Methods and apparatus for transmitting vibrations
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transmitting vibrations via at least one tooth to facilitate sound transmission, comprising:
- a housing that is configured to engage the at least one tooth; and
an actuatable transducer disposed within or upon the housing and configured to transmit vibrations to a surface of the at least one tooth, wherein said apparatus produces an interference fit between the apparatus and at least two surfaces of the at least one tooth.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for transmitting vibrations via an electronic and/or transducer assembly through a tooth or teeth are disclosed herein. The assembly may be attached, adhered, or otherwise embedded into or upon a removable oral appliance to form a hearing aid assembly. Such an oral appliance may be a custom-made device. The electronic and transducer assembly may receive incoming sounds either directly or through a receiver to process and amplify the signals and transmit the processed sounds via a vibrating transducer element coupled to a tooth or other bone structure, such as the maxillary, mandibular, or palatine bone structure.
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Citations
78 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transmitting vibrations via at least one tooth to facilitate sound transmission, comprising:
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a housing that is configured to engage the at least one tooth; and an actuatable transducer disposed within or upon the housing and configured to transmit vibrations to a surface of the at least one tooth, wherein said apparatus produces an interference fit between the apparatus and at least two surfaces of the at least one tooth. - 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, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of transmitting vibrations via at least one tooth, comprising:
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providing an apparatus comprising a housing and an actuatable transducer disposed within or upon the housing, wherein said apparatus produces an interference fit between the apparatus and at least two surfaces of the at least one tooth; positioning the housing onto the at least one tooth; and maintaining contact between a surface of the at least one tooth and the actuatable transducer such that the transducer transmits vibrations to the surface of the at least one tooth. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. An apparatus for transmitting vibrations, comprising:
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a housing that is configured to engage at least one tooth; and an actuatable piezoelectric transducer disposed within or upon the housing and configured to transmit vibrations to a surface of the at least one tooth, wherein said apparatus produces an interference fit between the apparatus and at least two surfaces of the at least one tooth. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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Specification