IMPLANTABLE MICROPHONE
First Claim
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1. An implantable microphone, comprising:
- a source of incoherent light,a light detector for outputting a signal corresponding to a total light intensity of the incoherent light and impinging onto a detector surface,a housing for housing the light source and the detector, anda sensor membrane for being exposed to surrounding soft tissue, the membrane being arranged to seal an opening of the housing and comprising reflector means provided at the inner side of the sensor membrane for reflecting light from the light source onto the detector in manner that the total light intensity reflected onto the detector varies as a function of the position of the reflector means relative to the detector.
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Abstract
An implantable microphone, comprising a source of incoherent light, a light detector for outputting a signal corresponding to the total light intensity impinging onto a detector surface, a housing for housing the light source and the detector, and a sensor membrane for being exposed to surrounding soft tissue, the membrane being arranged to seal an opening of the housing and comprising reflector means provided at the inner side of the sensor membrane for reflecting light from the light source onto the detector in manner that the total light intensity reflected onto the detector varies as a function of the position of the reflector means relative to the detector.
14 Citations
33 Claims
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1. An implantable microphone, comprising:
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a source of incoherent light, a light detector for outputting a signal corresponding to a total light intensity of the incoherent light and impinging onto a detector surface, a housing for housing the light source and the detector, and a sensor membrane for being exposed to surrounding soft tissue, the membrane being arranged to seal an opening of the housing and comprising reflector means provided at the inner side of the sensor membrane for reflecting light from the light source onto the detector in manner that the total light intensity reflected onto the detector varies as a function of the position of the reflector means relative to the detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A fully implantable hearing instrument comprising:
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a microphone a source of incoherent light, a light detector for outputting a signal corresponding to a total light intensity of the incoherent light and impinging onto a detector surface, a housing for housing the light source and the detector, and a sensor membrane for being exposed to surrounding soft tissue, the membrane being arranged to seal an opening of the housing and comprising reflector means provided at the inner side of the sensor membrane for reflecting light from the light source onto the detector in manner that the total light intensity reflected onto the detector varies as a function of the position of the reflector means relative to the detector; and an audio signal processing unit for further processing the output signals of the microphone and an output transducer for stimulating a patient'"'"'s hearing according to the further processed signals.
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33. A method of providing hearing assistance to a user, comprising
emitting incoherent light from a light source of an implantable microphone, reflecting incoherent light from the light source at reflector means provided at the inner side of a sensor membrane of the microphone exposed to surrounding soft tissue, detecting a total intensity of the light reflected at the reflector means onto a surface of a light detector of the microphone, providing an output signal corresponding to the total intensity of the light reflected onto the detector surface, and stimulating the user'"'"'s hearing, by an implanted output transducer, according to the output signal, wherein the sensor membrane is arranged to seal an opening of a housing of the microphone and wherein the light is reflected onto the detector surface in such a manner that the total light intensity reflected onto the detector surface varies as a function of the position of the reflector means relative to the detector.
Specification