Implantable hearing aid microphone
First Claim
1. An implantable hearing aid microphone apparatus comprising:
- a housing having an internal chamber with an aperture thereto and a peripheral rim surrounding the aperture, wherein said internal chamber includes a first portion adjacent to said aperture and a second portion adjoining said first portion at an opening therebetween, wherein said opening is smaller than said aperture, and wherein said second portion extends away from the first portion about an axis transverse to said aperture;
a first diaphragm sealably positioned across said aperture and recessed relative to said peripheral rim; and
a microphone having a second diaphragm located adjacent to said second portion of said chamber and in non-parallel relation to said first diaphragm, wherein an enclosed volume is defined between said first and second diaphragms.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved implantable hearing aid microphone comprises a housing having an internal chamber with an aperture thereto and a first diaphragm sealably positioned across the aperture. A microphone having a second diaphragm is positioned within the chamber to define an enclosed volume between the first and second diaphragms for mechanically amplifying acoustic signals received by the first diaphragm. A peripheral rim may define the aperture of the housing, wherein the first diaphragm may be recessed between about 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm relative to the peripheral rim across the lateral extent of the first diaphragm. The internal chamber may be defined to include a first portion having a first cross-sectional area adjacent to the first diaphragm, and a second portion having a second cross-sectional area adjacent to the second diaphragm that is smaller than the first cross-sectional area. The second portion may be disposed to extend away from the first portion about an axis that is transverse to the first diaphragm. In turn, the first diaphragm may be provided to have an effective cross-sectional area that is at least about 100 times greater than the effective cross-sectional area of the second diaphragm. In one arrangement, the second internal chamber portion may be of an L-shaped configuration with a first leg being coaxially aligned with a center axis of the first diaphragm and a second leg disposed substantially perpendicular thereto with the second diaphragm disposed therein. The first diaphragm may comprise a biocompatible material, such titanium or a titanium alloy. The first diaphragm may be provided to have a cross-width of between about 8 to 15 millimeters and a thickness of between about 10 and 20 microns.
102 Citations
42 Claims
-
1. An implantable hearing aid microphone apparatus comprising:
-
a housing having an internal chamber with an aperture thereto and a peripheral rim surrounding the aperture, wherein said internal chamber includes a first portion adjacent to said aperture and a second portion adjoining said first portion at an opening therebetween, wherein said opening is smaller than said aperture, and wherein said second portion extends away from the first portion about an axis transverse to said aperture;
a first diaphragm sealably positioned across said aperture and recessed relative to said peripheral rim; and
a microphone having a second diaphragm located adjacent to said second portion of said chamber and in non-parallel relation to said first diaphragm, wherein an enclosed volume is defined between said first and second diaphragms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
a support member positioned within said chamber at a predetermined distance from an internal surface of said first diaphragm.
-
-
17. An apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein said predetermined distance is between about 1.0 and 5.0 microns.
-
18. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said housing and said first diaphragm comprise a biocompatible material.
-
19. An apparatus as recited in claim 18, wherein said biocompatible material comprises titanium.
-
20. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said first diaphragm has a maximum cross-width of between about 8 and 15 millimeters.
-
21. An apparatus as recited in claim 20, wherein said first diaphragm has a thickness of between about 10 and 20 microns across the lateral extent thereof.
-
22. An implantable hearing aid microphone apparatus comprising:
-
a housing having an internal chamber with an aperture thereto, said internal chamber including a first portion and a second portion adjoining said first portion at an opening therebetween, wherein said opening is smaller than said aperture, and wherein said second portion extends away from the first portion about an axis transverse to said aperture;
a first diaphragm sealably positioned across said aperture; and
,a microphone having a second diaphragm located adjacent to said second portion of said internal chamber and in non-parallel relation to said first diaphragm, wherein an enclosed volume is defined between the first and second diaphragms. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. An implantable hearing aid microphone apparatus comprising;
-
an internal chamber with an aperture thereto, said internal chamber having a first portion adjacent to said aperture and a second portion adjoining said first portion at an opening therebetween, wherein said opening is smaller than said aperture and wherein said second portion extends away from the first portion about an axis transverse said aperture;
a first diaphragm sealably positioned across said aperture; and
,a second diaphragm located adjacent to said second portion of said internal chamber and in non-parallel relation to said first diaphragm, wherein an enclosed volume is defined between the first and second diaphragms. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
Specification