Partially or fully implantable hearing system

• US 20020071581A1
• Filed: 03/28/2001
• Published: 06/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Original Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Inventors: Rinser, Gunter, Leysieffer, Hans
• Granted Patent: US 6,537,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/312
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/558 Remote control, e.g. of amplification, frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/606 acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window

Abstract

The invention relates to a partially or fully implantable hearing system which is provided with a unit (14, 30; 460) for electromechanical or electroacoustic stimulation of the middle ear or inner ear or direct electrical stimulation of the inner ear. The hearing system furthermore comprises means (26, 126, 154, 526) for direct linkage of the hearing system to telecommunication networks without using telecommunication terminal devices.

Claims

1. Implantable hearing system comprising a stimulation unit for stimulation of one of a middle ear and an inner ear wherein the hearing system comprises linkage means for direct linkage of the unit to telecommunication networks without using telecommunication terminal devices.

2. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulation unit is provided with an acoustic pick-up.

3. Hearing system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the linkage means is bidirectional.

4. Hearing system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the linkage means comprises transmission/reception means for wireless transmission and reception of signals.

5. Hearing system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transmission/reception means comprises a headwearable transmission unit which has an acoustic pick-up, a transmission-reception means and a transmission means for unidirectional communication via an implanted receiver with implantable components of the hearing system.

6. Hearing system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the transmission means comprises one of an inductive, a transcutaneous infrared, and a transcutaneous ultrasonic means for communication between the transmission means and the implanted receiver.

7. Hearing system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transmission-reception means comprises an RF transmitter/receiver means.

8. Hearing system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the RF transmitter/receiver means is provided with a stationary repeater unit.

9. Hearing system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the RF transmitter/receiver means is communicatable with an RF telecommunication network junction point.

10. Hearing system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transmission/reception means is operable for communicating with a heat wearable transmission unit.

11. Hearing system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said transmission/reception means is constructed for one of inductive transcutaneious infrared and ultrasonic transmission and reception.

12. Hearing system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the transmission unit is communicatable with an RF telecommunication network junction point.

13. Hearing system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the headwearable transmission unit is communicatable with a stationary repeater unit.

14. Hearing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the stationary repeater unit is communicatable with an RF telecommunication network junction point.

15. Hearing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the stationary repeater unit is connected to a wire-linked telecommunication network by a wired coupling.

16. Hearing system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transmission-reception means is implantable.

17. Hearing system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the stimulation unit includes an electronic module to produce an input signal from the signal acquired by a acoustic pick-up for stimulation of one of the middle ear and the inner ear.

18. Hearing system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the electronic module comprises a wirelessly chargeable storage for electrical energy.

19. Hearing system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the transmission/reception means is integrated into the electronic module.

20. Hearing system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the entire hearing system is implantable.

21. Hearing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the acoustic pick-up is an implantable microphone for picking up sound in a auditory canal of a person in which the system is implanted in use.

22. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the linkage means is unidirectional from the telecommunication network to the hearing system.

23. Hearing system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the linkage means includes means for wireless reception of signals.

24. Hearing system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the receiving means comprises an RF receiver means.

25. Hearing system as claimed in claim 24, further comprising a stationary repeater unit for transmission of RF signals to the RF receiver means.

26. Hearing system as claimed in claim 25, wherein the stationary repeater unit is bidirectional and communicates with an RF telecommunication network junction point.

27. Hearing system as claimed in claim 24, wherein the RF receiver means is operable for receiving RF signals from an RF telecommunication network junction point.

28. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulation unit comprises an electromechanical transducer and a rigid coupling element driven by the transducer and which, in use, is coupled to one of a middle ear ossicle and an oval window.

29. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulation unit comprises a plurality of electrodes are implantable into the cochlea.

30. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing system comprises a storage for electronic buffering of the contents of telecommunications.

31. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing system comprises a speech recognition module for speech-controlled dialing into the telecommunication network.

32. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing system is designed for communicatable with a wireless remote control for control of one of dialing into the telecommunication network, retrieval of buffered messages, and volume adjustment of voice messages of the hearing system.

33. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing system is operable for rehabilitation of a hearing disorder of one of the middle ear and the inner ear of a user.

34. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing system is operable for a user without a hearing disorder.

35. Hearing system according to claim 11, wherein the transmission/reception means comprise one of a (receiving coil for the energy storage and a remote data exchange receiving coil).

36. Hearing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulation unit comprises an electroacoustic transducer.