Angled Abutment Bone Conduction Hearing Aid
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone anchored bone conduction hearing aids face challenges due to anatomical variations, which can result in the implant fixture being positioned unsuitably in the skull bone, affecting the coupling forces and durability of the device.
Innovation Solution
The bone anchored hearing aid features an angle α between the implant axis and the hearing aid coupling axis, allowing the hearing aid to rest on the abutment without touching the skin at other points, ensuring proper alignment and wearability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the implant fixture is anchored perpendicular to the bone surface, then the implant can be securely anchored in the skull bone, but the hearing aid may touch the skin at other points causing discomfort and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment is designed with an asymmetric angled configuration where the coupling axis forms an angle α (5-20 degrees) with the implant axis. This asymmetric geometry allows the hearing aid to be positioned at an offset from the vertical implant axis, ensuring that the device rests on the abutment coupling surface without contacting the skin at other points, thus preventing skin damage while maintaining secure anchoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a one-dimensional vertical alignment (implant axis perpendicular to bone surface) to a two-dimensional angled configuration by introducing the angle α between the implant axis and coupling axis. This dimensional change allows the hearing aid to be positioned in a different spatial plane, achieving both secure anchoring and skin protection simultaneously.
2Reliability
If the coupling is made sufficiently firm to avoid poor vibration transmission, then vibration transmission improves, but the hearing aid may cause damage to the skull bone anchoring during sudden impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The angled abutment configuration creates an asymmetric coupling geometry where the hearing aid is offset from the vertical implant axis. This asymmetric positioning optimizes the coupling firmness for vibration transmission while creating geometric clearance that prevents the hearing aid from directly impacting the skull bone anchoring during sudden impacts, thus resolving the contradiction between firm coupling and impact protection.
3Strength
If the implant axis is positioned perpendicular to the bone surface, then the implant can be securely anchored, but anatomical variations may result in unsuitable positioning affecting device wearability
Solution Approach 1:
The angled abutment design with angle α provides an asymmetric configuration that can accommodate variations in bone anatomy and implant positioning. By allowing the coupling axis to be angled relative to the implant axis, the device can adapt to different anatomical conditions while maintaining secure anchoring, thus improving both anchoring security and anatomical adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The angled abutment configuration serves multiple functions: it maintains secure implant anchoring, accommodates anatomical variations in bone structure, prevents skin contact damage, and ensures proper hearing aid positioning. This multi-functional design makes the system universally applicable to patients with different anatomical characteristics.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a bone anchored bone conductive hearing aid which has a bone implantable screw (3) with an implant axis (25) intended to be generally perpendicular to a bone surface at an implant point and a skin penetrating abutment (5) which is connected to the implantable screw (3) through a contact surface (16) at a contra-lateral end thereof where the abutment (5) at a lateral end thereof has a coupling surface (15) whereto a hearing aid is detachably coupled along a hearing aid coupling axis (20) the implant axis (25) and the hearing aid coupling axis (20) are arranged at an angle α with respect to each other.