Orthogonal Microphone Speaker Assembly for Canal Hearing Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Extended wear hearing devices often exceed 12 mm in length, causing them to protrude into the cartilaginous portion of the ear canal, leading to instability, discomfort, and potential contamination, while minimizing their size to fit within the bony canal is challenging due to reduced output efficiency and increased feedback.
Innovation Solution
A highly miniaturized hearing device with a microphone and speaker placed axially in parallel, orthogonal to each other, within a combined assembly, ensuring the device fits entirely within the bony canal, reducing length to 12 mm or less, and using a viscoelastic damper to minimize vibrations and feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the hearing device is made longer to accommodate conventional microphone and speaker arrangements, then the output efficiency is improved, but the device protrudes into the cartilaginous portion of the ear canal causing instability and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensional reconfiguration by arranging the microphone and speaker axially in parallel rather than sequentially along the device length. This transforms the spatial arrangement from a linear sequence to a parallel configuration, effectively utilizing the cross-sectional dimension of the device to reduce its overall length while maintaining component functionality and output efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by placing the microphone and speaker in a combined assembly where one component is positioned within or adjacent to the other in the axial direction. This nested arrangement allows both transducers to occupy a compact space, reducing the device length to fit within the bony canal while preserving their acoustic performance.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the hearing device is miniaturized to fit within the bony canal, then stability and comfort are improved, but the output efficiency is reduced and feedback increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the feedback issue by changing the spatial dimension of transducer arrangement. By positioning the microphone and speaker diaphragms in orthogonal planes with axial parallelism, the design minimizes acoustic coupling and feedback paths while maintaining efficient sound transmission, thus preserving output efficiency in the miniaturized form factor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a viscoelastic damper as an intermediary element between the speaker and microphone. This damper acts as a mechanical mediator that absorbs and dampens vibrations, reducing feedback transmission from the speaker to the microphone while maintaining the compact axial arrangement necessary for miniaturization.
3Length of moving object
If the microphone and speaker are placed axially in parallel, then the device length is reduced to fit in the bony canal, but the risk of feedback from speaker vibrations to microphone increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates feedback risk by utilizing orthogonal spatial arrangement of the diaphragms. The microphone diaphragm and speaker diaphragm are positioned in perpendicular planes, which geometrically minimizes the acoustic coupling path and vibration transmission between the two transducers, thereby reducing feedback despite the axial parallel placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The viscoelastic damper serves as a vibration-isolating intermediary placed between the speaker and microphone assemblies. This damper absorbs mechanical vibrations from the speaker before they can couple to the microphone, effectively breaking the feedback loop while allowing the compact axial design to be maintained.
4Volume of moving object
If the device extends into the cartilaginous portion of the ear canal, then the available space for component arrangement is increased, but the device becomes subject to canal deformations and contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves compact component arrangement within the limited bony canal space by transitioning from sequential axial placement to parallel axial configuration. This dimensional reorganization allows the microphone and speaker to be positioned side-by-side in the cross-sectional plane, maximizing space utilization without increasing device length, thereby enabling placement entirely within the stable bony portion.
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 device maintains stability and comfort by avoiding cartilaginous deformations, reduces feedback, and extends wear duration by avoiding contamination, while maintaining efficient sound amplification and sensitivity.
Implementation Method 1
using a viscoelastic damper to minimize vibrations and feedback
Implementation Method 2
a speaker placed axially in parallel, orthogonal to each other, within a combined assembly
Implementation Method 3
a microphone and speaker placed axially in parallel, orthogonal to each other, within a combined assembly
Data Source
AI summary
An ultra miniature hearing device for extended wear entirely in the ear canal past the cartilaginous region is provided. The hearing device comprises a microphone and a speaker, each having a respective diaphragm. The speaker and microphone are placed parallel to each other in a single lateral assembly. The microphone and speaker can be arranged such that their diaphragms are orthogonal to one another so that cross coupling of vibrations is minimized, thus reducing internal feedback. Due to the parallel co-placement of the speaker and microphone in the single lateral assembly, the length of the device is substantially shorter than that of prior hearing aid devices. The hearing device is 12 mm or less in length to fit in the bony part of the ear canal for most individuals and is placed within approximately 3 mm from the eardrum.