145 results about "Outer ear" patented technology

Methods and apparatuses are described for modulating multiple integrated neural networks to alter composite sensory processes, such as audition or hearing. These methods and apparatuses may be used for therapeutic and non-therapeutic uses, including enhancing entertainment and communication, by providing a cranio-cervical tuning apparatus worn in or around the outer ear or auricle. These methods and apparatuses may include functional neurosensory bias for neurosensory scrambling neuromodulation to influence composite or multi-modal sensory processes.

Techniques and apparatuses are described that perform active acoustic sensing. Provided according to one or more preferred embodiments is a hearable, such as an earbud, that is capable of performing a novel physiological monitoring process termed herein audioplethysmography, an active acoustic method capable of sensing subtle physiologically-related changes observable at a user's outer and middle ear. Instead of relying on other auxiliary sensors, such as optical or electrical sensors, audioplethysmography involves transmitting and receiving acoustic signals to monitor a user's biometrics, recognize facial behaviors, and / or sense an environment. In addition to being relatively unobtrusive, some hearables can be configured to support audioplethysmography without the need for additional hardware. As such, the size, cost, and power usage of the hearable can help make health monitoring accessible to a larger group of people and improve the user experience with hearables.

The present invention relates to a method for automatically segmenting the cochlea of a person comprised in an image (M) comprised of voxels (v) each voxel comprising an intensity value being indicative of the intensity of the respective voxel (v).

Aspects include headphones. In certain cases, a headphone includes: an ear cuff body having: a first portion configured to pass over an outer side of at least one of an antihelix, a helix, or a lobule of a user's outer ear; and a second portion configured to sit behind the outer ear; an acoustic package configured to deliver sound to the ear canal region; and wiring extending between the ear cuff body to the acoustic package.

Techniques and apparatuses are described that perform heart rate variability detection using a hearable. A hearable, such as an earbud, is capable of performing a novel physiological monitoring process termed herein audioplethysmography, which is an active acoustic method capable of sensing subtle physiologically-related changes observable at a user's outer and middle ear. Instead of relying on other auxiliary sensors, such as optical or electrical sensors, audioplethysmography involves transmitting and receiving acoustic signals to monitor a user's biometrics, including heart rate variability and / or blood pressure. In addition to being relatively unobtrusive, some hearables can be configured to support audioplethysmography without the need for additional hardware. As such, the size, cost, and power usage of the hearable can help make health monitoring accessible to a larger group of people and improve the user experience with hearables.

Aspects describe a retaining member of an in-ear audio output device to help stabilize and add comfort to a user wearing the device. Aspects describe a device comprising an earbud housing shaped to fit in a concha of an ear of a wearer of the device, and a body coupled to the earbud housing, the body extending away from an ear canal of the wearer and oriented outside of the ear when the device is worn, and a retention member comprising a leg that is curved to generally follow the curve of the anti-helix at the rear of the concha of a user's ear. The leg comprises a first segment, a second segment, and a web disposed between the first and second segments. The first and second segments have a greater thickness than the web.

The embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for judging the degree of matching between the direction of the sound outlet of a hearing aid shell and the direction of the eardrum, and relates to the technical field of three-dimensional modeling of hearing aids. The method comprises: obtaining a three-dimensional model of a hearing aid shell to be judged, and a three-dimensional model of the outer ear from which it is derived; performing regional segmentation on the three-dimensional model of the hearing aid shell to identify the sound outlet cavity; performing spatial registration on the three-dimensional model of the hearing aid shell and the three-dimensional model of the outer ear to make the spatial positions of the two three-dimensional models most similar; determining the two curved cavities between the end face close to the eardrum and the sound outlet cavity in the three-dimensional model of the outer ear according to the positional relationship between the two three-dimensional models after registration; judging the degree of matching between the direction of the sound outlet cavity and the direction of the two curved cavities of the hearing aid shell and the direction of the eardrum. This embodiment can quickly, automatically and accurately judge whether the direction of the hearing aid shell is consistent with the direction of the sound outlet, thereby avoiding defects in the effect of the hearing aid shell.

The present disclosure generally relates to compositions comprising dihexa and methods for making or using said compositions. In some aspects, the compositions disclosed herein may comprise one or more additional active ingredients, including lipoic acid, spadin peptide, and / or phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone. Compositions such as these may be used in certain embodiments, for example, to enhances a subject's hearing or to treat a hearing disorder, etc. In some embodiments, the compositions are topical compositions configured to treat hearing loss via administration, e.g., to the skin behind the outer ear or directly to the eardrum of a subject, etc. In some cases, the compositions disclosed herein may comprise one or more excipients to aid in transdermal delivery. For instance, in certain embodiments, the compositions comprise lecithin and / or other components that may facilitate delivery through the skin. Other aspects are generally directed to methods of making or using such compositions, methods of promoting such compositions, kits including such compositions, or the like.

A faceplate (1) configured to be removably affixed to an outer face (20) of a retaining body (17) of an earpiece (2) configured to be disposed within the concha of an ear of a wearer. An earpiece (2) comprising a retaining body (17) configured to be disposed within the concha of an ear of a wearer, the retaining body having an outer face (20) opposite to an inner face (21) extending to a retaining body periphery (22), the retaining body including a projection element (18) configured to project into an ear canal opening of the wearer, the projection element (18) adapted to retain an earpiece tip (19) configured to engage an ear canal wall of the wearer, and a faceplate (1) configured to cover the outer face (20) of the retaining body (17), the retaining body and the faceplate including releasably engageable mateable parts to removably affix the faceplate to the retaining body.

A signal transmission device, an electronic device, a method for reversibly connecting an electronic device, and a method for changing different devices are proposed, in which, in particular, a conducted (e.g., wired) loudspeaker, especially a piezo loudspeaker (2), which is attached to the eardrum (3) and excites it to vibrate, is used, wherein the ear canal (4) generally remains open and the natural acoustic transparency of the outer ear is maintained, since the signal transmission from the electronic device to the loudspeaker and the necessary otoplastic measures are generally placed at least partially outside the ear canal (4).

The invention discloses a rotating steel bar damper of a four-connecting-rod structure. The rotating steel bar damper comprises an outer lug plate, an inner lug plate, an energy dissipation steel bar, a pin shaft and a sleeve. According to the rotating steel bar damper of the four-connecting-rod structure, the damper can deform in any direction in a plane, each pin shaft and the corresponding energy dissipation steel bar surrounding one circle of the pin shaft form a single rotating unit, under the earthquake effect, when the outer lug plate moves in a certain direction, the outer lug plate and the inner lug plate rotate relatively, and therefore the rotating steel bar damper can deform in any direction. The shearing force between the outer lug plate and the inner lug plate is borne by the pin shaft, the bending moment generated by relative rotation of the outer lug plate and the inner lug plate is borne by the energy dissipation steel bar, bending-shearing separation is achieved through the structure, overall plastic deformation of the damper is concentrated on the energy dissipation section of the energy dissipation steel bar, and earthquake energy is dissipated through shearing plastic deformation of the energy dissipation steel bar. And according to the damper, translation deformation is converted into rotation deformation through a four-connecting-rod structure, and the deformation capacity of the metal shearing type damper is improved.

The utility model provides an earphone head and a bluetooth earphone, the earphone head comprises a main housing and a sound production assembly, the main housing comprises an inner side wall, an outer side wall and an annular side wall, and the inner side wall, the outer side wall and the annular side wall are enclosed to form an accommodating cavity; the sound production assembly is provided with a sound production surface, the sound production assembly is arranged in the accommodating cavity in a manner that the sound production surface faces the inner side wall, and an inner sound cavity is formed by a cavity between the sound production surface and the inner side wall; the annular side wall is provided with a directional sound guide hole communicated with the inner sound cavity, and the earphone head is worn on a human body in a manner that the inner side wall is attached to the face of the human body and the directional sound guide hole faces the auricle of the human body; the edge, away from the inner side wall, of the directional sound guide hole is provided with a sound guide plate protruding out of the face where an outlet of the directional sound guide hole is located. The earphone head of the utility model does not need to be plugged into the ear canal and cover the external ear, and does not need to press the skull, so that better sound playing quality can be achieved.

The technology provides a multi-body earpiece suitable for use as an in-ear sensor system, which can be used for biometrics or a human-computer interface. The multi-body earpiece includes two body elements connected together by a flexure. These components provide at least 3 points of contact along different parts of the outer ear, in which the flexure is tethered to the two bodies and arranged to lock them in place during wear. In addition to having stability from moving while minimizing sound occlusion, this arrangement enables any electrodes for the on-board sensor(s) to remain in contact with the skin of the ear and provide as many contact points in desired areas as the electronics dictate for the signals of interest.

An earpiece for a hearing device, includes: an earpiece housing comprising an ear canal portion and an outer ear portion, the ear canal portion extending along an ear canal axis for positioning in an ear canal of a user, the ear canal portion having a first end; a first microphone for detecting ambient sound via a first input port in the earpiece housing; and a receiver for providing an audio output signal to the ear canal when the earpiece is inserted in an ear of the user; wherein the first microphone is arranged at a first distance from the first input port, wherein the first distance is at least 2 mm when measured parallel to a main plane having a main plane normal parallel to a main axis, the main axis forming a first main angle that is less than 30 degrees with the ear canal axis.

The embodiment of the present invention discloses a method, device and medium for smoothing the edge of an outer ear model based on pipeline cutting, and relates to the technical field of three-dimensional modeling. The method comprises: obtaining an original outer ear model; resampling the edge to be smoothed in the original outer ear model according to the average distance of the vertices of the original outer ear model; taking the new edge formed by connecting the resampled vertices as the center line, constructing a closed pipeline extending along the new edge and each cross section being a circular ring of equal radius; using the closed pipeline to cut the original outer ear model, retaining the part outside the closed pipeline; filling the cutting surface of the retained part with a smooth curved surface to obtain the final outer ear model. This embodiment can improve the edge smoothing effect of the outer ear model.

This invention discloses a device for attaching an optical element, such as an otoscope, to a smartphone for diagnosing and / or identifying problems in the outer ear, middle ear, and / or ear canal of a patient. The device may include a body. The body may include a hole and a first engagement member configured to engage with a second engagement structure belonging to the optical element. A first surface may be attached to the body and configured to contact a first smartphone surface. A piston may be provided, which may include a second surface parallel to the first surface and configured to contact a second smartphone surface. A threaded knob may be provided, connected to the piston through the hole.

A symmetrically performing motor includes an asymmetrical rotor. The rotor includes a core and a plurality of arcuately arranged magnets. The core includes a hub, a plurality of pole segments, and a plurality of bridges extending between and interconnecting respective ones of the pole segments to the hub. Each of the bridges has an axially varying width. The pole segments are swept in form such that the rotor core exhibits mirror asymmetry. Each of the pole segments includes a body, a head disposed radially adjacent the body, and a pair of arcuately spaced apart ears extending generally tangentially outwardly from the head. The head defines an arcuate outer head face extending along an outer rotor margin. Each of the ears defines a respective outer ear face disposed inward of the outer rotor margin. Each of the outer ear faces defines an ear angle relative to the outer rotor margin.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided sponge adapted for cleansing of ears and facial structures, comprising: an inner facet of the sponge integrating a surface texture optimized for outer ear cleaning, exfoliation, and enhancing dermal microcirculation, wherein the inner facet has a bump configured to fit near an ear canal and a shape configured to surround an outer ear; and an outer layer having a shape configured for facial cleansing and cleaning the structures around facial structures, wherein: the inner facet and outer layer are combined together in a specific circular fashion, in which parts and edges of one component are pressed against specific parts of the other, forming a full facial sponge with only the outer sides of the components are visible and usable.

The utility model discloses a fermentation vat fettling device which comprises a fixed pile, the inner side of the fixed pile is rotatably connected with a screw rod, the outer side of the screw rod is in threaded connection with a nut seat, a lifting disc is installed between the nut seats, second motors are symmetrically installed in the lifting disc, gears are installed at the output shaft ends of the second motors, and the gears are in threaded connection with the screw rod. The gear is located above the lifting disc and meshed with the outer side of the rack, the rack is installed on the outer wall of the rotating disc, an outer lug is installed above the rack, the lead screw, the lifting disc, the rotating disc, the arc rod and the scraping plate are arranged, in the using process, through cooperation of the T-shaped rod and the arc rod, the scraping plate is attached to a cylinder blank, and then the cylinder blank is scraped. Through cooperation of the gear and the rack, the scraping plate rotates synchronously, then through cooperation of the lead screw and the nut base, the scraping plate trims the cylinder blank from top to bottom, and therefore the working intensity of workers is relieved, and the overall trimming efficiency is improved.

Embodiments are directed to an electronic device configured to measure temperature from within an ear canal having a first bend, a second bend, and a tympanic membrane. The device comprises an enclosure comprising an in-canal section dimensioned for deployment in the ear canal. The in-canal section comprises a trough extending axially along at least a portion of the in-canal section and arranged to be positioned between the first bend and the tympanic membrane when the in-canal section is fully deployed in the ear canal. A temperature sensor is disposed in the trough. The temperature sensor comprises a flexible circuit board, a distal temperature sensor disposed on the flexible circuit board, and a proximal temperature sensor disposed on the flexible circuit board and situated proximal of, and spaced apart from, the distal temperature sensor in an outer ear direction.

The utility model provides an ear hook and an earphone, the ear hook comprises a main body part extending along the root of the external auricle, the main body part is a flexible member, at least two air holes are arranged in the main body part, and the at least two air holes are arranged at intervals along the extending direction of the main body part. The ear hook and the earphone provided by the utility model are used for solving the technical problem that the wearing comfort and the stability of the earphone are poor.

An audio system calibrates virtual microphones using displacement of a user's outer ear (207). Transducers (220, 230) present audio content to the user. One or more sensors (240) monitor displacement of a portion of the user's pinna (215). The displacement is caused in part by the presented audio content. The audio system estimates sound pressure at the user's ear canal entrance (210) based on the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna (215), generates a sound filter accordingly, and adjusts the audio content using the sound filter. The transducers present the adjusted audio content to the user, thereby improving the user's auditory experience.

A binaural hearing aid system comprises left and right hearing instruments each comprising a BTE-part comprising a housing configured to be located at or behind an outer ear of the user and an acceleration sensor configured to measure acceleration in at least two directions relative to the housing of the BTE-part and to provide acceleration data indicative thereof. A first one of the left and right hearing instruments comprises a transmitter configured to transmit said acceleration data to the other hearing instrument, and the other hearing instrument comprises a receiver for receiving said acceleration data from the first one of the hearing instruments. The other hearing instrument further comprises a controller for detecting whether or not the left and right hearing instruments are correctly mounted in dependence of a similarity measure between said acceleration data provided by the left and right hearing instruments. A method of operating a binaural hearing aid system is further disclosed.

An open-ear headphone includes an acoustic module, a battery housing, and a body coupled to the acoustic module. The acoustic module includes a portion that is configured to sit in a cavum conchae of an outer ear of a user, an acoustic transducer, and a first sound-emitting opening that is configured to emit sound produced by the acoustic transducer. The battery housing is configured to be located behind the outer ear and contains a battery power source. The body is coupled to the acoustic module and includes a first portion that is configured to pass over an outer side of at least one of an anti-helix and a helix and a lobule of the outer ear, and a second portion comprising the battery housing.

The utility model relates to the field of earphones, in particular to an ear clamping type earphone capable of rotatably adjusting an angle, which comprises an earphone body, the earphone body comprises a first clamping part, a connecting arm, a rotating structure and a second clamping part, the second clamping part is provided with a sound outlet, and the rotating structure and the second clamping part rotate relative to the first clamping part. The rotating structure is arranged between the connecting arm and the second clamping part, and the rotating structure and the second clamping part rotate relative to the first clamping part, so that the sound outlet of the second clamping part is aligned with the external auditory meatus opening, it is ensured that the earphone can efficiently transmit music into the ear canal, and transmission loss is reduced; therefore, the wearing comfort of the user is improved, the experience of the user is effectively improved, and the problems that the user cannot really hear the sound output by the sound outlet of the earphone and is uncomfortable to wear and the experience of the user is reduced due to the fact that the sound outlet of the existing ear clamping type earphone cannot be effectively aligned with the external auditory canal of the user are solved.

An exemplary system and method are disclosed for the assessment of auditory sound conduction in the outer and middle ears in newborns and infants during the time of standard universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) (inpatient and outpatient) in the first month of life using absorbance peak template (APT) analysis. Rather than using normative ranges showing the bounds of normal absorbance values at each frequency across frequencies, the exemplary system and method employ analysis of coherent morphological absorbance-frequency features, which are most diagnostically useful and theoretically informative, in the mid-frequency absorbance peak. The analysis can detect mid-frequency absorbance peaks in the absorbance peak template while also providing an overlay of the absorbance vs. frequency plot on the screen of the test instrument to determine key metrics in the parameters for normal absorbance peaks.

The present invention provides an adjustable earplug comprising an outer ear portion and a plug to be placed in an ear canal, where the outer ear portion comprises at least one acoustic inlet, where the plug comprises a channel and an acoustic outlet, where an acoustic mesh is disposed in the channel, and where the outer ear portion is adjustable between at least two adjustment positions, where the acoustic mesh is disposed in the channel. Wherein the at least two adjustment positions are selected from at least three adjustment positions, in which:-in a first adjustment position, the at least one acoustic inlet is in acoustic communication with the channel via a first acoustic channel; in a second adjustment position, the at least one acoustic inlet or the second acoustic inlet is in acoustic communication with the channel via the second acoustic channel and the diaphragm; in the third adjusting position, the channel is at least basically closed.

The utility model belongs to the technical field of spectacles, and particularly relates to a spectacle frame without nose pads. Comprising glasses legs and a lens frame, the front ends of the glasses legs are rotationally connected to the two ends of the lens frame respectively, the bending assembly comprises a bending body arranged at the rear ends of the glasses legs and a soft cushion layer arranged on the inner side of the bending body, and the bending body is arranged on the outline of an outer ear in a surrounding mode; the supporting assembly comprises a first supporting piece and a second supporting piece, one end of the first supporting piece is connected with the glasses leg, the other end of the first supporting piece is attached to the cheekbone, one end of the second supporting piece is connected with the glasses leg, and the other end of the second supporting piece is attached to the upper skin of the external ear; the first sliding assembly is arranged between the first supporting piece and the glasses leg; the second sliding component is arranged between the second supporting piece and the glasses leg; the first supporting piece is designed to be of a double-layer composite structure. The utility model aims to provide a nose-pad-free spectacle frame which is more stable, more comfortable and high in adaptability.

Embodiments are directed to an electronic device configured to measure temperature from within an ear canal having a first bend, a second bend, and a tympanic membrane. The device comprises an enclosure comprising an in-canal section dimensioned for deployment in the ear canal. The in-canal section comprises a trough extending axially along at least a portion of the in-canal section and arranged to be positioned between the first bend and the tympanic membrane when the in-canal section is fully deployed in the ear canal. A temperature sensor is disposed in the trough. The temperature sensor comprises a flexible circuit board, a distal temperature sensor disposed on the flexible circuit board, and a proximal temperature sensor disposed on the flexible circuit board and situated proximal of, and spaced apart from, the distal temperature sensor in an outer ear direction.