Implantable microphone system for use with cochlear implantable hearing aids
First Claim
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1. An implantable microphone system comprising:
- a sensor for sensing motion of middle ear components without physical contact with middle ear components, the sensor being at least partially implantable within the middle ear;
processing means coupled to the sensor for converting the sensed motion to an electrical signal, the electrical signal comprising a microphone output signal that varies as a function of acoustic sound waves received through the outer ear and impressed upon the movable middle ear components.
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Abstract
An implantable microphone system senses “sound” by sensing motion of middle ear components without having to physically touch or contact such elements. In one embodiment, acoustically induced vibrations in any of the moving components of the middle ear are detected using a pulsed echo Doppler ultrasound transducer, implanted in the middle ear. The implantable microphone system is ideally suited for use with a cochlea implant device.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An implantable microphone system comprising:
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a sensor for sensing motion of middle ear components without physical contact with middle ear components, the sensor being at least partially implantable within the middle ear;
processing means coupled to the sensor for converting the sensed motion to an electrical signal, the electrical signal comprising a microphone output signal that varies as a function of acoustic sound waves received through the outer ear and impressed upon the movable middle ear components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An implantable microphone system comprising:
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a signal emitter implantable in or near the middle ear that generates and emits a detectable signal having known characteristics;
wherein the detectable signal irradiates and is modulated by moving components of a user'"'"'s middle ear when the signal emitter is implanted in or near the middle ear;
a signal receiver that receives the detectable signal after modulation by moving components of the user'"'"'s middle ear;
wherein neither the signal emitter nor signal receiver are in physical contact with moving components of the user'"'"'s middle ear; and
signal demodulation means for demodulating signals received by the signal receiver means and creating therefrom a microphone signal having variations therein that vary as a function of the movement of middle ear components. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of sensing sound using implantable components and generating a microphone signal representative of the sensed sound, wherein the microphone signal is useable by a hearing aid device, including a cochlear implant system, the method comprising:
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(a) implanting a motion sensor in the middle ear, the motion sensor including means for sensing movement of at least one middle ear component without physically touching the at least one middle ear component;
(b) sensing motion of at least one of the moveable middle ear components using the implanted motion sensor; and
(c) converting the sensed motion of at least one middle ear component to the microphone signal representative of sensed sound. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification