Retention apparatus for an external portion of a semi-implantable hearing aid
First Claim
1. A retention apparatus for an external housing of a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
- a disk member disposable between a patient'"'"'s skin and an external housing, wherein the external housing contains at least one external component of the semi implantable hearing aid, and wherein the disk member includes a first surface to form an interface with the external housing and a second surface to form an interface with the patient'"'"'s skin, and wherein the second surface includes at least one rounded transition between a first and second portion of the second surface.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A retention apparatus for a semi-implantable hearing aid. In one embodiment, the retention apparatus includes a first surface and a second surface. One of the first and second surfaces includes a first portion and a second portion having a rounded transition therebetween for interfacing with a patient'"'"'s skin. The rounded transition of the interfacing surface of the retention apparatus functions to distribute pressure resulting from the mutual magnetic attraction between an externally located magnet and an implanted magnet to permit increased magnetic forces therebetween and maintenance of a desired separation between an external coil and implanted coil.
38 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A retention apparatus for an external housing of a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
a disk member disposable between a patient'"'"'s skin and an external housing, wherein the external housing contains at least one external component of the semi implantable hearing aid, and wherein the disk member includes a first surface to form an interface with the external housing and a second surface to form an interface with the patient'"'"'s skin, and wherein the second surface includes at least one rounded transition between a first and second portion of the second surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
9. An external apparatus for a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
-
a housing containing at least one component of the semi implantable hearing aid, wherein the housing includes an interface for retentive positioning of the housing on a patient'"'"'s skin, wherein the interface includes a first surface having at least one rounded transition between a first portion and a second portion of the first surface; and
a first magnetic apparatus for retentive positioning of the first surface in juxtaposed relation to an implanted portion of the semi-implantable hearing aid. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method for mounting an external portion of a semi-implantable hearing aid on a patient, the method comprising:
-
providing a surface on the external portion that includes a contoured contact portion for contacting the patient'"'"'s skin;
providing a radius of the contoured contact portion as a function of a magnetic attraction between an implanted magnet and an externally located magnet; and
disposing the external portion of the semi implantable hearing aid on the patient proximate the implanted magnet. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
Specification