229 results about "Middle ear" patented technology

An apparatus for displacing a partition between a middle ear and an inner ear to treat the symptoms of Meniere's disease or endolymphatic hydrops comprises a treatment member for being disposed in the middle ear adjacent the partition and a driver for driving the treatment member to move against the partition to thereby displace the partition at an infrasonic frequency to influence fluid distribution in the inner ear. A method for treating an ear comprises the steps of disposing a treatment device within the middle ear and moving at least a portion of the treatment device against the partition at an infrasonic frequency to displace the partition to influence fluid in the inner 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.

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.

Apparatus and method for treating a disease or condition of the ear, such as Meniere's disease or endolymphatic hydrops, includes a manual device operable by hand to pressurize air and pressure transmitting arrangement for delivering the pressurized air to the middle ear, preferably in pulses, to displace the partition between the middle ear and the inner ear to influence fluid in the inner ear.

The invention provides a flexible ear tube (10) for draining and ventilating the middle ear, the tube (10) having a flexible substantially tubular stem (12) with a lumen (14), the stem (12) being sized to be inserted through an incision in the eardrum (16) and the tube having at least two separate flexible contact surfaces (18) extending from the stem (12) and adapted to engage different spaced-apart inner surfaces of the eardrum 16, each of the contact surfaces (18) having a first axis XX extending substantially perpendicularly to the central axis of the stem and a second axis YY extending substantially perpendicularly to the first axis wherein one of the axes is between 0.6 and 3 mm and the second of the axes is between 1 and 7 mm in length.

A device and method for treating maladies, particularly of the external ear canal and eardrum, is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment the device comprises an earplug or plug and a delivery bulb that holds treatment fluid. A lumen extends through the earplug and connects the delivery bulb to an orifice located at the distal end of the earplug. A one-way valve is located along the lumen to allow treatment fluid to only flow from the delivery bulb to the orifice and not vice versa. The earplug forms a seal with the patient's external ear canal and, combined with the one-way valve, retains treatment fluid in the patient's external ear canal where it can perform its therapeutic function. In one embodiment, the invention includes a collection bag connected through the earplug to an orifice near the distal end of the earplug to collected waste treatment fluid. The therapeutic method comprises using a device, as disclosed herein, to deliver treatment fluids to the patient's external ear canal for irrigation, for the therapeutic benefit of the treatment fluids for the short and long term or to deliver treatment fluid to a patient's external ear canal where it can pass into the patient's middle ear through a tympanostomy tube placed in the patient's eardrum.

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 method and apparatus for minimizing or eliminating the transmission of vibration away from, as well as induction of vibration into, a middle ear driving or sensing structure of an at least partially implantable hearing aid system. A vibration damping intermediary layer may be positioned between an originating structure and its housing, and / or between a housing and its mounting to the surrounding. The intermediary layer may be formed of a structure having elastic and damping characteristics. The intermediary layer may also have a number of fluid flow paths for absorbing energy and damping vibration.

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 present invention relates to a round window driving transducer for easy implantation and an implantable hearing device having the same. The round window driving transducer is implantable in the round window of the cochlea in the middle ear cavity, and has excellent high frequency characteristics, which can assist patients with sensorineural hearing loss to hear sound better. The round window driving transducer can be placed inside the middle ear cavity, radiate sound with high efficiency, and be implanted by surgery using a fixing part formed with shape memory alloy, shape memory resin, or a bendable spring structure. Further, the round window driving transducer can overcome problems of the prior art, such as a difficult surgery and low vibration efficiency, which would inevitably occur when floating mass transducers are implanted in a drilled groove in the bone or when various types of piezoelectric transducers are implanted in the round window.

The invention relates to a method for objectively and quantifiably evaluating noise fret degree in a vehicle based on an auditory model, in particular to an evaluation method of psychoacoustics and vehicle sound quality. The method comprises the following steps: designing a dummy head model; imitating a processing mechanism of the middle ear and the inner ear of a human body to the sound by usingan auditory peripheral calculation model; collecting vehicle noise signals under the working conditions of uniform, accelerated and idle speed; pre-treating the noise sample and processing the loudness in specification; obtaining a psychoacoustics parameter by using a sound quality calculation model; obtaining subjective evaluation result test data by using a grouped and paired comparison method;calculating and painting a correlated scatter plot chart between each parameter and the ranking value of the subjective evaluation result; and analyzing and calculating to obtain the objectively quantifiable model of the subjective fret degree under each working condition. The invention can realize the psychoacoustic parameter calculation of objectively evaluating the sound quality with differentvehicle types, gears and speeds, wherein the calculated value has good pertinence and consistency with the evaluated result of the subjective evaluation method. The invention has stable evaluated result and high reliability, and can improve the sound quality and competitiveness of vehicles combined with the design of new CAE cars.

The invention provides a flexible ear tube (10) for draining and ventilating the middle ear, the tube (10) having a flexible substantially tubular stem (12) with a lumen (14), the stem (12) being sized to be inserted through an incision in the eardrum (16) and the tube having at least two separate flexible contact surfaces (18) extending from the stem (12) and adapted to engage different spaced-apart inner surfaces of the eardrum 16, each of the contact surfaces (18) having a first axis XX extending substantially perpendicularly to the central axis of the stem and a second axis YY extending substantially perpendicularly to the first axis wherein one of the axes is between 0.6 and 3 mm and the second of the axes is between 1 and 7 mm in length.

Improved formulations of gacyclidine for direct administration to the inner or middle ear.

An apparatus for equalizing pressure in a middle ear includes a hand-held air source for providing a continuous flow of air at a predetermined rate and a tapered sealing nostril plug adapted to be sealed against a nostril. The tapered nostril plug has a channel there through for delivering the continuous flow of air. The channel of the tapered plug is adapted to be placed in communication with the air source through an adjustable valve assembly for selecting a pressure limit for the air in the channel of the nostril plug.

Stimulation of the facial nerve system (e.g., electrically, electromagnetically, etc.) in stroke patients will cause dilation of occluded arteries and dilation of surrounding arteries, allowing for blood flow to circumvent the obstruction and reach previously-deprived tissue. The device approaches the facial nerve and its branches in the vicinity of the ear. In use, the device can be inserted into the ear canal or placed in proximity to the ear in order to stimulate the facial nerve system without puncturing the tympanic membrane (e.g., using an electromagnetic field). The device can also be advanced into the middle ear through a puncture created in the tympanic membrane. Branches of the facial nerve in the middle ear can then be stimulated directly (e.g., by application of electrical current). The device can be used in the emergency treatment of acute stroke or as chronically-implanted / inserted variations for long-term maintenance of blood flow to the brain and stroke prevention

An electrophysiological measurement method and system is provided for positioning an implantable transducer of a hearing instrument relative to a middle ear component or inner ear of a patient. The method and system employ electrophysiological measurement signals obtained in response to test signals applied to an implanted transducer. In one embodiment, the electrophysiological measurements are obtained by an electrocochleography measurement device that measures the cochlear summating potential and / or action potential responsive to test signals applied to an implanted transducer. In another embodiment, an auditory brainstem response measurement device is utilized to obtain electrical potential measurement signals responsive to test signals applied to an implanted transducer.

An apparatus, software, procedures and technology that, beginning with a simple manipulative auditory paradigm, moves up the auditory neural pathways, modifying the basic stimulus from a unilateral routine audiology tool to a dichotic central auditory processing diagnostic tool that defines hearing loss along the entire auditory chain from the middle ear to the cortex. From the resultant data comes information related to the reduction of tinnitus employing parathreshold central procedures rather than the traditional suprathreshold masking or phase-shifting techniques. The new application modifies and applies known technology in new ways for both the top-down and bottom-up differential diagnosis of auditory disorders and the tinnitus reduction.

A simple cochlear implant is provided that avoids excavation of the mastoid bone. The cochlear implant includes one or more modules for housing the active and passive electronics, and an electrode array for stimulating the nerves of the cochlea. The cochlear implant may include a single modular unit which houses all of the electronics including processor, power supply and microphone. The single modular unit is positioned within the soft tissue behind the ear pinna. Alternatively, the cochlear implant includes two modular units. The first module is implanted within the soft tissue between the ear pinna and mastoid bone. Meanwhile, the second unit is an external module which may be positioned at various external locations. The exterior module may transmit electrical signals to the implanted module through various communication connections including direct electrical contact or through an electromagnetic link. The electrode array is surgically routed from the implanted module in the soft tissue to the cochlea without entering the ear canal by positioning the electrode array between the mastoid bone and the skin of the auditory canal. The electrode array is then routed around the tympanic membrane and through the middle ear to the cochlea. In addition, may be routed along a channel formed in the mastoid bone or through a hole formed in the Spine of Henle for further supporting the electrode array.

There is provided hearing device (140) improvements using modulation techniques adapted to the characteristics of auditory and vestibular hearing. One embodiment provides for extending hearing to the infrasonic range and applying them to a carrier in the ultrasonic “quiet zone”. Further extension of hearing into the ultrasonic range is provided by a modulation scheme which uses a fluid conduction coupler to match impedance for a vibration transducer applied to the skin. A variation on this embodiment integrates this ultrasonic hearing extension with normal acoustic headphones. Another embodiment compensates for high frequency hearing loss by a modulation scheme which uses middle ear resonance as an amplifier. A further embodiment combines ultrasonic transposition with wireless modulation to obtain secure communication.

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.

The invention relates to the polynucleotide sequence of a nontypeable stain of Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides and uses thereof. The invention also relates to NTHi genes which are upregulated during or in response to NTHi infection of the middle ear and / or the nasopharynx.

A middle ear prosthesis comprises a body of deformable material capable of retaining different shapes. The body comprises a slotted wall defining a cavity for receiving a bone of the middle ear. The wall is deformable proximate slots in the wall between an open position for receiving the bone and a closed position wherein the body is reshaped to grasp the bone.

A device and method are provided for clearing obstructions in a body cavity opening behind which a volume of fluid has been accumulated comprising a housing having a longitudinal internal conduit having an end interconnected to a suction source and a motor mechanically interconnected to a second end attachment portion and adapted to impart vibratory movement thereto. Actuation of the motor imparts vibratory movement to the second end attachment portion, and thereby to an attached tip and, when a housing first attachment portion is interconnected to a suction source, suction and vibration are simultaneously applied to the tip second end. Thus, when the tip second end is applied against an obstructed body cavity opening, the vibration acts to break up the obstruction and the suction contemporaneously acts to withdraw the accumulated fluid from the body cavity.

This disclosure provides a method for detecting and / or identifying uncultured bacteria. The sample is an aerosol sample selected from a group consisting of cough, sneeze, saliva, mucus, bile, urine, vaginal secretions, middle ear aspirate, pus, pleural effusions, synovial fluid, abscesses, cavity swabs, serum, blood and spinal fluid. The method comprises obtaining absorption spectra (AS) of the sample, extracting and processing the acquired data, thereby detecting and / or identifying the bacteria.

An electrophysiological measurement method and system is provided for positioning an implantable transducer of a hearing instrument relative to a middle ear component or inner ear of a patient. The method and system employ electrophysiological measurement signals obtained in response to test signals applied to an implanted transducer. In one embodiment, the electrophysiological measurements are obtained by an electrocochleography measurement device that measures the cochlear summating potential and / or action potential responsive to test signals applied to an implanted transducer. In another embodiment, an auditory brainstem response measurement device is utilized to obtain electrical potential measurement signals responsive to test signals applied to an implanted transducer.

A diagnosis-and-display integrated optical tomographic imaging otoscope for examining otitis media. A hollow casing includes an ear specular disposed on a front surface, a display including an LCD disposed on a rear surface, and a manipulating handle on a lower part. An image-photographing part includes a CCD camera inside the casing, and photographs an ear drum image of a patient through the ear specular. A section-photographing part includes a collimator and a galvanometer mirror inside the casing, and photographs section images of the ear drum and a middle ear of the patient. The ear drum image obtained by the image-photographing part and the section images of the ear drum and the middle ear are obtained in a non-incision method by the section-photographing part, and are displayed in real time on the LCD such that desirable images can be stored.