Dual path implantable hearing assistance device
First Claim
1. A hearing assist system at least partially implantable in a middle ear, the system comprising:
- a first-ear input transducer, proportioned for disposition within a first ear of a person, for transducing received mechanical sound vibrations within the first ear into an electrical first-ear input signal;
a second-ear output transducer, proportioned for disposition within a second ear of the person, for transducing an electrical second-ear output signal into mechanical sound vibrations within the second ear; and
an electronics unit electrically coupled to the first-ear input transducer for receiving and processing the first-ear input signal, and electrically coupled to the second-ear output transducer for providing the electrical second-ear output signal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dual path implantable hearing assistance system transduces sound vibrations of the malleus in one or both ears into electrical signals, processes the electrical signals to provide one or more resulting output electrical signals, and transduces the output signals into mechanical vibrations provided to the stapes in one or both ears. Communication between an electronics device and at least one ear is either wireless or through subcutaneous lead wires. The system may have two input paths and two output paths, programmable to provide the function of two separate single path systems, but capable of combining the signals such as by weighted summing. The system may have also have two input paths and one output path; or, one input path and two output paths; or, one input path and one output path, each associated with a different ear.
70 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A hearing assist system at least partially implantable in a middle ear, the system comprising:
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a first-ear input transducer, proportioned for disposition within a first ear of a person, for transducing received mechanical sound vibrations within the first ear into an electrical first-ear input signal; a second-ear output transducer, proportioned for disposition within a second ear of the person, for transducing an electrical second-ear output signal into mechanical sound vibrations within the second ear; and an electronics unit electrically coupled to the first-ear input transducer for receiving and processing the first-ear input signal, and electrically coupled to the second-ear output transducer for providing the electrical second-ear output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A hearing assist system at least partially implantable in a middle ear, the system comprising:
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a first-ear input transducer disposed within a first ear of a person for transducing received mechanical sound vibrations within the first ear into a corresponding electrical first-ear input signal; a second-ear input transducer disposed within a second ear of the person for transducing received mechanical sound vibrations within the second ear into a corresponding electrical second-ear input signal; a first-ear output transducer disposed within the first ear for transducing an electrical first-ear output signal into mechanical sound vibrations; a second-ear output transducer disposed within the second ear for transducing an electrical second-ear output signal into mechanical sound vibrations; an electronic device having first-ear and second-ear inputs for receiving respective electrical first-ear and second-ear input signals, and capable of processing the electrical first-ear and second-ear input signals and providing resulting respective first-ear and second-ear output signals at first-ear and second-ear outputs to the first-ear and second-ear output transducers, said communication of each of the second-ear input and output signals between the device and respective second-ear input and output transducers includes wireless communication. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A dual path implantable hearing assistance device adapted to be implantable in a middle ear, the device comprising:
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a first-ear input transducer adapted for installation in a middle ear section of a patient'"'"'s first-ear; a second-ear output transducer adapted for installation in a middle ear section of a patient'"'"'s second-ear; and an electronics unit in electromagnetic communication with the first-ear input transducer and the second-ear output transducer, wherein, a first-ear input signal is provided by the first-ear input transducer, the first-ear input signal is processed by the electronics unit into a second-ear output signal, and the second-ear output signal is provided to the output transducer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification