NEAR INFRARED LIGHT IN HEARING AID APPLIANCES

• US 20190321655A1
• Filed: 04/18/2019
• Published: 10/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S (William Demant Fonden)
• Original Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S (William Demant Fonden)
• Inventors: RIIS, Soren Kamaric, Lunner, Thomas, Wendt, Dorothea, Backus, Bradford
• Granted Patent: US 11,872,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0219 of externally powered implanted units
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0017 transmitting optical signals transmission by light H04B10/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0075 by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy A61B5/0071 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/125 objective methods
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/24 Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/291 for electroencephalography [EEG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4836 Diagnosis combined with treatment in closed-loop systems or methods A61B5/0036 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0541 Cochlear electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/0605 Ear
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/0626 Monitoring, verifying, controlling systems and methods
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/0659 infrared
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/0603 for treatment of body cavities
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/0622 Optical stimulation for exciting neural tissue

Abstract

A cochlear implant hearing aid system is disclosed. The cochlear implant hearing aid system comprises an external part. The external part includes a sound pickup unit configured to pick up sound from the environment and a sound processing unit configured to process said sound. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises an implant part. The implant part includes an implant processing unit and a plurality of cochlea stimulation electrodes for stimulation of a cochlea of a user. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit a near-infrared wave. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared receiver configured to receive said near-infrared wave.

Claims

1. A cochlear implant hearing aid system, comprising

an external part including a sound pickup unit configured to pick up sound from the environment and a sound processing unit configured to process said sound,

an implant part including an implant processing unit and a plurality of cochlea stimulation electrodes for stimulation of a cochlea of a user,

a near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit a near-infrared wave, and

a near-infrared receiver configured to receive said near-infrared wave.

2. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 1, wherein

said near-infrared transmitter is an internal near-infrared transmitter provided on said implant part and configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards a cortex of said user, and

said near-infrared receiver is an internal near-infrared receiver provided on said implant part and configured to receive said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user.

3. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 2, further comprising

an external near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards said internal near-infrared receiver, wherein

said internal near-infrared receiver is further configured to receive said near-infrared wave directly from said external near-infrared transmitter.

4. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 1, wherein

said near-infrared transmitter is an external near-infrared transmitter provided on said external part, and

said near-infrared receiver is an internal near-infrared receiver provided on said implant part.

5. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 4, wherein

said external near-infrared transmitter is configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards a cortex of said user, and

said internal near-infrared receiver is configured to receive said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user.

6. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 4, wherein

said external near-infrared transmitter is configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards said internal near-infrared receiver, and

said internal near-infrared receiver is configured to receive said near-infrared wave directly from said external near-infrared transmitter.

7. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 1, wherein

said near-infrared transmitter is an internal near-infrared transmitter,

said near-infrared receiver is an external near-infrared receiver,

said internal near-infrared transmitter is configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards said external near-infrared receiver, and

said external near-infrared receiver is configured to receive said near-infrared wave directly from said internal near-infrared transmitter.

8. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 2, wherein

said implant processing unit is configured to process said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user to determine a brain activity of a brain of said user.

9. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 8, wherein

said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex is indicative of hemodynamic responses associated with neuron behavior of said brain of said user.

10. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 8, wherein

a result of said implant processing unit is used for adapting a signal processing of said cochlear implant hearing aid system, for adapting a processing of said sound by said sound processing unit, for fitting said cochlear implant hearing aid system to said user, for health condition monitoring of said user, and/or for an output of a brain-computer-interface.

11. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 3, wherein

said near-infrared wave transmitted by said external near-infrared transmitter towards said internal near-infrared receiver comprises encoded data to be used for said stimulation of said cochlea of said user by said cochlea stimulation electrodes.

12. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 1, further comprising

an electromagnetic power transmission unit provided on said external part and configured to transmit electromagnetic power in a non-contact manner, and

an electromagnetic power receiving unit provided on said implant part and configured to receive said electromagnetic power in a non-contact manner, wherein

said implant part is configured to utilize said electromagnetic power as a power supply.

13. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 12, further comprising

an electromagnetic data transmission unit provided on said implant part and configured to transmit data in a non-contact manner utilizing an electromagnetic field generated by said electromagnetic power transmission unit for transmission of said electromagnetic power, and

an electromagnetic data receiving unit provided on said external part and configured to receive said data in a non-contact manner.

14. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 13, further comprising

a power adjustment unit provided on said external part and configured to adjust, based on said data, said electromagnetic power transmitted by said electromagnetic power transmission unit.

15. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 13, further comprising

a wave transmission adjustment unit provided on said external part and configured to adjust, based on said data, said near-infrared wave transmitted by said external near-infrared transmitter towards said internal near-infrared receiver.

16. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 1, wherein

said near-infrared wave is a wave having a wavelength equal to or larger than 700 nm and equal to or smaller than 900 nm.

17. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 5, wherein

said external near-infrared transmitter is configured to transmit said near-infrared wave towards said internal near-infrared receiver, and

said internal near-infrared receiver is configured to receive said near-infrared wave directly from said external near-infrared transmitter.

18. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 3, wherein

said implant processing unit is configured to process said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user to determine a brain activity of a brain of said user.

19. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 5, wherein

said implant processing unit is configured to process said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user to determine a brain activity of a brain of said user.

20. The cochlear implant hearing aid system according to claim 17, wherein

said implant processing unit is configured to process said near-infrared wave scattered by said cortex of said user to determine a brain activity of a brain of said user.