Auditory Prosthesis Compliance Voltage Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional auditory prostheses systems face challenges in maintaining optimal compliance voltage, which affects power consumption and performance, especially when current steering is used, as they require high compliance voltage for single electrode stimulation sites while compromising on power conservation and performance when current steering is reduced.
Innovation Solution
The system optimizes compliance voltage by adjusting the current steering range for stimulation channels, allowing for a balance between power conservation and performance by setting the current steering range to values between zero and one, ensuring current is split between electrodes, thereby reducing compliance voltage and power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If current steering is used to concurrently stimulate multiple electrodes, then power consumption is reduced by splitting current between electrodes, but compliance voltage must be maintained at relatively high levels to account for single electrode stimulation situations
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the compliance voltage based on the actual stimulation configuration being used. When current steering is active and multiple electrodes are stimulated simultaneously, the compliance voltage is reduced since current is split between electrodes. When single electrode stimulation is detected, the compliance voltage is increased to the level required for that configuration. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by adapting the voltage level to the actual operational needs rather than maintaining a fixed high voltage for all situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the compliance voltage parameter based on the stimulation mode detected. By monitoring whether current steering is being used and how many electrodes are actively stimulated, the system adjusts the compliance voltage parameter to match the actual current distribution requirements. This parameter change allows the system to operate at lower voltages during current steering operations while maintaining sufficient voltage headroom when single electrode stimulation is required.
2Loss of energy
If current steering range is reduced to lower compliance voltage, then power consumption decreases, but performance is compromised when direct single electrode stimulation is needed
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts its operational parameters based on the detected stimulation needs. When the system detects that current steering is being used with multiple electrodes, it operates in a power-efficient mode with lower compliance voltage. When single electrode stimulation is detected or required, the system switches to a performance-optimized mode with higher compliance voltage. This dynamic adaptation ensures that performance is only compromised when unnecessary, while maintaining power efficiency during current steering operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates different operational configurations or modes that can be switched between based on needs. One configuration is optimized for power consumption during current steering, while another configuration is optimized for performance during single electrode stimulation. The system copies the essential stimulation function across different operational modes, allowing it to maintain reliability across both scenarios while optimizing for different priorities in different contexts.
Data Source
AI summary
An exemplary system includes a sound processor that 1) determines a relative importance of performance versus power conservation for an auditory prosthesis, 2) determines, in accordance with the determined relative importance of performance versus power conservation, a current steering range for a stimulation channel defined by first and second physical electrodes communicatively coupled to the auditory prosthesis, the current steering range centered about a midpoint of the stimulation channel; and 3) directs the auditory prosthesis to apply electrical stimulation representative of audio content having a frequency included in a frequency band associated with the stimulation channel in accordance with the determined current steering range.