Retention apparatus for an external portion of a semi-implantable hearing aid
First Claim
1. A retention apparatus for an external housing of a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
- a disk member disposable between a patient'"'"'s skin and an external housing, wherein the external housing contains at least one external component of the semi-implantable hearing aid, wherein at least one of said external housing and said disk member is retentively positionable relative to the patient'"'"'s skin by magnetic attraction with an implantable magnet, wherein the disk member includes a first surface to form an interface with the external housing and a second surface to form an interface with the patient'"'"'s skin, and wherein the second surface includes at least one rounded transition between a first and second portion of the second surface to provide a contoured shape to distribute pressure resulting from said magnetic attraction over an area of the patient'"'"'s skin contacted by the second surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A retention apparatus for a semi-implantable hearing aid. In one embodiment, the retention apparatus includes a first surface and a second surface. One of the first and second surfaces includes a first portion and a second portion having a rounded transition therebetween for interfacing with a patient'"'"'s skin. The rounded transition of the interfacing surface of the retention apparatus functions to distribute pressure resulting from the mutual magnetic attraction between an externally located magnet and an implanted magnet to permit increased magnetic forces therebetween and maintenance of a desired separation between an external coil and implanted coil.
61 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A retention apparatus for an external housing of a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
a disk member disposable between a patient'"'"'s skin and an external housing, wherein the external housing contains at least one external component of the semi-implantable hearing aid, wherein at least one of said external housing and said disk member is retentively positionable relative to the patient'"'"'s skin by magnetic attraction with an implantable magnet, wherein the disk member includes a first surface to form an interface with the external housing and a second surface to form an interface with the patient'"'"'s skin, and wherein the second surface includes at least one rounded transition between a first and second portion of the second surface to provide a contoured shape to distribute pressure resulting from said magnetic attraction over an area of the patient'"'"'s skin contacted by the second surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An external apparatus for a semi-implantable hearing aid, comprising:
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a housing containing at least one component of the semi implantable hearing aid, wherein the housing includes an interface for retentive positioning of the housing on a patient'"'"'s skin, wherein the interface includes a first surface having at least one rounded transition between a first portion and a second portion of the first surface; and a first magnet located within said housing for retentive positioning of the first surface in juxtaposed relation to and by magnetic attraction with an implanted magnet of the semi-implantable hearing aid, wherein the at least one rounded transition provides a contoured shape to distribute pressure resulting from the magnetic attraction over the an area of the patient'"'"'s skin contacted by the first surface and wherein the interface is a separate structure from a first portion of the housing and includes a second surface for interfacing with the first portion of the housing, comprising;
a receptacle defined in the second surface for receiving a second magnet. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for mounting an external portion of a semi-implantable hearing aid on a patient, the method comprising:
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providing a surface on the external portion that includes a contoured contact portion for contacting the patient'"'"'s skin; providing a radius of the contoured contact portion as a function of a magnetic attraction between an implanted magnet and an externally located magnet housed in said external portion; and disposing the external portion of the semi implantable hearing aid on the patient proximate the implanted magnet, wherein the external portion is retentively positioned by magnetic attraction of said externally located magnet with said implanted magnet, and wherein said contoured contact portion distributes pressure resulting from the magnetic attraction over an area of the patient'"'"'s skin contacted by the external portion. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification