Optically Coupled Middle Ear Implant Reduces Occlusion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hearing devices face challenges such as feedback, occlusion, and distortion due to invasive surgery requirements, electromagnetic interference, and suboptimal sound transmission, which limit their ability to provide natural hearing with spatial cues.
Innovation Solution
A hearing system with a minimally invasive implantable assembly for the middle ear that uses electromagnetic energy to stimulate the eardrum, coupled with a sound transducer that vibrates the ear's vibratory structures through air or fluid, reducing occlusion and feedback, and incorporates a photodetector for optical coupling to enhance sound transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If a magnet is positioned on the eardrum and driven with a coil, then feedback is decreased and hearing transduction is achieved, but the device becomes sensitive to external electromagnetic fields causing perceptible noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the electromagnetic coil-driven magnet system with an optically-driven mechanical transducer system. Light from an LED or laser diode is transmitted through the eardrum to a photodetector on the promontory, which converts light to mechanical vibrations of the transducer, eliminating electromagnetic fields while maintaining the ability to drive the eardrum mechanically
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces light as an intermediary carrier to transmit power and signal from the external source through the eardrum to the internal transducer. This optical intermediary replaces direct electromagnetic coupling, allowing energy transfer without electromagnetic interference with external fields
2Reliability
If surgery is performed to place a hearing device on the ossicles or cochlea, then direct stimulation of the hearing pathway is achieved, but the surgery becomes invasive with bone cutting and drilling delaying healing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the transducer from the traditional surgical sites (ossicles or cochlea) and relocates it to the promontory, a bony surface in the middle ear that is easily accessible and does not require bone cutting or drilling. This extraction of the implant site from critical structures enables minimally invasive placement through a small incision in the eardrum
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the eardrum itself as the surgical access route, allowing the transducer to be inserted through a small incision in the eardrum without requiring separate bone cutting procedures. The eardrum serves both as a protective barrier and as the natural surgical pathway, eliminating the need for invasive bone drilling
3Object-affected harmful factors
If an optical system is used to transmit light to a transducer, then electromagnetic interference noise is decreased, but non-linearity in the system distorts the transmitted signal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to encode the audio signal, converting analog audio into digital pulse trains that are transmitted optically. This parameter change from analog to digital domain eliminates non-linear distortion while maintaining signal fidelity, as digital pulses can be transmitted through the optical system without the non-linearities that affect analog signals
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
The system enables clear, natural hearing with reduced occlusion and distortion, allowing for quick recovery and effective sound transmission with minimal invasive surgery, while minimizing electromagnetic interference.
Implementation Method 1
at least one transducer configured to receive electromagnetic energy transmitted through the eardrum
Implementation Method 2
a sound transducer coupled to the at least one transducer and configured to transmit the sound to the user in response to the electromagnetic energy
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly comprising a sound transducer can be implanted in the middle ear in a manner that simplifies surgery. The assembly may comprise a narrow cross-sectional profile such that the assembly can be positioned in the middle ear through an incision in the eardrum, for example without cutting bone. The incision can be closed and electromagnetic energy transmitted through the closed incision to a transducer configured to vibrate the ear in response to the electromagnetic energy. In many embodiments, the sound transducer comprises a speaker positioned in the middle ear, and the sound transducer can couple to vibratory structure of the ear with air so as to simplify surgery. The assembly may be affixed to a substantially fixed structure of the ear, for example the promontory, so as to inhibit user perceivable occlusion and inhibit motion of the assembly, such that the user can perceive clear sound with little occlusion.