Rotatable Cochlear Implant Headpiece Magnet for Stable Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cochlear implant systems face issues with magnet alignment and retention force, leading to discomfort, tissue damage, and difficulty in achieving optimal magnetic attraction due to misalignment of magnetic fields during MRI, especially for non-standard headpiece orientations and varying skin flap thickness.
Innovation Solution
A cochlear implant headpiece with a receptacle and magnet apparatus that allows for adjustable rotational orientation and interchangeable magnet strengths, ensuring optimal alignment and increased magnetic attraction, and a magnetic viewing device for identifying implanted magnet information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional disk-shaped magnets with axial magnetization are used in cochlear implants, then the implant structure is simple, but the magnetic field alignment with MRI systems causes demagnetization and tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the magnetization direction parameter from axial to diametrical, and introduces rotatability to change the operational orientation parameter, allowing the magnet to align with MRI fields while maintaining structural simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The implant magnet is made rotatable relative to the implant housing, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation to align with external MRI magnetic fields, preventing demagnetization and tissue damage during scanning
2Device complexity
If fixed orientation headpiece magnets are used, then the device structure is simple, but optimal retention force cannot be achieved for all headpiece orientations
Solution Approach 1:
The headpiece magnet is made rotatable relative to the headpiece housing, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation to achieve optimal alignment with the implant magnet regardless of how the headpiece is worn, maximizing retention force
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses magnetic attraction feedback between the headpiece magnet and implant magnet to automatically guide the rotatable magnet into its optimal orientation, where the strongest magnetic attraction occurs
3Device complexity
If single strength magnets are used, then the device design is simple, but optimal retention cannot be achieved for varying skin flap thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The magnet system is segmented into multiple interchangeable magnets with different strengths, allowing selection of the appropriate magnet strength based on individual patient anatomy and skin flap thickness
Solution Approach 2:
The headpiece is designed to accommodate multiple magnet strengths, making it universally applicable to patients with varying anatomical characteristics and skin flap thicknesses
4Stability of the object's composition
If magnets are positioned deeper in the headpiece housing, then the structure is stable, but magnetic attraction force decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The magnet is made rotatable within the housing, allowing it to extend closer to the housing opening in its optimal orientation while maintaining stability through the rotational constraint mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The magnet positioning is optimized by considering the radial dimension (distance from housing center), allowing the magnet to be positioned closer to the opening in the optimal rotational position rather than being uniformly deep in all directions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances magnetic retention force and comfort by aligning the magnet orientation with gravitational direction, reduces tissue pressure, and facilitates precise magnet identification for personalized fitting and compatibility with various cochlear implants.
Implementation Method 1
The headpiece and the cochlear implant may include respective magnets (or respective pluralities of magnets) that are attracted to one another, thereby retaining the headpiece on the head and maintaining the position of the headpiece transmitter on the head over the implant receiver
Implementation Method 2
A diametrically magnetized and rotatable disk-shaped implant magnet and a diametrically magnetized disk-shaped headpiece magnet... The magnet 22, which may be located within a titanium case (FIGS. 37-38), will rotate about the axis A into alignment with an MRI magnetic that is perpendicular to the axis A
Data Source
AI summary
A cochlear implant headpiece in accordance with one of the present inventions includes a housing including a top wall, a bottom wall and a receptacle that extends from the top wall to the bottom wall, that defines an open top end, an open bottom end and a central axis, and that includes a receptacle lock member, a magnet apparatus defining a bottom and including a magnet and a magnet apparatus lock member, and a headpiece antenna on or within the housing. The respective configurations of the receptacle and the magnet apparatus are such that the magnet apparatus can be inserted into the receptacle and, when fully inserted into the receptacle, the magnet apparatus bottom is located within or downwardly beyond the open bottom end of the receptacle. The respective configurations of the receptacle lock member and the magnet apparatus lock member are such that the fully inserted magnet apparatus will be fixed in one of a plurality of rotational orientations around the central axis. The present inventions also include cochlear stimulation systems with a sound processor and/or a cochlear implant in combination with such a headpiece.