Sound processing and stimulation systems and methods for use with cochlear implant devices
First Claim
1. A method for stimulating a cochlea using a plurality of electrodes based on a signal representative of sound, the method comprising:
- computing a frequency spectrum of the signal representative of sound;
arranging the frequency spectrum into a plurality of channels such that each channel corresponds to a range of frequencies that lie within the frequency spectrum;
computing a frequency at which a spectral peak is located within the range of frequencies that corresponds to a channel of the plurality of channels; and
stimulating a subset of the plurality of electrodes with a stream of pulse sets, the pulses in each set being simultaneously applied to the electrodes in the subset so as to stimulate a virtual electrode positioned at a location on the cochlea, the location on the cochlea corresponding to the frequency at which the spectral peak is located.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Sound processing strategies for use with cochlear implant systems utilizing simultaneous stimulation of electrodes are provided. The strategies include computing a frequency spectrum of a signal representative of sound, arranging the spectrum into channels and assigning a subset of electrodes to each channel. Each subset is stimulated so as to stimulate a virtual electrode positioned at a location on the cochlea that corresponds to the frequency at which a spectral peak is located within an assigned channel. The strategies also derive a carrier for a channel having a frequency that may relate to the stimulation frequency so that temporal information is presented. In order to fit these strategies, a group of electrodes is selected and the portion of the current that would otherwise be applied to electrode(s) having a partner electrode in the group is applied to the partner electrode.
38 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for stimulating a cochlea using a plurality of electrodes based on a signal representative of sound, the method comprising:
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computing a frequency spectrum of the signal representative of sound; arranging the frequency spectrum into a plurality of channels such that each channel corresponds to a range of frequencies that lie within the frequency spectrum; computing a frequency at which a spectral peak is located within the range of frequencies that corresponds to a channel of the plurality of channels; and stimulating a subset of the plurality of electrodes with a stream of pulse sets, the pulses in each set being simultaneously applied to the electrodes in the subset so as to stimulate a virtual electrode positioned at a location on the cochlea, the location on the cochlea corresponding to the frequency at which the spectral peak is located. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A cochlear implant system for stimulating a cochlea based on a signal representative of sound, the system comprising:
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sound processing circuitry adapted to; compute a frequency spectrum of the signal representative of sound; arrange the frequency spectrum into a plurality of channels such that each channel corresponds to a range of frequencies that lie within the frequency spectrum; and compute a frequency at which a spectral peak is located within the range of frequencies that corresponds to a channel of the plurality of channels; and an electrode array inserted into the cochlea and coupled to the sound processing circuitry, the array comprising a plurality of electrodes of which a subset is stimulated with a stream of pulse sets, the pulses in each set being simultaneously applied to the electrodes in the subset so as to stimulate a virtual electrode positioned at a location on the cochlea, the location on the cochlea corresponding to the frequency at which the spectral peak is located. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for use in a cochlear implant system, the method comprising:
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applying an FFT algorithm to a signal representative of sound in order to produce a representation of the signal that is broken down into a plurality of frequency bins that are organized into a plurality of channels such that each channel comprises a subset of the plurality of bins; determining a bin that has the most energy from a subset of the plurality of bins in a channel; determining whether the energy in the bin is larger than energies in other bins adjacent to the bin; if the energy in the bin is larger than energies in the adjacent bins, computing a stimulation frequency to be a frequency that corresponds to a location of a maximum of a parabola that is fit between a plurality of points within the bin and two of the adjacent bins; and if the energy in the bin is not larger than energies in the adjacent bins, computing the stimulation frequency to correspond to a location of a point that lies midway between the bin and another bin having the larger energy of the adjacent bins.
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36. A sound processing unit for use in a cochlear implant system, the unit comprising:
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circuitry for applying an FFT algorithm to a signal representative of sound in order to produce a representation of the signal that is broken down into a plurality of frequency bins that are organized into a plurality of channels such that each channel comprises a subset of the plurality of bins; and circuitry being adapted to; determine a bin that has the most energy from a subset of the plurality of bins in a channel; determine whether the energy in the bin is larger than energies in other bins adjacent to the bin; if the energy in the bin is larger than energies in the adjacent bins, compute a stimulation frequency that corresponds to a location of a maximum of a parabola that is fit between a plurality of points within the bin and two of the adjacent bins; and if the energy in the bin is not larger than energies in the adjacent bins, compute the stimulation frequency to correspond to a location of a point that lies midway between the bin and another bin having the larger energy of the adjacent bins.
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Specification