Systems and methods for photo-mechanical hearing transduction
First Claim
1. A hearing aid system for inducing neural impulses that are interpreted as amplified sound by a human subject, said human subject having an ear, a pinna of the ear, an external auditory canal, and a hearing transduction pathway comprising a tympanic membrane, a middle ear and a cochlea, said system comprising:
- an input transducer assembly which converts an electronic sound signal into a light signal, the input transducer assembly comprising,a housing sized for placement behind the pinna of the ear,a microphone to receive ambient sound and generate the electronic sound signal, anda light source positioned within the housing which receives the electronic sound signal and produces the light signal,an elongate light transmission component comprising one or more light transmission fibers coupled to the light source positioned within the housing, the light transmission component having a cross sectional size and a length to extend from the light source over the pinna and into the external auditory canal such that a distal end of the light transmission component is configured to reside in the external auditory canal near the tympanic membrane with a gap extending between the distal end and the tympanic membrane when the housing is placed behind the pinna; and
an output transducer assembly which receives the light signal and converts the light signal to mechanical vibration;
wherein the output transducer assembly is sized for placement on the tympanic membrane or within the middle ear to couple to the hearing transduction pathway when positioned on the subject'"'"'s tympanic membrane or within the middle ear to induce said neural impulses interpreted as amplified sound.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Hearing systems for both hearing impaired and normal hearing subjects comprise an input transducer and a separate output transducer. The input transducer will include a light source for generating a light signal in response to either ambient sound or an external electronic sound signal. The output transducer will comprise a light-responsive transducer component which is adapted to receive light from the input transducer. The output transducer component will vibrate in response to the light input and produce vibrations in a component of a subject'"'"'s hearing transduction pathway, such as the tympanic membrane, a bone in the ossicular chain, or directly on the cochlea, in order to produce neural signals representative of the original sound.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A hearing aid system for inducing neural impulses that are interpreted as amplified sound by a human subject, said human subject having an ear, a pinna of the ear, an external auditory canal, and a hearing transduction pathway comprising a tympanic membrane, a middle ear and a cochlea, said system comprising:
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an input transducer assembly which converts an electronic sound signal into a light signal, the input transducer assembly comprising, a housing sized for placement behind the pinna of the ear, a microphone to receive ambient sound and generate the electronic sound signal, and a light source positioned within the housing which receives the electronic sound signal and produces the light signal, an elongate light transmission component comprising one or more light transmission fibers coupled to the light source positioned within the housing, the light transmission component having a cross sectional size and a length to extend from the light source over the pinna and into the external auditory canal such that a distal end of the light transmission component is configured to reside in the external auditory canal near the tympanic membrane with a gap extending between the distal end and the tympanic membrane when the housing is placed behind the pinna; and an output transducer assembly which receives the light signal and converts the light signal to mechanical vibration; wherein the output transducer assembly is sized for placement on the tympanic membrane or within the middle ear to couple to the hearing transduction pathway when positioned on the subject'"'"'s tympanic membrane or within the middle ear to induce said neural impulses interpreted as amplified sound. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An input transducer assembly for use in a hearing transduction system including an output transducer assembly which receives light from the input transducer assembly and which converts the received light to vibrational energy interpreted as amplified sound by a human subject, said human subject having an ear, a pinna of the ear, an external auditory canal, and a hearing transduction pathway comprising a tympanic membrane, a middle ear and a cochlea, wherein the input transducer assembly comprises:
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a transducer component which receives ambient sound and converts said ambient sound to a light output, the transducer component comprising, a housing sized for placement behind the pinna of the ear, a microphone to receive ambient sound and generate the electronic sound signal, and a light source positioned within the housing which receives the electronic sound signal and produces the light signal; and an elongate light transmission component comprising one or more light transmission fibers coupled to the light source positioned within the housing to deliver the light through the external auditory canal to the output transducer assembly adapted to reside on the tympanic membrane, the light transmission component having a cross sectional size and a length to extend from the light source over the pinna and into the external auditory canal such that a distal end of the light transmission component is configured to reside in the external auditory canal near the tympanic membrane with a gap extending between the distal end and the tympanic membrane when the housing is placed behind the pinna. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification