portion and accessed by the first system portion during operation of the first system portion. The circuitry is further configured to, in response to the at least one measurement and the user parameter value, conditionally generate an operational parameter value. The circuitry is further configured to transmit an output signal to the first system portion via the interface, the output signal indicative of the operational parameter value.

[0006] In another aspect disclosed herein, a method comprises obtaining information indicative of at least one temporally varying operational parameter of a transcutaneous system. The method further comprises responding to the information by dynamically generating a maximum power output (MPO) value of the transcutaneous system as a function of time.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Implementations are described herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example cochlear implant auditory prosthesis implanted in a recipient in accordance with certain implementations described herein;

[0009] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example fully implantable middle ear implant auditory prosthesis implanted in a recipient in accordance with certain implementations described herein;

[0010] FIG. 3 schematically illustrate a portion of another example transcutaneous bone conduction auditory prosthesis implanted in a recipient in accordance with certain implementations described herein;

[0011] FIG. 4 schematically illustrate an example computing device in accordance with certain embodiments described herein;

[0012] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method in accordance with certain implementations described herein;

[0013] FIG. 6 schematically illustrates plots of two MPO functions as functions of acoustic frequency for use with two different ranges of SFT in accordance with certain implementations described herein;

[0014] FIGs. 7A and 7B are flow diagrams of two examples of a portion of a method for conditionally generating an operational parameter value to be stored in accordance with certain implementations described herein; and

[0015] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an example method for dynamic regulation of a maximum power output in accordance with certain implementations described herein.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Certain implementations described herein provide a system and method for providing different maximum output force levels (e.g., maximum power output or MPO) for transcutaneous systems worn by recipients with different skin flap thicknesses (SFTs). Maximum output force levels are used during operation of transcutaneous systems to avoid suboptimal performance (e.g., distortions; drop-outs; excessive power consumption resulting in rapid battery charge depletion) due to large outputs in response to excessively large inputs (e.g., for an acoustic prosthesis system, large outputs corresponding to loud sounds). In contrast to providing a single MPO function for all transcutaneous system recipients, the transcutaneous systems of certain implementations described herein are provided an MPO thatis adjusted (e.g., optimized) to be appropriate for the SFT of the particular recipient utilizing the transcutaneous system. One or more of these aspects are applicable to sensory prosthesis systems (e.g., auditory prosthesis systems; visual implants such as bionic eyes), sleep disorder systems (e.g., sleep apnea systems), seizure systems (e.g., systems for monitoring and / or treating epileptic events), balance or movement disorder systems (e.g., vestibular stimulation systems), and / or tinnitus management systems.

[0017] There are a number of different types of devices in / with which the techniques presented herein can be implemented. Merely for ease of description, the techniques presented herein are primarily described with reference to a specific device. However, it is to be appreciated that the techniques presented herein can also be partially or fully implemented by any of a number of different types of devices or systems, including consumer electronic devices (e.g., consumer hearing devices, consumer computing devices such as mobile phones and tablets, audio equipment such as home theatre and car audio systems, etc.), computing systems (e.g., servers in data centers, Internet-of-Things (loT) devices), various types of software systems, such as databases, machine learning and artificial intelligence systems, other medical devices, such as diagnostic equipment or life sustaining equipment, etc. For example, the techniques presented herein could be used in or with sensory protheses, including hearing aids and cochlear implants, and various medical devices, such as pacemakers, drug delivery systems, implantable defibrillators, functional electrical stimulation devices, sleep disorder devices (e.g., sleep apnea devices), seizure devices (e.g., devices for monitoring and / or treating epileptic events), balance or movement disorder devices (e.g., vestibular stimulation devices), tinnitus management devices, visual implants (e.g., bionic eyes), etc.

[0018] The teachings detailed herein are applicable, in at least some implementations, to any type of implantable or non-implantable stimulation and / or measurement system or device (e.g., implantable or non-implantable auditory prosthesis device or system). Implementations can include any type of medical device that can utilize the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof. Furthermore, while certain implementations are described herein in the context of auditory prosthesis devices, certain other implementations are compatible in the context of other types of devices or systems comprising electrodes implanted on or within a recipient’s body.

[0019] Merely for ease of description, apparatus and methods disclosed herein are primarily described with reference to an illustrative medical device, namely an implantable transducer assembly including but not limited to: electro-acoustic electrical / acoustic systems, cochlear implant devices, implantable hearing aid devices, middle ear implant devices, bone conduction devices (e.g., active bone conduction devices; passive bone conduction devices, percutaneous bone conduction devices; transcutaneous bone conduction devices), Direct Acoustic Cochlear Implant (DACI), middle ear transducer (MET), electro-acoustic implant devices, other types of auditory prosthesis devices, and / or combinations or variations thereof, or any other suitable hearing prosthesis system with or without one or more external components. Implementations can include any type of auditory prosthesis that can utilize the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof. Certain such implementations can be referred to as “partially implantable,” “semi-implantable,” “mostly implantable,” “fully implantable,” or “totally implantable” auditory prostheses. In some implementations, the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof can be utilized in other types of prostheses beyond auditory prostheses.

[0020] While certain implementations are described herein in the context of auditory prosthesis devices, certain other implementations are compatible in the context of other types of sensory prosthesis systems that are configured to evoke other types of neural or sensory (e.g., sight, tactile, smell, taste) percepts are compatible with certain implementations described herein, including but are not limited to: vestibular devices (e.g., vestibular implants), tinnitus treatment devices, visual devices (e.g., bionic eyes), visual prostheses (e.g., retinal implants), somatosensory implants, and chemosensory implants. Certain other implementations are compatible with other types of medical devices that can utilize the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof to provide a wide range of therapeutic benefits to recipients, patients, or other users (e.g., epilepsy monitoring systems; pain control systems; bladder control systems; sleep apnea control systems; neurostimulators; pacemakers), to perform monitoring or measuring functionalities (e.g., electroencephalogram monitoring of brain function; electrocardiogram monitoring of heart function), or other medical implants comprising a rechargeable implanted power source. Certain other implementations are compatible with other non-medical devices or system (e.g., consumer electronic devices).

[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example cochlear implant auditory prosthesis 100 implanted in a recipient in accordance with certain implementations described herein. The example auditory prosthesis 100 is shown in FIG. 1 as comprising an implanted stimulator unit 120 and a microphone assembly 124 that is external to the recipient (e.g., a partially implantable cochlear implant). An example auditory prosthesis 100 (e.g., a totally implantable cochlear implant; a mostly implantable cochlear implant) in accordance with certain implementations described herein can replace the external microphone assembly 124 shown in FIG. 1 with a subcutaneously implantable microphone assembly, as described more fully herein. In certain implementations, the example cochlear implant auditory prosthesis 100 of FIG. 1 can be in conjunction with a reservoir of liquid medicament.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, the recipient has an outer ear 101, a middle ear 105, and an inner ear 107. In a fully functional ear, the outer ear 101 comprises an auricle 110 and an ear canal 102. An acoustic pressure or sound wave 103 is collected by the auricle 110 and is channeled into and through the ear canal 102. Disposed across the distal end of the ear canal 102 is a tympanic membrane 104 which vibrates in response to the sound wave 103. This vibration is coupled to oval window or fenestra ovalis 112 through three bones of middle ear 105, collectively referred to as the ossicles 106 and comprising the malleus 108, the incus 109, and the stapes 111. The bones 108, 109, and 111 of the middle ear 105 serve to filter and amplify the sound wave 103, causing the oval window 112 to articulate, or vibrate in response to vibration of the tympanic membrane 104. This vibration sets up waves of fluid motion of the perilymph within cochlea 140. Such fluid motion, in turn, activates tiny hair cells (not shown) inside the cochlea 140. Activation of the hair cells causes appropriate nerve impulses to be generated and transferred through the spiral ganglion cells (not shown) and auditory nerve 114 to the brain (also not shown) where they are perceived as sound.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the example auditory prosthesis 100 comprises one or more components which are temporarily or permanently implanted in the recipient. The example auditory prosthesis 100 is shown in FIG. 1 with an external component 142 which is directly or indirectly attached to the recipient’s body, and an internal component 144 which is temporarily or permanently implanted in the recipient (e.g., positioned in a recess of the temporal bone adjacent auricle 110 of the recipient). The external component 142 typically comprises one or more sound input elements (e.g., an external microphone assembly 124) fordetecting sound, a sound processing unit 126 (e.g., disposed in a Behind-The-Ear unit), a power source (not shown), and an external transmitter unit 128. In the illustrative implementations of FIG. 1, the external transmitter unit 128 comprises an external coil 130 (e.g., a wire antenna coil comprising multiple turns of electrically insulated single-strand or multi-strand platinum or gold wire) and, preferably, a magnet (not shown) secured directly or indirectly to the external coil 130. The external coil 130 of the external transmitter unit 128 is part of an inductive radio frequency (RF) communication link with the internal component 144. The sound processing unit 126 processes the output of the microphone assembly 124 that is positioned externally to the recipient’s body, in the depicted implementation, by the recipient’s auricle 110. The sound processing unit 126 processes the output of the microphone assembly 124 and generates encoded signals, sometimes referred to herein as encoded data signals, which are provided to the external transmitter unit 128 (e.g., via a cable). As will be appreciated, the sound processing unit 126 can utilize digital processing techniques to provide frequency shaping, amplification, compression, and other signal conditioning, including conditioning based on recipient-specific fitting parameters.

[0024] The power source of the external component 142 is configured to provide power to the auditory prosthesis 100, where the auditory prosthesis 100 includes a battery (e.g., located in the internal component 144, or disposed in a separate implanted location) that is recharged by the power provided from the external component 142 (e.g., via a transcutaneous energy transfer link). The transcutaneous energy transfer link is used to transfer power and / or data to the internal component 144 of the auditory prosthesis 100. Various types of energy transfer, such as infrared (IR), electromagnetic, capacitive, and inductive transfer, may be used to transfer the power and / or data from the external component 142 to the internal component 144. During operation of the auditory prosthesis 100, the power stored by the rechargeable battery is distributed to the various other implanted components as needed.

[0025] The internal component 144 comprises an internal receiver unit 132, a stimulator unit 120, and an electrode assembly 118. In some implementations, the internal receiver unit 132 and the stimulator unit 120 are hermetically sealed within a biocompatible housing. The internal receiver unit 132 comprises an internal coil 136 (e.g., a wire antenna coil comprising multiple turns of electrically insulated single-strand or multi-strand platinum or gold wire), and preferably, a magnet (also not shown) fixed relative to the internal coil 136.The internal receiver unit 132 and the stimulator unit 120 are hermetically sealed within a biocompatible housing, sometimes collectively referred to as a stimulator / receiver unit. The internal coil 136 receives power and / or data signals from the external coil 130 via a transcutaneous energy transfer link (e.g., an inductive RF link). The stimulator unit 120 generates stimulation signals (e.g., electrical stimulation signals; optical stimulation signals) based on the data signals, and the stimulation signals are delivered to the recipient via the electrode assembly 118.

[0026] The electrode assembly 118 has a proximal end connected to the stimulator unit 120, and a distal end implanted in the cochlea 140. The electrode assembly 118 extends from the stimulator unit 120 to the cochlea 140 through the mastoid bone 119. In some implementations, the electrode assembly 118 may be implanted at least in the basal region 116, and sometimes further. For example, the electrode assembly 118 may extend towards apical end of cochlea 140, referred to as cochlea apex 134. In certain circumstances, the electrode assembly 118 may be inserted into the cochlea 140 via a cochleostomy 122. In other circumstances, a cochleostomy may be formed through the round window 121 or an extension of the round window 121, the oval window 112, the promontory 123, or through an apical turn 147 of the cochlea 140.

[0027] The electrode assembly 118 comprises a longitudinally aligned and distally extending array 146 (e.g., electrode array; contact array) of stimulation elements 148 (e.g., electrical electrodes; electrical contacts; optical emitters; optical contacts). The stimulation elements 148 can be longitudinally spaced from one another along a length of the body of the stimulation assembly 118. For example, the stimulation assembly 118 can comprise an array 146 comprising twenty-two (22) stimulation elements 148 that are configured to deliver stimulation to the cochlea 140. Although the stimulation elements 148 of the array 146 can be disposed on the stimulation assembly 118, in most practical applications, the array 146 is integrated into the stimulation assembly 118 (e.g., the stimulation elements 148 of the array 146 are disposed in the stimulation assembly 118). As noted, the stimulator unit 120 generates stimulation signals (e.g., electrical signals; optical signals) which are applied by the stimulation elements 148 to the cochlea 140, thereby stimulating the auditory nerve 114.

[0028] While FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an auditory prosthesis 100 utilizing an external component 142 comprising an external microphone assembly 124, an externalsound processing unit 126, and an external power source, in certain other implementations, one or more of the microphone assembly 124, sound processing unit 126, and power source are implantable on or within the recipient (e.g., within the internal component 144). For example, the auditory prosthesis 100 can have each of the microphone assembly 124, sound processing unit 126, and power source encapsulated within a biocompatible assembly located subcutaneously), and can be referred to as a totally implantable cochlear implant (“TICI”). For another example, the auditory prosthesis 100 can have most components of the cochlear implant (e.g., excluding the microphone, which can be an in-the-ear-canal microphone) implantable on or within the recipient, and can be referred to as a mostly implantable cochlear implant (“MICI”).

[0029] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a perspective view of an example fully implantable auditory prosthesis 200 (e.g., fully implantable middle ear implant or totally implantable acoustic system), implanted in a recipient, utilizing an acoustic actuator in accordance with certain implementations described herein. The example auditory prosthesis 200 of FIG. 2 comprises a biocompatible implantable assembly 202 (e.g., comprising an implantable capsule) located subcutaneously (e.g., beneath the recipient’s skin and on a recipient's skull). While FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example implantable assembly 202 comprising a microphone, in other example auditory prostheses 200, a pendant microphone can be used (e.g., connected to the implantable assembly 202 by a cable). The implantable assembly 202 includes a signal receiver 204 (e.g., comprising a coil element) and an acoustic transducer (e.g., a microphone assembly 206 comprising a diaphragm and an electret or piezoelectric transducer) that is positioned to receive acoustic signals through the recipient’s overlying tissue. The implantable assembly 202 may further be utilized to house a number of components of the fully implantable auditory prosthesis 200. For example, the implantable assembly 202 can include an energy storage device and a signal processor (e.g., a sound processing unit). Various additional processing logic and / or circuitry components can also be included in the implantable assembly 202 as a matter of design choice.

[0030] For the example auditory prosthesis 200 shown in FIG. 2, the signal processor of the implantable assembly 202 is in operative communication (e.g., electrically interconnected via a wire 208) with an actuator 210 (e.g., comprising a transducer configured to generate mechanical vibrations in response to electrical signals from the signal processor).In other example auditory prostheses 200, the signal processor of the implantable assembly 202 is in wireless communication with the actuator 210. In certain implementations, the example auditory prosthesis 100, 200 shown in FIGs. 1 and 2 can comprise an implantable microphone assembly, such as the microphone assembly 206 shown in FIG. 2. For such an example auditory prosthesis 100, the signal processor of the implantable assembly 202 can be in operative communication (e.g., electrically interconnected via a wire) with the microphone assembly 206 and the stimulator unit of the main implantable component 120. In certain implementations, at least one of the microphone assembly 206 and the signal processor (e.g., a sound processing unit) is implanted on or within the recipient.

[0031] The actuator 210 of the example auditory prosthesis 200 shown in FIG. 2 is supportably connected to a positioning system 212, which in turn, is connected to a bone anchor 214 mounted within the recipient's mastoid process (e.g., via a hole drilled through the skull). The actuator 210 includes a connection apparatus 216 for connecting the actuator 210 to the ossicles 106 of the recipient. In a connected state, the connection apparatus 216 provides a communication path for acoustic stimulation of the ossicles 106 (e.g., through transmission of vibrations from the actuator 210 to the incus 109).

[0032] During normal operation, ambient acoustic signals (e.g., ambient sound) impinge on the recipient’ s tissue and are received transcutaneously at the microphone assembly 206. Upon receipt of the transcutaneous signals, a signal processor within the implantable assembly 202 processes the signals to provide a processed audio drive signal (e.g., via wire 208 or via wireless communication) to the actuator 210. As will be appreciated, the signal processor may utilize digital processing techniques to provide frequency shaping, amplification, compression, and other signal conditioning, including conditioning based on recipient-specific fitting parameters. The audio drive signal causes the actuator 210 to transmit vibrations at acoustic frequencies to the connection apparatus 216 to affect the desired sound sensation via mechanical stimulation of the incus 109 of the recipient.

[0033] The subcutaneously implantable microphone assembly 202 is configured to respond to auditory signals (e.g., sound; pressure variations in an audible frequency range) by generating output signals (e.g., electrical signals; optical signals; electromagnetic signals) indicative of the auditory signals received by the microphone assembly 202, and these output signals are used by the auditory prosthesis 100, 200 to generate stimulation signals which areprovided to the recipient’s auditory system. To compensate for the decreased acoustic signal strength reaching the microphone assembly 202 by virtue of being implanted, the diaphragm of an implantable microphone assembly 202 can be configured to provide higher sensitivity than are external non-implantable microphone assemblies. For example, the diaphragm of an implantable microphone assembly 202 can be configured to be more robust and / or larger than diaphragms for external non-implantable microphone assemblies.

[0034] The example auditory prostheses 100 shown in FIG. 1 utilizes an external microphone 124 and the auditory prosthesis 200 shown in FIG. 2 utilizes an implantable microphone assembly 206 comprising a subcutaneously implantable acoustic transducer. In certain implementations described herein, the auditory prosthesis 100 utilizes one or more implanted microphone assemblies on or within the recipient. In certain implementations described herein, the auditory prosthesis 200 utilizes one or more microphone assemblies that are positioned external to the recipient and / or that are implanted on or within the recipient, and utilizes one or more acoustic transducers (e.g., actuator 210) that are implanted on or within the recipient. In certain implementations, an external microphone assembly can be used to supplement an implantable microphone assembly of the auditory prosthesis 100, 200. Thus, the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof can be utilized with any type of external or implantable microphone arrangement, and the acoustic transducers shown in FIGs. 1 and 2 are merely illustrative.

[0035] FIG. 3 schematically illustrate a portion of an example transcutaneous bone conduction auditory prosthesis 300 implanted in a recipient in accordance with certain implementations described herein. As schematically illustrated by FIG. 3, the example transcutaneous bone conduction auditory prosthesis 300 comprises an external device component and an implantable component 306. The auditory prosthesis 300 is an active transcutaneous bone conduction auditory prosthesis in that the vibrating actuator 308 is located in the implantable component 306. For example, a vibratory element in the form of a vibrating actuator 308 is located in a housing 310 of the implantable component 306. In certain implementations, the vibrating actuator 308 is a device that converts electrical signals into vibration. The vibrating actuator 308 can be in direct contact with the outer surface of the recipient’s bone 196 (e.g., the vibrating actuator 308 is in substantial contact with the recipient’s bone 196 such that vibration forces from the vibrating actuator 308 arecommunicated from the vibrating actuator 308 to the recipient’s bone 196). In certain implementations, there can be one or more thin non-bone tissue layers (e.g., a silicone layer 324) between the vibrating actuator 308 and the recipient’s bone 196 (e.g., bone tissue; skull bone) while still permitting sufficient support so as to allow efficient communication of the vibration forces generated by the vibrating actuator 308 to the recipient’s bone 196.

[0036] In certain implementations, the external component 304 includes a sound input element 326 that converts sound into electrical signals. Specifically, the auditory prosthesis 300 provides these electrical signals to the vibrating actuator 308, or to a sound processor (not shown) that processes the electrical signals, and then provides those processed signals to the implantable component 306 through the tissue of the recipient (e.g., skin 190, fat 192, muscle 194) via a magnetic inductance link. For example, a communication coil 332 of the external component 304 can transmit these signals to an implanted communication coil 334 located in a housing 336 of the implantable component 306. Components (not shown) in the housing 336, such as, for example, a signal generator or an implanted sound processor, then generate electrical signals to be delivered to the vibrating actuator 308 via electrical lead assembly 338. The vibrating actuator 308 converts the electrical signals into vibrations. In certain implementations, the vibrating actuator 308 can be positioned with such proximity to the housing 336 that the electrical leads 338 are not present (e.g., the housing 310 and the housing 336 are the same single housing containing the vibrating actuator 308, the communication coil 334, and other components, such as, for example, a signal generator or a sound processor).

[0037] In certain implementations, the vibrating actuator 308 is mechanically coupled to the housing 310. The housing 310 and the vibrating actuator 308 collectively form a vibrating element. The housing 310 can be substantially rigidly attached to a bone fixture 318.

[0038] In this regard, the housing 310 can include a through hole 320 that is contoured to the outer contours of the bone fixture 318. The screw 322 can be used to secure the housing 310 to the bone fixture 318. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the head of the screw 322 is larger than the through hole 320 of the housing 310, and thus the screw 322 positively retains the housing 310 to the bone fixture 318. A portion of the screw 322 interfaces with the bone fixture 318, thus permitting the screw 322 to readily fit into an existing bone fixture 318 usedin a percutaneous bone conduction device (or an existing passive bone conduction device). In certain implementations, the screw 322 is configured so that the same tools and procedures that are used to install and / or remove an abutment screw from the bone fixture 318 can be used to install and / or remove the screw 322 from the bone fixture 318.

[0039] The bone fixture 318 can be made of any material that has a known ability to integrate into surrounding bone tissue (e.g., comprising a material that exhibits acceptable osseointegration characteristics). In certain implementations, the bone fixture 318 is formed from a single piece of material (e.g., titanium) and comprises outer screw threads forming a male screw which is configured to be installed into the skull bone 196 and a flange configured to function as a stop when the fixture 318 is implanted into the skull bone 196. The screw threads can have a maximum diameter of about 3.5 mm to about 5.0 mm, and the flange can have a diameter which exceeds the maximum diameter of the screw threads (e.g., by approximately 10%-20%). The flange can have a planar bottom surface for resting against the outer bone surface, when the fixture 318 has been screwed down into the skull bone 196. The flange prevents the fixture 318 (e.g. , the screw threads) from potentially completely penetrating completely through the bone 196.

[0040] The body of the fixture 318 can have a length sufficient to securely anchor the fixture 318 to the skull bone 196 without penetrating entirely through the skull bone 196. The length of the body can therefore depend on the thickness of the skull bone 196 at the implantation site. For example, the fixture 318 can have a length, measured from the planar bottom surface of the flange to the end of the distal region (e.g., the portion farthest from the flange), that is no greater than 5 mm or between about 3.0 mm to about 5.0 mm, which limits and / or prevents the possibility that the fixture 318 might go completely through the skull bone 196. The interior of the fixture 318 can further include an inner lower bore having female screw threads configured to mate with male screw threads of the screw 322 to the fixture 318. The fixture 318 can further include an inner upper bore that receives a bottom portion of the abutment 312.

[0041] The example auditory prostheses 100 shown in FIG. 1 utilizes an external microphone 124, the auditory prosthesis 200 shown in FIG. 2 utilizes an implantable microphone assembly 206 comprising a subcutaneously implantable acoustic transducer, and the example transcutaneous bone conduction auditory prosthesis 300 of FIG. 3 comprises anexternal sound input element 326 (e.g., external microphone). In certain implementations described herein, a subcutaneously implantable sound input assembly (e.g., implanted microphone) is used with the auditory prostheses 100, 200, 300 and / or one or more external microphone assemblies is used with the auditory prostheses 100, 200, 300. In certain implementations, an external microphone assembly can be used to supplement an implantable microphone assembly of the auditory prosthesis 100, 200, 300. Thus, the teachings detailed herein and / or variations thereof can be utilized with any type of external or implantable microphone arrangement, and the acoustic prostheses 100, 200, 300 shown in FIGs. 1, 2, and 3 are merely illustrative.

[0042] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example computing device 400 in accordance with certain implementations described herein. The computing device 400 comprises an interface 410 configured to be operatively coupled with a first system portion 510. The first system portion 510 is configured to be worn externally on a recipient and to wirelessly communicate with a second system portion 520 implanted within the recipient (e.g., within tissue 530 of the recipient). The computing device 400 further comprises circuitry 420 configured to communicate via the interface 410 with the first system portion 510 so as to generate at least one measurement indicative of a tissue thickness between the first system portion 510 and the second system portion 520. The circuitry 420 is further configured to receive input signals 453 from a user, the input signals 453 indicative of a user parameter value to be stored in the first system portion 510 and accessed by the first system portion 510 during operation of the first system portion 510. The circuitry 420 is further configured to, in response to the at least one measurement and the user parameter value, conditionally generate an operational parameter value. The circuitry 420 is further configured to transmit an output signal 440 to the first system portion 510 via the interface 410, the output signal 440 indicative of the operational parameter value.

[0043] In certain implementations, the first system portion 510 comprises an external portion (e.g., external component 142) of a transcutaneous system 500 (e.g., medical system; sensory prosthesis system; auditory prosthesis 100,200,300) and the second system portion 520 (e.g., internal component 144; implantable assembly 202) comprises an implanted portion of the transcutaneous system 500. For example, the second system portion 520 can be implanted on and substantially parallel to a bone surface (e.g., a surface of a portion of theskull) within the recipient and the first system portion 510 can be worn on the recipient’s skin over the second system portion 520 (e.g., on and / or behind a concha of the recipient).

[0044] The first system portion 510 can comprise a housing (e.g., biocompatible; skin-friendly), at least one external antenna 512 (e.g., magnetic induction (MI) antenna; radiofrequency (RF) antenna; electrically conductive and substantively planar coil) on or within the housing, and external control circuitry 514 within the housing and in operative communication with the at least one external antenna 512. The second system portion 520 can comprise an implanted housing (e.g., biocompatible), at least one implanted antenna 522 (e.g., MI antenna; RF antenna; electrically conductive and substantively planar coil) on or within the implanted housing, and implanted control circuitry 524 within the implanted housing and in operative communication with the at least one implanted antenna 522. Via a wireless (e.g., transcutaneous) communication channel between the at least one external antenna 512 of the first system portion 510 and the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the second system portion 520, the first system portion 510 can provide power and / or data to the second system portion 520 and / or can receive data from the second system portion 520.

[0045] The external control circuitry 514 and / or the implanted control circuitry 524 can each comprise one or more microprocessors (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits; digital signal processors; generalized integrated circuits programmed by software with computer executable instructions; microelectronic circuitry) and at least one storage device (e.g., at least one tangible or non-transitory computer readable storage medium; read only memory; random access memory; flash memory) configured to store information (e.g., data; commands) accessed by the one or more microprocessors during operation of the transcutaneous system 500. For example, the at least one storage device can be encoded with software (e.g., a computer program downloaded as an application) comprising computer executable instructions for instructing the one or more microprocessors (e.g., executable data access logic, evaluation logic, and / or information outputting logic). In certain implementations, the one or more microprocessors execute the instructions of the software to provide functionality as described herein.

[0046] The second system portion 520 can further comprise a stimulation or measurement subsystem 526 (e.g., stimulator unit 120) operatively coupled to the implanted control circuitry 524 and configured to transmit stimulation signals to the recipient’s tissue 530(e.g., a portion of the recipient’s auditory system, such as the cochlea 140) and / or to generate measurement signals in response to a detected attribute of the recipient’s body (e.g., tissue 530; bodily fluid). For example, the stimulation or measurement subsystem 526 can comprise at least one electrode (e.g., electrodes 148 of an electrode array 146 of an electrode assembly 118) and / or at least one sensor. The at least one electrode can be configured to transmit, via at least one implant-body interface 527, electrical and / or optical signals from the implanted control circuitry 524 to stimulate a portion of the recipient’s body (e.g., cochlea 140; auditory nerve 114). The at least one sensor can be configured to receive, via the at least one implantbody interface 527, electrical and / or optical signals from the recipient’s body and / or to generate electrical and / or optical signals in response to the detected attribute of the recipient’ s body and to transmit the electrical and / or optical signals to the implanted control circuitry 524.

[0047] The first system portion 510 can be held in place relative to the second system portion 520 (e.g., by an attractive magnetic force between the first system portion 510 and the second system portion 520) to facilitate a sufficiently strong and consistent wireless (e.g., transcutaneous) communication channel between the at least one external antenna 512 of the first system portion 510 and the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the second system portion 520 across the tissue 530 between the first and second system portions 510,520.

[0048] In certain implementations in which the transcutaneous system 500 is an auditory prosthesis system (e.g., auditory prosthesis system 100,200,300), the external control circuitry 514 of the first system portion 510 and / or the implanted control circuitry 524 of the second system portion 520 can comprise sound processing circuitry configured to receive data signals (e.g., from at least one external microphone of the first system portion 510 and / or at least one internal microphone of the second system portion 520), to process the data signals (e.g., applying one or more of digitization, shifting, shaping, amplification, compression, filtering, and / or other signal conditioning), and to provide the processed data signals to the stimulation or measurement subsystem 526. The sound processing circuitry can be configured to access (e.g., retrieve; modify; store) signal processing data (e.g., fitting parameters or operational parameter maps) from data storage circuitry (e.g., non-volatile memory; flash memory) of the external control circuitry 514 and / or the implanted control circuitry 524, and to use the signal processing data to process the data signals. The signal processing data can comprise default values (e.g., stored in the data storage circuitry during manufacturing of thefirst and / or second system portions 510,520) or recipient-specific values that are the result of programming of the sound processing circuitry during a fitting procedure. Such fitting procedures are generally performed to generate signal processing data that, when used by the sound processing circuitry, result in proper, safe, and comfortable stimulation signals in response to the received data signals and which are fitted or customized to conform to the specific recipient demands.

[0049] In certain implementations, the computing device 400 is configured to be in operative communication with the first system portion 510 (e.g., via the interface 410) and in operative communication (e.g., via at least one user interface 450) with a user (e.g., operator; clinician; medical professional). The computing device 400 can include, but is not limited to: a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a server computer; a mobile computing device or accessory; a smartphone; a smart tablet. The computing device 400 can be in communication with another device (e.g., via the at least one user interface 450) that is being utilized by the user (e.g., an external device being used by an operator, clinician, or medical professional). In certain implementations, the computing device 400 is external to the first system portion 510, while in certain other implementations, the computing device 400 is incorporated in the first system portion 510. In certain implementations, the computing device 400 is in operable communication with a network (e.g., the internet) and the computing device 400 is configured to transmit data signals (e.g., operational parameters; results from previously-performed fitting procedures) to another device on the network.

[0050] The interface 410 and / or the at least one user interface 450 can comprise any combination of wired and / or wireless ports, including but not limited to: Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 ports; PS / 2 ports; network ports; Ethernet ports; Bluetooth ports; wireless network interfaces; optical interfaces; at least one antenna configured to receive wireless input signals (e.g., radiofrequency signals; Bluetooth signals; Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) signals; WiFi signals) from a device separate from the computing device 400 (e.g., smart phone, smart tablet, smart watch; first system portion 510; other device).

[0051] In certain implementations, the at least one user interface 450 comprises at least one user input interface 452 configured to receive input signals 453 comprising input information (e.g., commands; data; operational parameters such as thresholds that are used bythe first and / or second system portions 510,520) from the user. For example, the at least one user input interface 452 can be configured to be in operative communication with one or more keyboard, computer mouse, touchscreen, switches, buttons, microphone and voice-responsive circuitry, or other devices with which the user can provide the computing device 400 with the input signals 453. In certain implementations, the at least one user interface 450 comprises at least one user output interface 454 configured to transmit output signals 455 comprising output information (e.g., information, alerts, and / or alarms regarding the operative status of the first system portion 510, the second system portion 520, and / or the computing device 400) to the user. For example, the at least one user output interface 454 can be configured to be in operative communication with at least one communication device (e.g., display device; LED or LCD display; screen; status indicator light; audio device; speaker; haptic motor configured to generate vibrations or other tactile signals) configured to communicate the output signals 455 to the user (e.g., during operation of the first system portion 510 under the control of the computing device 400). In certain implementations, the at least one user input interface 452 and the at least one user output interface 454 are integral with one another (e.g., comprising the same ports as one another), while in certain other implementations, the at least one user input interface 452 and the at least one user output interface 454 are separate from one another.

[0052] In certain implementations, the circuitry 420 comprises at least one processor (e.g., application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) microcontroller; digital signal processor; microelectronic circuitry; microcontroller core; at least one integrated circuit) programmed by software with computer executable instructions. The circuitry 420 can further comprise storage circuitry comprising at least one tangible (e.g., non-transitory) computer readable storage medium (e.g., read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory) configured to store information (e.g., data; commands) and / or encoded with computer executable software (e.g., a computer program downloaded as an application; executable data access logic, evaluation logic, and / or information outputting logic) comprising instructions for instructing the circuitry 420 during operation of the computing device 400.

[0053] In certain implementations, the circuitry 420 comprises fitting circuitry 422 configured to control the first system portion 510 and / or the second system portion 520 to perform fitting procedures of the transcutaneous system 500 to initially establish the signalprocessing data and / or to update or revise earlier-established signal processing data (e.g., after the recipient has utilized the transcutaneous system 500 for a substantial amount of time). Fitting procedures can be performed during visits by the recipient to a clinician (e.g., the fitting procedures can be initiated by the clinician using the computing device 400) or can be the result of autonomous programming (e.g., performed, by a transcutaneous system 500 integrated with the computing device 400, without clinical intervention beyond merely initiating the fitting procedure). The fitting procedure can comprise utilizing neural response telemetry (“NRT”) by making measurements of the response of the recipient’s auditory nerve 114 to electrical stimulation applied using the at least one electrode of the stimulation or measurement subsystem 526. NRT can include providing stimulation signals to each stimulation channel (e.g., each electrode 148 of the electrode array 146) and measuring the neural response (e.g., electrically-evoked compound action potential) using another electrode 148 of the electrode array 146 (e.g., a neighboring electrode to the stimulating electrode). These measurements can include collection and determination of recipient-specific parameters such as threshold levels and maximum comfort levels for each stimulation channel. During a visit to the clinician, the clinician-performed fitting procedure can also include the clinician initiating a number of beeps or tones and asking the recipient to judge loudness, over a number of stimulation or frequency channels.

[0054] In certain implementations, the fitting procedure comprises evaluating the quality of the communication channel between the first system portion 510 and the second system portion 520 (e.g., the coupling coefficient between the at least one external antenna 512 and the at least one implanted antenna 522), which is dependent on the distance (e.g., thickness of the tissue 530) between the at least one external antenna 512 of the first system portion 510 and the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the second system portion 520. This thickness of the tissue 530 between the first system portion 510 and the second system portion 520 can be referred to as the skin flap thickness (SFT), as denoted in FIG. 4. Depending on the recipient, the SFT for auditory prosthesis systems can be, for example, in a range of 1 millimeter to 13 millimeters, and the SFT of other types of transcutaneous systems 500 can have a larger maximum value. Besides differences of SFT among different recipients, the SFT can also change under various physiological situations (e.g., weight loss or gain by the recipient; growth of the recipient). Besides affecting the magnitude of the attractive magneticforce used to keep the first system portion 510 positioned on the recipient’s body over the second system portion 520, the SFT affects the transmission efficiency of wireless signals between the first and second system portions 510,520 (e.g., less efficient transmissions utilizing more power resulting in shorter battery life).

[0055] In certain implementations, the dependence of the transmission efficiency on the SFT is used to measure the SFT of a recipient (e.g., during a fitting procedure). For example, the ratio of the magnitude of the power signals received by the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the second system portion 520 to the magnitude of the power signals transmitted by the at least one external antenna 512 of the first system portion 510 can be indicative of the SFT of the recipient. The results of such measurements can be used by a user (e.g., clinician) and / or by the fitting software being executed by the computing device 400 to determine various parameter values to be stored within the first system portion 510 for use by the first system portion 510 during normal operation of the transcutaneous system 500.

[0056] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method 600 in accordance with certain implementations described herein. While the method 600 is described by referring to some of the structures of FIG. 4, other apparatus and systems with other configurations of components can also be used to perform the method 600 in accordance with certain implementations described herein. For example, the method 600 can be performed by the circuitry 420 of the computing device 400 as part of a clinician-initiated fitting procedure or by the transcutaneous system 500 as a result of autonomous programming.

[0057] In an operational block 610, the method 600 comprises obtaining a measured value indicative of a distance (e.g., tissue thickness; skin flap thickness) between at least one first antenna (e.g., at least one external antenna 512) of a first device (e.g., first system portion 510) externally worn on a body portion (e.g., head) of a recipient and at least one second antenna (e.g., at least one implanted antenna 522) of a second device (e.g., second system portion 520) implanted within the body portion. The at least one first antenna is configured to transcutaneously and wirelessly transmit signals (e.g., power signals; data signals; control signals) to the at least one second antenna. For example, the measured value can be indicative of a coupling coefficient between the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna and obtaining the measured value can comprise accessing or receiving a result of a measurement of the ratio of the magnitude of power signals received by the at leastone second antenna of the second device (e.g., the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the second system portion 520) to the magnitude of power signals transmitted by the at least one first antenna of the first device (e.g., the at least one external antenna 512 of the first system portion 510). For another example, the measured value can be indicative of an electrical current flowing through the at least one first antenna (e.g., the at least one external antenna 512) during signal transmission to the at least one second antenna (e.g., the at least one implanted antenna 522).

[0058] In an operational block 620, the method 600 further comprises comparing the measured value to a predetermined value. In an operational block 630, the method 600 further comprises, in response to the measured value being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a first range to be stored in a memory of the first device as a stored operational parameter. In an operational block 640, the method 600 further comprises, in response to the measured value not being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a second range to be stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter, the second range differing from the first range. In certain implementations, the method 600 further comprises accessing the stored operational parameter value (e.g., which is not within the first range or is not within the second range) during operation of the first device (e.g., during signal transmission from the first device to the second device).

[0059] In certain implementations, the operational parameter is a parameter (e.g., constant; function of another parameter such as acoustic frequency) used by the first device and / or the second device during operation of the first device and / or the second device. For example, for an acoustic prosthesis transcutaneous system 500, the operational parameter can be a power output of the at least one first antenna (e.g., at least one external antenna 512) for transmitting data signals corresponding to an acoustic frequency range to the at least one second antenna (e.g., at least one implanted antenna 522). The at least one external antenna 512 for a recipient with a relatively large SFT (e.g., greater than 5 millimeters) is generally less efficient and utilizes larger power outputs for transmissions to the at least one implanted antenna 522 than for a recipient with a relatively small SFT (e.g., less than or equal to 5 millimeters). A user (e.g., clinician) using a computing device (e.g., computing device 400) running fitting software and in operable communication with the external control circuitry 514of the first system portion 510 can set the power output to be used by the first system portion 510 as a function of acoustic frequency (e.g., store the power output value as a function of acoustic frequency in the memory of the first system portion 510). To prevent excessive power usage and shorter battery life, the fitting software can limit the power output values as a function of acoustic frequency that are stored in the memory of the first system portion 510 to be less than a maximum power output (MPO) function (e.g., a set of MPO values, each MPO value to be used in conjunction with a corresponding acoustic frequency band). However, by using a single MPO function for all recipients regardless of the SFT, recipients with smaller SFTs are constrained to using an MPO function that protects recipients with larger SFTs.

[0060] In certain implementations, the computing device running the fitting software is configured to utilize different MPO functions for different recipients with different SFTs. For example, FIG. 6 schematically illustrates plots of two MPO functions as functions of acoustic frequency for use with two different ranges of SFT in accordance with certain implementations described herein. A first MPO function is used with a first range of SFT (e.g., SFT greater than a predetermined value, an example of which can be 5 millimeters) and a second MPO function is used with a second range of SFT (e.g., SFT less than or equal to the predetermined value, an example of which can be 5 millimeters). The first range prohibited from being stored in the memory of the first device (e.g., first system portion 510) can have a lower bound equal to a first MPO and the second range prohibited from being stored in the memory of the first device can have a lower bound equal to a second MPO different from the first MPO.

[0061] For example, in at least one range of acoustic frequencies, the first MPO can be less than the second MPO (e.g., the power output for recipients with larger SFTs are constrained to be lower than the power output for recipients with lower SFTs). If the measured value is greater than a predetermined value (e.g., SFT > 5 millimeters), then the computing device prohibits power values greater than the first MPO function from being stored. If the measured value is not greater than the predetermined value (e.g., SFT < 5 millimeters), then the computing device prohibits power values greater than the second MPO function from being stored.

[0062] While FIGs. 5 and 6 refer to certain implementations in which the measured value is compared to a single predetermined value (e.g., a measured SFT compared to a singlethreshold SFT) for selecting between two alternative operational parameters (e.g., two alternative MPO functions), in certain other implementations, the measured value can be compared to multiple predetermined values for selecting between more than two alternative operational parameters. In certain other implementations, the measured value is inputted into an algorithm (e.g., performed by the circuitry 420) which outputs an appropriate operational parameter for the inputted measured value.

[0063] FIGs. 7A and 7B are flow diagrams of two examples of a portion of the method 600 (e.g., performed by the circuitry 420 of the computing device 400) for conditionally generating the operational parameter value to be stored (e.g., by the transcutaneous system 500) in accordance with certain implementations described herein. While the portion of the method 600 is described by referring to some of the structures of FIG. 4, other apparatus and systems with other configurations of components can also be used in accordance with certain implementations described herein. For example, the operational blocks 620,630,640 can be performed by the circuitry 420 of the computing device 400 as part of a clinician-initiated fitting procedure or by the transcutaneous system 500 as a result of autonomous programming. The operational blocks 620,630,640 can be performed after obtaining a measured value (e.g., measurement) indicative of a tissue thickness (e.g., distance; skin-flap thickness) between the at least one external antenna 512 of the external first system portion 510 and the at least one implanted antenna 522 of the implanted second system portion 520.

[0064] Referring to FIGs. 7A and 7B, comparing the measured value (e.g., SFT measurement; tissue thickness) to the predetermined value (e.g., SFT threshold; threshold thickness) in the operational block 620 can comprise determining whether the measured value is greater than the threshold value. If the measured value is greater than the threshold value (e.g., the measured SFT is greater than 5 millimeters), then the operational block 630 is performed in which an operational parameter (e.g., power output) within a first range (e.g., greater than the first MPO) is prohibited from being stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter. If the measured value is not greater than the predetermined value (e.g., the measured SFT is not greater than 5 millimeters), then the operational block 640 is performed in which the operational parameter (e.g., power output) within a second range(e.g., greater than the second MPO) is prohibited from being stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter.

[0065] For example, referring to FIG. 7A, in the operational block 630, if a user parameter value (e.g., the power output value provided by the user to the computing device 400 via the at least one user input interface 452; user-specified maximum power output for the first system portion 510 to wirelessly transmit communication signals to the second system portion 520) is less than a first preset parameter value (e.g., less than the first MPO), then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value (e.g., the power output value stored in the first system portion 510) to be equal to the user parameter value. If the user parameter value is not less than the first preset parameter value, then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value to be equal to the first preset parameter value. In the operational block 640, if the user parameter value is less than a second preset parameter value (e.g., less than the second MPO), then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value. If the user parameter value is not less than the second preset parameter value, then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value to be equal to the second preset parameter value.

[0066] For another example, referring to FIG. 7B, in the operational block 630, if a user parameter value (e.g., the power output value provided by the user to the computing device 400 via the at least one user input interface 452) is less than a first preset parameter value (e.g., less than the first MPO), then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value (e.g., the power output value stored in the first system portion 510) to be equal to the user parameter value. If the user parameter value is not less than the first preset parameter value, then the computing device 400 communicates to the user (e.g., via the at least one user output interface 454) that the user parameter value is impermissible (e.g., prohibited; within the first range; greater than the first MPO). In the operational block 640, if the user parameter value is less than a second preset parameter value (e.g., less than the second MPO), then the computing device 400 sets the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value. If the user parameter value is not less than the second preset parameter value, then the computing device 400 communicates to the user that the user parameter value is impermissible (e.g., prohibited; within the second range; greater than the second MPO). Thecommunications from the computing device 400 can be configured to prompt the user to provide an alternative user parameter value that is less than the first preset parameter value.

[0067] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an example method 800 for dynamic regulation of the MPO in accordance with certain implementations described herein. For example, the dynamic regulation of the MPO can be performed (e.g., by the external control circuitry 514 of the first system portion 510) during normal operation of the transcutaneous system 500 (e.g., operation during which the first system portion 510 is not in operable communication with the computing device 400) and / or during a fitting procedure. In this way, instead of using an MPO that is fixed (e.g., programmed during the fitting procedure) and unchanging, the transcutaneous system 500 of certain implementations can use a dynamically updated MPO (e.g., an MPO that is a function of a temporally varying operational parameter) during and without interruption of normal operation.

[0068] In an operational block 810, the method 800 comprises obtaining information indicative of at least one temporally varying operational parameter of the transcutaneous system 500. For example, the external control circuitry 514 (e.g., digital signal processor) of the first system portion 510 can be configured to receive signals (e.g., backlink telemetry signals) from the implanted control circuitry 524 of the second system portion 520, the signals indicative of the at least one temporally varying operational parameter (e.g., the temporally varying implant voltage level V(t) of the second system portion 520). For another example, the external control circuitry 514 can be configured to generate information indicative of the at least one temporally varying operational parameter (e.g., the temporally varying RF link current consumption PL(tp, which can be logged by the external control circuitry 514 during normal operation. Other temporally varying operational parameters are also compatible with certain implementations described herein.

[0069] In an operational block 820, the method 800 further comprises responding to the information by dynamically generating an MPO value as a function of time (e.g., MPO(t) = f(PL, V)). For example, the external control circuitry 514 can periodically modify (e.g., regulate) the MPO value used during normal operation in response to the information. The transcutaneous system 500 reaching an acceptable implant voltage level V(t) by using a relatively high RF link current consumption value PL(t) can be indicative of a large SFT (e.g., coil-to-coil distance between the at least one external antenna 512 and the at least oneimplanted antenna 522) and the external control circuitry 514 of the first system portion 510 can respond to such information by modifying the MPO to correspond to such an SFT. The transcutaneous system 500 reaching an acceptable implant voltage level V(t) by using a relatively low RF link current consumption value PL(t) can be indicative of a small SFT, and the external control circuitry 514 can respond to such information by increasing the MPO value.

[0070] In certain implementations, responding to the information by dynamically generating the MPO value as a function of time comprises time- averaging the information over a predetermined time period and responding to the time-averaged information. In this way, the external control circuitry 514 can avoid (e.g., prevent; minimize) unduly responding to rapid changes of the information that would otherwise result in aberrant MPO values. For example, a loud sound input to an acoustic prosthesis transcutaneous system 500 can initiate a concomitant large sound output for which both the implant voltage level V(t) and the RF link current consumption value PL(t) can begin to increase. By time-averaging the implant voltage level V(t) and / or the RF link current consumption value PL(.t), certain implementations can avoid (e.g., prevent; minimize) unduly reducing the MPO value.

[0071] Although commonly used terms are used to describe the systems and methods of certain implementations for ease of understanding, these terms are used herein to have their broadest reasonable interpretations. Although various aspects of the disclosure are described with regard to illustrative examples and implementations, the disclosed examples and implementations should not be construed as limiting. Conditional language, such as, among others, "can," "could," "might," or "may," unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain implementations include, while other implementations do not include, certain features, elements and / or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and / or steps are in any way required for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and / or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a nonexclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may bepresent, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

[0072] It is to be appreciated that the implementations disclosed herein are not mutually exclusive and may be combined with one another in various arrangements. In addition, although the disclosed methods and apparatuses have largely been described in the context of various devices, various implementations described herein can be incorporated in a variety of other suitable devices, methods, and contexts. More generally, as can be appreciated, certain implementations described herein can be used in a variety of implantable medical device contexts that can benefit from certain attributes described herein.

[0073] Language of degree, as used herein, such as the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” and “substantially,” represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within ± 10% of, within ± 5% of, within ± 2% of, within ± 1 % of, or within ± 0.1% of the stated amount. As another example, the terms “generally parallel” and “substantially parallel” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel by ± 10 degrees, by ± 5 degrees, by ± 2 degrees, by ± 1 degree, or by ± 0.1 degree, and the terms “generally perpendicular” and “substantially perpendicular” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly perpendicular by ± 10 degrees, by ± 5 degrees, by ± 2 degrees, by ± 1 degree, or by ± 0.1 degree. The ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all overlap, sub-ranges, and combinations thereof. Language such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” less than,” “between,” and the like includes the number recited. As used herein, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “said” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “into” and “on,” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0074] While the methods and systems are discussed herein in terms of elements labeled by ordinal adjectives (e.g., first, second, etc.), the ordinal adjective are used merely as labels to distinguish one element from another (e.g., one signal from another or one circuit from one another), and the ordinal adjective is not used to denote an order of these elements or of their use.

[0075] The invention described and claimed herein is not to be limited in scope by the specific example implementations herein disclosed, since these implementations are intended as illustrations, and not limitations, of several aspects of the invention. Any equivalent implementations are intended to be within the scope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the invention in form and detail, in addition to those shown and described herein, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the claims. The breadth and scope of the invention should not be limited by any of the example implementations disclosed herein but should be defined only in accordance with the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising: obtaining a measured value indicative of a distance between at least one first antenna of a first device on a body portion of a recipient and at least one second antenna of a second device implanted within the body portion, the at least one first antenna configured to transcutaneously and wirelessly transmit signals to the at least one second antenna; comparing the measured value to a predetermined value; in response to the measured value being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a first range to be stored in a memory of the first device as a stored operational parameter; and in response to the measured value not being greater than the predetermined value, prohibiting an operational parameter within a second range to be stored in the memory of the first device as the stored operational parameter, the second range differing from the first range.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing the stored operational parameter value during operation of the first device.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the signals transmitted from the at least one first antenna to the at least one second antenna comprise power signals.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first device comprises an externally-worn portion of an acoustic prosthesis system and the second device comprises an implanted portion of the acoustic prosthesis system.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the acoustic prosthesis system comprises a bone conduction acoustic prosthesis.

6. The method of claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the operational parameter value is a power output of the at least one first antenna for transmitting signals corresponding to an acoustic frequency range, a lower bound of the first range equal to a first maximum power output (MPO) and a lower bound of the second range equal to a second MPO different from the first MPO.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the measured value is indicative of a coupling coefficient between the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the measured value is an electrical current flowing through the at least one first antenna during signal transmission to the at least one second antenna.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one first antenna comprises a first magnetic inductance (MI) antenna and the at least one second antenna comprises a second MI antenna.

10. A computing device comprising: an interface configured to be operatively coupled with a first system portion, the first system portion configured to be worn externally on a recipient and to wirelessly communicate with a second system portion implanted within the recipient; and circuitry configured to: communicate via the interface with the first system portion so as to generate at least one measurement indicative of a tissue thickness between the first system portion and the second system portion; receive input signals from a user, the input signals indicative of a user parameter value to be stored in the first system portion and accessed by the first system portion during operation of the first system portion; in response to the at least one measurement and the user parameter value, conditionally generate an operational parameter value; and transmit an output signal to the first system portion via the interface, the output signal indicative of the operational parameter value.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the circuitry is configured to conditionally generate the operational parameter value by: upon the tissue thickness being greater than a threshold thickness and the user parameter value being less than a first preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value;upon the tissue thickness being greater than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being greater than the first preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the first preset parameter value; upon the tissue thickness being less than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being less than a second preset parameter value different from the first preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value; and upon the tissue thickness being less than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being greater than the second preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the second preset parameter value.

12. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising a user interface configured to communicate information to the user, wherein the circuitry is configured to conditionally generate the operational parameter value by: upon the tissue thickness being greater than a threshold thickness and the user parameter value being less than a first preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value; upon the tissue thickness being greater than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being greater than the first preset parameter value, communicating to the user via the user interface that the user parameter value is impermissible; upon the tissue thickness being less than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being less than a second preset parameter value different from the first preset parameter value, setting the operational parameter value to be equal to the user parameter value; and upon the tissue thickness being less than the threshold thickness and the user parameter value being greater than the second preset parameter value, communicating to the user via the user interface that the user parameter value is impermissible.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the user parameter value is a user- specified maximum power output (MPO) for the first system portion to wirelessly transmit communication signals to the second system portion, the first preset parameter value is a first MPO, and the second preset parameter value is a second MPO.

14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the first MPO is less than the secondMPO.

15. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the first system portion is worn on skin of the recipient and the second system portion is implanted on and substantially parallel to a bone surface of the recipient.

16. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 15, wherein the first system portion comprises at least one external antenna, the second system portion comprises at least one implanted antenna, and the at least one measurement comprises detecting a ratio of a magnitude of power signals received by the at least one implanted antenna to a magnitude of power signals transmitted by the at least one external antenna.

17. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 16, further comprising at least one user input interface configured to receive input information from a user and / or at least one user output interface configured to transmit output information to the user.

18. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 17, wherein the interface is selected from the group consisting of: Universal Serial Bus (USB) port; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 port; PS / 2 port; network port; Ethernet port; Bluetooth port; wireless network interface; optical interface; at least one antenna configured to receive wireless input signals from the first system portion.

19. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 18, further comprising at least one user input interface configured to receive input from a user.

20. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 19, further comprising at least one user output interface configured to transmit output information to a user.

21. The use of a computing device according to any one of claims 10 to 20 in a sleep disorder system, a seizure system, a balance or movement disorder system, a tinnitus management system, or sensory prosthesis system.

22. The computing device of any of claims 10 to 20, wherein the computing device is a component of a sleep disorder device, a seizure device, a balance or movement disorder device, a tinnitus management device, or a sensory prosthesis device.

23. A method comprising: obtaining information indicative of at least one temporally varying operational parameter of a transcutaneous system; and responding to the information by dynamically generating a maximum power output (MPO) value of the transcutaneous system as a function of time.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the transcutaneous system comprises a first device on a recipient and a second device implanted within the recipient.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first device comprises first circuitry, and wherein said obtaining information is performed by the first circuitry and said responding to the information is performed by the first circuitry.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first device comprises at least one first antenna and the second device comprises at least one second antenna and second circuitry, the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna configured to transcutaneously and wirelessly transmit signals to one another, the first circuitry configured to receive signals via the at least one first antenna indicative of the at least one temporally varying operational parameter from the second circuitry.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the signals received by the first circuitry are backlink telemetry signals.

28. The method of any of claims 24 to 27, wherein the at least one temporally varying operational parameter comprises a temporally varying implant voltage level V(t) of the second device and / or a temporally varying RF link current consumption PL(t).

29. The method of any of claims 23 to 28, wherein said responding to the information comprises time-averaging the information over a predetermined time period and responding to the time-averaged information.

30. The method of any one of claims 23 to 29 performed by circuitry of a sleep disorder system, a seizure system, a balance or movement disorder system, a tinnitus management system, or sensory prosthesis system.

31. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that instructs a computer system to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9 and claims 23 to 30.

Images