Hearing aid

• US 6,402,682 B1
• Filed: 11/02/1999
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB (Cochlear Limited)
• Original Assignee: Nobel Biocare AB (Danaher Corporation)
• Inventors: Johansson, Patrik
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cadugan, Joseph A.
• Application Number:
  US09/402,088
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 600/25, 607/55-57, 381/23.1, 381/312, 381/324, 381/166, 381/382
• US Class Current: 600/25
• 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

A hearing aid amplifies sound and, by air conduction, stimulates the eardrum to vibrate. A hose or tube may be surgically implanted in the skull bone, or may be otherwise connected in order to convey amplified sound from an electronics module in the hearing aid to the middle ear to stimulate the eardrum to vibrate from the inside of the ear. By doing so, the auditory meatus is left free, and no intervention is required on the eardrum, the inner ear, or the bones of the middle ear.

Claims

1. A hearing aid of the type in which sound incident upon an ear is amplified prior to entry into the ear and which, via air conduction, stimulates an eardrum within the ear to vibrate, comprising:

a sound amplifying electronics module; and

air-conduction means acoustically coupled to said electronics module for conveying the incident sound amplified by the electronics module into a middle ear section of the ear,

wherein the sound conveyed by said air-conduction means stimulates the eardrum to vibrate from within the middle ear section.

2. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is placed apart from the middle ear section at a location which is accessible for servicing, repair and replacement.

3. The hearing aid of claim 2, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is placed external to the ear and is connected to the air-conduction means via a passage through a skin surface.

4. The hearing aid of claim 3, wherein a passage through the skin surface is anchored in a skull bone by a screw-shaped fixture.

5. The hearing aid of claim 2, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is placed at least partially under a skin surface.

6. The hearing aid of claim 2, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is encased and surgically implanted under the skin surface.

7. The hearing aid of claim 2, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is placed completely under a skin surface.

8. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the air-conduction means comprises one of a tube and a hose arranged in a channel in a skull bone,

said channel extending from a location where the electronics module is anchored and opening into the middle ear section.

9. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the air-conduction means comprises one of a tube and a hose arranged in a recess in a surface of a skull bone,

said one of a tube and a hose passing alongside an auditory meatus of the ear and the eardrum into the middle ear,

said one of a tube and a hose having an opening communicating with an internal surface of the eardrum.

10. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the electronics module of the hearing aid is detachably coupled to said air-conducting means for servicing, repair and replacement of said electronics module.

11. The hearing aid of claim 1, further comprising a filter coupled to said air-conduction means,

said filter being arranged to adjoin the electronics module of the hearing aid and being adapted to pass sound vibrations while preventing an undesired object from penetrating inside said air-conducting means from outside said ear.

12. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein said air-conduction means is implanted in a skull bone.

13. The hearing aid of claim 12, wherein said air-conduction means comprises a tube.

14. The hearing aid of claim 12, wherein said air-conduction means comprises a hose.

15. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein said air-conduction means provides direct acoustic coupling of sound vibrations into the middle ear section.

16. A method of aiding hearing, comprising:

amplifying sound incident upon an ear prior to entry of the sound into the ear;

acoustically coupling amplified sound into a middle ear section of the ear via an air-conduction channel; and

imparting vibrational energy contained in the amplified sound through an opening in said air-conduction channel onto a surface of an eardrum of the ear,

wherein said surface is exposed to the middle ear section.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising implanting the air-conduction channel in a skull bone.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising implanting an electronics module at least partially under a skin surface.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising recessing the air-conduction channel in a surface of a skull bone.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising detachably coupling an air conduction tube to an electronics module.