EARDRUM IMPLANTABLE HEARING AID

• US 20160277856A1
• Filed: 02/22/2016
• Published: 09/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kuang-Chao Chen, Silicon Motion Incorporated California (Silicon Motion)
• Original Assignee: Silicon Motion Incorporated California (Silicon Motion)
• Inventors: CHEN, KUANG-CHAO, YEH, KUO-LIANG
• Application Number:
  US15/049,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20160277856A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• 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

An eardrum implantable hearing aid for assisting hearing of a user is provided. The eardrum implantable hearing aid includes an eardrum implantable speaker and a driving circuit. The eardrum implantable speaker is installed at a hole on an eardrum of the user. The driving circuit is connected to the eardrum implantable speaker and configured to process sound data and generate driving signals corresponding to the sound data. The driving signals drive the eardrum implantable speaker to generate air vibrations corresponding to the sound data in a direction from the eardrum toward a cochlea of the user, so as to assist the user to hear sounds corresponding to the sound data.

Claims

1. An eardrum implantable hearing aid for assisting hearing of a user, the eardrum implantable hearing aid comprising:

an eardrum implantable speaker, installed at a hole on an eardrum of the user; and

a driving circuit, connected to the eardrum implantable speaker and configured to process sound data and generate driving signals corresponding to the sound data,

wherein the driving signals drive the eardrum implantable speaker to generate air vibrations corresponding to the sound data in a direction from the eardrum toward a cochlea of the user, so as to assist the user to hear sounds corresponding to the sound data.

2. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the eardrum implantable speaker comprises a housing, the housing comprises a contacting portion abutting a portion of the eardrum corresponding to the hole, thereby supporting the eardrum implantable speaker to maintain at a specific position.

3. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising a digital processing circuit, configured to generate and adjust the sound data.

4. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising:

a sound collector, configured to collect external sounds; and

a sound amplifier, configured to amplify the collected external sounds so as to generate the sound data.

5. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 4, wherein the sound amplifier and the driving circuit are connected through a wire.

6. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 4, wherein the sound amplifier and the driving circuit and connected via a wireless protocol.

7. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising an eardrum wireless circuit, configured to receive wireless signals and convert the wireless signals into the sound data.

8. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 7, wherein the wireless signals are provided by a handheld electronic device.

9. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 8, wherein the handheld electronic device is a mobile phone.

10. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 7, further comprising a processing circuit, mounted on a pair of eyeglasses and configured to generate the sound data for the driving circuit.

11. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 7, wherein the wireless signals comprise a control signal for adjusting output parameters of the eardrum implantable speaker.

12. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising an eardrum power supply circuit, configured to provide an electrical power to the eardrum implantable speaker and the driving circuit.

13. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 12, wherein the eardrum power supply circuit is wirelessly charged.

14. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein two eardrums of the user are installed with a pair of the eardrum implantable hearing aids, and the pair of the eardrum implantable hearing aids are each configured to adjust output parameters of the respective eardrum implantable speaker.

15. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 14, wherein the eardrum implantable speakers of the pair of the eardrum implantable hearing aids provide different location-sensing sound signals to the two eardrums, thereby enabling the user to hear the sounds.

16. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the sound data is subjected to a translation process for converting unprocessed external sound signals into corresponding sound data with processed contents.

17. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 16, wherein the sound data are generated by capturing a portion of the unprocessed external sound signals and are played repeatedly.

18. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 16, wherein the sound data are one or more keywords in the unprocessed external sound signals and are played repeatedly.

19. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 16, wherein the translation process is a translation of a foreign language.

20. The eardrum implantable hearing aid according to claim 16, wherein the translation process is a conversion of a dialect.