957 results about "Inner ear" patented technology

An improved steerable catheter with biased, in-plane bi-directional deflection has an elongated catheter body, a deflectable intermediate section having a tubing with at least a first and a second off-axis opposing lumens for puller wires that define a plane of deflection, and a control handle at a proximal end of the catheter body. The deflectable intermediate section includes at least two elongated bias members that extend along the length and lie on a plane perpendicular to the plane of deflection so as to resist flexure outside of the plane of deflection. In a more detailed embodiment, the deflectable intermediate section has an integrated tubular construction that includes an inner layer, a braided mesh surrounding the inner layer and an outer layer, where the bias members can be situated between the inner layer and the braided mesh, or between the braided mesh and the outer layer.

A delivery device that allows for the sustained release of an agent, particularly useful for the sustained release of a therapeutic agent to limited access regions, such as the posterior chamber of the eye and inner ear. The delivery device is minimally invasive, refillable and may be easily fixed to the treatment area. The delivery device includes a hollow body with an inlet port at its proximal end for insertion of the agent, a reservoir for holding the agent and a delivery mechanism for the sustained delivery of the agent from the reservoir to the patient.

A drug administration system configured to administer a drug to a user's ear includes a housing, sized and shaped to substantially fit behind the user's ear, and configured to pump the drug in controlled amounts to the user's middle ear. A drug reservoir is disposed in the housing and includes a drug configured to treat an inner ear condition. A catheter is operatively coupled to the drug reservoir and is sized and shaped to extend from the drug administration unit into the user's middle ear.

An implantable hearing unit is provided that includes an implantable microphone, a rechargeable power storage device and a speech signal processor. The hearing unit further includes a signal coupling device that is adapted for electrical interconnection to an implantable auditory stimulation device, which is operative to stimulate an auditory component of a patient. Such a stimulation device may include cochlear implants, brain stem stimulation systems, auditory nerve stimulation systems, and middle or inner ear transducer systems. The signal coupling device is operative to provide processed drive signals from the signal processor to the stimulation device as well provide power from the power storage device to operate the stimulation device. In one arrangement, the signal coupling device is a wireless coupling between first and second coils. In such an arrangement, the hearing unit may be utilized with an existing implanted stimulation device to make that device a fully implanted hearing system.

An implantable lead adapted to transmit electrical signals between a connector assembly on a proximal end of the lead and at least one electrode carried by a distal end of the lead comprises a helical fixation element extendable and retractable from the distal end of the lead, the header comprising (a) an inner header part comprising an electrically conductive material that is substantially transparent fluoroscopically, the inner header part having a distal end, (b) an outer header part comprising an electrically insulating material, and (c) a collar attached to the distal end of the inner header part. The collar comprises a material that is substantially opaque fluoroscopically. The collar may be electrically conductive, and electrically and mechanically connected, preferably by means of an overlap joint, to the distal end of the inner header part. The conductive collar thus may be electrically connected to an electrical contact on the connector assembly via the electrically conductive inner header part, whereby the collar may be used for mapping the electrical activity of local body tissue. Alternatively, the collar may be electrically isolated by, for example, covering the outer surface of the collar with an electrically insulating layer.

A personal hearing control system includes a microphone located within a user's sealed ear canal, a speaker having a diaphragm which directs sound into the ear canal, and a controller which drives the speaker such that the system emulates the acoustics of the user's open ear canal. Also provided are a microphone located on the outer ear side of the sealed ear canal, which is coupled to a handheld interface unit having multiple inputs and operating modes. A user-selected input is processed by the interface unit, and the processed signal is coupled to the speaker. In one operating mode, the output of the outer ear mic is processed so as to cancel sound that leaks from the outer ear to the inner ear side of the seal.

Methods and apparatus for treating tinnitus are described where an oral appliance having an electronic and / or transducer assembly for generating sounds via a vibrating transducer element is coupled to a tooth or teeth. Generally, the transducer may generate one or more frequencies of sound via the actuatable transducer positioned against at least one tooth such that the sound is transmitted via vibratory conductance to an inner ear of the patient, whereby the sound completely or at least partially masks or provides sound therapy for habituation of the tinnitus perceived by the patient. The one or more generated frequencies may be correlated to measured tinnitus frequencies or they may be preset.

Chronic Otitis Media with Effusion (COME), Recurrent Acute Otitis Media (RAOM), cholesteatoma, and other bacterial ear conditions may be treated by applying a solvating system containing greater than 0.2 wt. % surfactant to a bacterial biofilm in the middle or inner ear, disrupting the biofilm, and applying a protective layer of a polymeric film-forming medical sealant.

A hearing enhancement includes an audio processor that generates an electrical audio signal and transmits the signal to a coil. The coil is implanted into a patient in a position that results in transmission of mechanical stimulation to the inner ear when the coil is spatially displaced. A permanent magnet is placed in proximity to the coil so that when the coil receives the electrical audio signal form the processor, the induced coil magnetic field in the coil interacts with the magnetic field from the permanent magnet to spatially displace the coil and, as a result, transmit the mechanical stimulation to the inner ear.

The invention relates to methods for the prevention and / or treatment of tinnitus induced by cochlear excitotoxicity. In these methods, a pharmaceutical composition comprising an NMDA receptor antagonist is administered to an individual in need of such treatment by appropriate devices and / or formulations for local administration to the inner ear. The tinnitus to be prevented and / or treated may be provoked by acoustic trauma, presbycusis, ischemia, anoxia, treatment with one or more ototoxic medications, sudden deafness, or other cochlear excitotoxic-inducing occurrence. The invention also relates to method for the identification of compounds effective in the treatment and prevention of tinnitus by a novel screening method incorporating an electrophysiological test method.

Disclosed is a hearing aid assembly wherein the hearing aid is comprised of an acoustic receiver, an acoustic transmitter, and a body, and an annular channel, wherein the acoustic receiver is designed to fit into a external acoustic meatus of an ear, the acoustic transmitter is designed to fit into a inner ear canal, and the generally cylindrical body is disposed between the receiver and the transmitter, the annular channel is disposed on the surface of the body such that it circumscribes the body's circumference. The annular channel is adapted to receive an annular ring which functions as an acoustic seal.

An electrical lead, for implantation in an animal, is compatible with an MRI scanner. The electrical lead has a first plurality of coiled insulated wires forming an outer layer of conductors that has a first inductance and a first capacitance, which act as a first parallel resonator tuned to a Larmor frequency of tissue in the animal. The lead may have a second plurality of coiled insulated wires forming an inner layer of conductors within the outer layer of conductors. The second plurality of coiled insulated wires has a second inductance and a second capacitance that act as a second parallel resonator tuned to the Larmor frequency. Those parallel resonators mitigate signals at the Larmor frequency from traveling along the respective coil. An electrically conductive layer extends around the inner and / or outer layer of conductors, and a layer of a biologically compatible material forms the electrical lead's exterior surface.

A system for welding communication that includes a welding headgear and a bone conduction transducer (BCT) disposed in or on the welding headgear is provided. The BCT facilitates communication of signals to a welding operator via bone conduction. The bone conduction facilitates the transmission of sound directly to an inner ear of the welding operator.

An at least partially implantable system for rehabilitation of a hearing disorder with at least one acoustic sensor (microphone) for picking up an acoustic sensor signal and converting the acoustic sensor signal into corresponding electrical signals, an electronic signal processing unit for audio signal processing and amplification, an electrical power supply unit which supplies individual components of the system with energy, and an output-side actuator stimulation arrangement, the actuator stimulation arrangement has a dual intracochlear arrangement in combination with a stimulator arrangement with at least one stimulator element for at least indirect mechanical stimulation of a damaged inner ear and one electrically acting stimulation electrode arrangement with at least one cochlear implant electrode for electrical stimulation of the inner ear.

A variable angle connection between a spinal rod (A) and a vertebral anchor (B) with a clevis (3) to attach to the vertebral anchor, permitting the vertebral anchor to be longitudinally offset from the connecting point on the rod. The connection assembly has a bolt (2) with an aperture (6) for receiving a portion of the spinal implant rod at one end. The assembly also has a clevis (3). The clevis defines a bore (7) to hold a portion of the vertebral anchor and the ears (8, 9) of the clevis have holes through which the bolt is located with the bolt rotatably connected to the ears. The assembly also has a rod interface washer (4) positioned over a portion of the bolt, between the aperture (6) of the bolt and the inside ear of the clevis. The rod interface washer is partly movable between the aperture of the bolt and the clevis, but the washer is fixed against rotating in relation to the bolt. Finally, the assembly also includes a compression member (5) that pushes the rod toward the vertebral anchor so that the inside and outside ears of said clevis are pressed together and the clevis is tightened the vertebral anchor.

A vibrator for a bone conduction-type hearing aid device by which sound information is mechanically transmitted via the skull bone directly to the inner ear of a person with impaired hearing. The vibrator includes a coil that is directly into two coil halves for generating a dynamic magnetic field and a permanent magnet for generating a static magnetic field. The permanent magnet is radially magnetized and arranged in such a way that the static and dynamic magnetic fields coincide in air gaps formed between the coil and magnet arrangement and the casing, whereby the vibrator provides an axial force.

Apparatus for use in a hearing aid wherein a first microphone is connected to the hearing aid case and exposed to free air and a second microphone is connected to the hearing aid case and sealed from free air. The audio inputs from the two microphones are applied to a subtractive circuit so as to cancel any audio signals transmitted through the case of the hearing aid while passing audio signals received by the microphone exposed to free air. In another aspect of the invention, a hearing aid of the behind-the-ear (BTE) type couples sound from the hearing aid loudspeaker through a hollow tube to an inner portion of the ear. A second hollow tube is coupled between a third microphone on the hearing aid case and an outer portion of the ear. Some sound emanating from the tube disposed in the inner ear, exits the ear and is picked up by the second tube and directed to the third microphone. The signal from the third microphone is nulled out by the electronic circuitry of the hearing aid. The gain and phase of the signals picked up by the second tube are automatically adjusted to provide the intended nulling and resulting minimization of acoustical feedback.

An implantable biocompatible lead that is also compatible with a magnetic resonance imaging scanner for the purpose of diagnostic quality imaging is described. The implantable electrical lead comprises a plurality of coiled insulated conducting wires wound in a first direction forming a first structure of an outer layer of conductors of a first total length with a first number of turns per unit length and a plurality of coiled insulated conducting wires wound in a second direction forming a second structure of an inner layer of conductors of a second total length with a second number of turns per unit length. The first and the second structures are separated by a distance with a layer of dielectric material. The distance and dielectric material are chosen based on the field strength of the MRI scanner. The lead may further comprise a conducting layer formed by coating a material consisting of medium conducting particles in physical contact with each other and a mechanically flexible, biocompatible layer forming an external layer of lead and in contact with body tissue or body fluids.

An electromechanical actuator (100) suitable, for example, in hearing aid applications is disclosed. Certain embodiments of the actuator comprise a hermetic titanium housing (1), a mechanical output structure (110) emulating the long process of incus (8), and means for efficiently generating movement in the audible frequency range. The electromechanical actuator (100) may be configured to be coupled to the inner ear fluids via a conventional stapes prosthesis. The implantable actuator (100), which may be considered to be operably equivalent to a loudspeaker of a conventional hearing aid, may bypass the outer and the middle ear in order to directly drive the inner ear fluids. As such, embodiments of the electromechanical actuator of the present invention may be used to remedy any source of conductive hearing loss. Additionally, certain embodiments of the electromechanical actuator may be configured to provide sufficiently high output levels to treat severe sensorineural hearing loss while being sufficiently small to completely fit into a human mastoid.

A low-frequency lung vibration apparatus is designed to vibrate lungs clogged by sputum, using acoustic waves. The freed sputum becomes easier to be removed by expectoration. The apparatus includes a garment composed of layers, a plurality of electro-mechanical or dynamic vibrators and a controlling unit. An inner layer contains a loading and shape conforming material, while an outer shell holds the vibrators, the controller and the inner garment together. An outer shell is made of a non-stretch material. Several fasteners / zippers hold the inner garment in place and several strategically placed straps allow a tight fit of the garment. The loading created by the layers of the apparatus is tailored to cause the existence of a uniform compression-expansion resonance of the lungs beneficial for sputum removal. A controlling unit allows the detection of a person's lungs resonance frequency and controls the vibrator(s) frequency and amplitude during a treatment.

A floating mass transducer for assisting hearing in a person is provided. Inertial vibration in the floating mass transducer (100) produces vibrations in the inner ear. In an exemplary embodiment, the floating mass transducer comprises a magnet assembly (12) and a coil (14) secured inside a housing (10) which is attached to bone within the middle ear. The coil is more rigidly secured to the housing than the magnet. The magnet assembly and coil are configured such that conducting alternating electrical current through the coil results in vibration of the magnet assembly and coil relative to one another. The vibration is caused by the interaction of the magnetic fields of the magnet assembly and coil. Because the coil is more rigidly secured to the housing than the magnet assembly, the vibrations of the coil cause the housing to vibrate. The floating mass transducer may generate vibrations in the inner ear by being attached to the skull or through a mouthpiece.

The invention relates to one or more inhibitors, in particular siRNAs, which down-regulate the expression of human pro-apoptotic genes. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound, or a vector capable of expressing the compound, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention also contemplates a method of treating or preventing the incidence or severity of hearing impairment (or balance impairment), particularly hearing impairment associated with cell death of the inner ear hair cells or outer ear hair cells, comprising administering to the patient the pharmaceutical composition in a therapeutically effective dose so as to thereby treat the patient.

Methods and apparatus for treating tinnitus are described where an oral appliance having an electronic and / or transducer assembly for generating sounds via a vibrating transducer element is coupled to a tooth or teeth. Generally, the transducer may generate one or more frequencies of sound via the actuatable transducer positioned against at least one tooth such that the sound is transmitted via vibratory conductance to an inner ear of the patient, whereby the sound completely or at least partially masks or provides sound therapy for habituation of the tinnitus perceived by the patient. The one or more generated frequencies may be correlated to measured tinnitus frequencies or they may be preset.

A spheno-temporal bone conduction communication equipment and / or hearing aid includes a system device, a bone skin conduction oscillator and a carrier device for supporting said abovementioned devices. The carrier device has a structural body, and the structural body allows the supported bone skin conduction oscillator in close contact with the spheno-temporal bone. The bone skin conduction oscillator contains a transducer, and the transducer converts an electrical signal into an acoustic oscillating wave and transmits the acoustic oscillating wave into the inner ear via spheno-temporal bone, or receives an acoustic oscillating wave produced by vibration of the skull when speaking and converts it into an electrical signal. The equipment implements bone conduction transmission of the acoustic oscillating wave via spheno-temporal bone, and can be used in bone conduction speaker, bone conduction microphone, bone conduction multimedia device, bone conduction hearing aid device or bone conduction communication device. The equipment can be used with a nasal bone conduction device, can avoid the defect of much external noise when using air conduction mode and overcome shortcomings of the structure easy to slide and inconvenience to add the component when using commonly used bone conduction.

A catheter having a distal tip with an inner layer formed of a polymeric material having a coefficient of friction and surface energy which are relatively low, such that the inner layer has a lubricious, non-polar inner surface repulsive to polar liquids. As a result, blood coagulation in the distal tip, and adherence of the distal tip on the guidewire are prevented or minimized.

The invention relates to methods for the prevention and / or treatment of tinnitus induced by cochlear excitotoxicity. In these methods, a pharmaceutical composition comprising an NMDA receptor antagonist is administered to an individual in need of such treatment by appropriate devices and / or formulations for local administration to the inner ear. The tinnitus to be prevented and / or treated may be provoked by acoustic trauma, presbycusis, ischemia, anoxia, sudden deafness, or other cochlear excitotoxic-inducing occurrence.

Tinnitus masking systems for treating tinnitus are described where a device is coupled to a surface of a bone or to a tooth or several teeth. Such a device may comprise an oral appliance having an electronic and / or transducer assembly for generating sounds via a vibrating transducer element. Generally, the transducer may generate one or more frequencies of sound via the actuatable transducer to transmit a modified audio signal via vibratory conductance to an inner ear of the patient to mask tinnitus during a peak of the audio signal and to allow the user to perceive the tinnitus during a trough of the audio signal. The audio signal is also modified to account for any hearing loss of the patient as well as a bone conductance profile measured from the patient.

An therapeutic agent delivery device that can allows is particularly suitable for delivery of a therapeutic agent to limited access regions, such as the posterior chamber of the eye and inner ear. Preferred devices of the invention are minimally invasive, refillable and may be easily fixed to the treatment area. Preferred delivery devices of the invention also include those that comprise a non-linear shaped body member body housing one or more substances and a delivery mechanism for the sustained delivery of the one or more substances from the non-linear shaped body member to the patient.