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AssigneeEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Medizinische Fakultät
InventorsErnst Dalhoff, Hans-Peter Zenner
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In a hearing aid (26) that can be inserted into the ear canal (12) of a patient, comprising an actuator (31) effecting a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane (14), the actuator (31) comprises an inner surface (32) associated with the tympanic membrane (14) and an outer surface (42) associated with the ear canal (12) and is configured as an areal disk actuator, whose deformation stimulates the tympanic membrane (14) by areal deformation. On the actuator (31) at a distance from the outer surface (42) a cover plate (43) is arranged which together with the outer surface (42) delimits a preferably lenticular cavity (48).
A hearing aid configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane, wherein the actuator comprises an inner surface associated with the tympanic membrane and an outer surface associated with the ear canal, the actuator being configured as an areal disk actuator, whose deformation stimulates the tympanic membrane by areal deformation;
A hearing aid configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane, wherein the actuator comprises an inner surface associated with the tympanic membrane and an outer surface associated with the ear canal, the actuator being configured as an areal disk actuator, whose deformation stimulates the tympanic membrane by areal deformation;
A hearing aid configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane, wherein the actuator comprises an inner surface associated with the tympanic membrane and an outer surface associated with the ear canal, the actuator being configured as an areal disk actuator, whose deformation stimulates the tympanic membrane by areal deformation;
A hearing aid system comprising a hearing aid associated with a supply module, wherein the hearing aid is configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane, wherein the actuator comprises an inner surface associated with the tympanic membrane and an outer surface associated with the ear canal, the actuator being configured as an areal disk actuator, whose deformation stimulates the tympanic membrane by areal deformation;
A hearing aid configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane;
A hearing aid configured to be inserted into an ear canal of a patient, comprising a piezo disk actuator that effects a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Of acoustic or vibrational transducers: acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular…
Piezoelectric transducers
Using an external connection, either wireless or wired: using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups: in the ear hearing aids [ITE] hearing aids
About 8 years 9 months of term left · ends 13 Jul 2035 (estimated)
This application is the national phase of PCT/EP2014/078440 having an international filing date of Dec. 18, 2014, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2013 114 771.2, filed on Dec. 23, 2013. The entire contents of the above-listed applications are incorporated herein by this reference in their entireties. The present invention relates to a hearing aid that can be inserted into the ear canal of a patient, comprising an actuator effecting a mechanical stimulation of the tympanic membrane.
Such hearing aids are known in the prior art.
Hearing loss is a serious social problem, since on average about 10 to 20% of the population in developed countries are affected. Hearing loss is often not curable today and thereby causes a reduction in the quality of life. Hearing systems that can be implanted and/or inserted offer a solution in this situation.
An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the attached drawings and will be explained in more detail in the following description.
FIG. 1 shows a partially sectional view of a human ear;
FIG. 2 shows a hearing aid-system comprising a hearing aid and supply module inserted into the ear of FIG. 1;
FIG. 1 shows a human ear 10 of a patient P in a schematic and partially sectional view. Sound (tones and noises) are collected by the ear cup 11 and are guided along the ear canal (outer ear) 12 in direction of the tympanic membranes 14. The sound hits the tympanic membrane 14 and is transmitted into the cochlea 15 via a system of bones (ossicles or ossicle chain) 16, which serve as levers providing amplification and an acoustic matching transformation to a stamp or a membrane 17 called the “oval window”.
The cochlea 15 is a spirally wound tube resembling a snail shell, which in an unwound state is about 35 mm long and is divided over the larger part of its entire length by a separating wall called the “basilar membrane”. A lower chamber of the cochlea is called “scala tympani” and an upper chamber is called “scala vestibuli”. The cochlea 15 is filled with a fluid (perilymph) having a viscosity approximately corresponding to the viscosity of water. The scala tympani is provided with a second membrane 18 called the “oval window” which serves for receiving a displacement of the fluid if the oval window 17 is displaced.
When the oval window 17 is acoustically actuated by the ossicles 16, then the basilar membrane is displaced correspondingly and it vibrates by the movement of the fluid in the cochlea 15. The displacement of the basilar membrane stimulates hair cells (sensory cells) which are arranged in a special structure on the basilar membrane (not shown). Movements of these sensory hairs generate electric discharges in fibers of the auditory nerve 19 through the mediation of cells in the spiral ganglion. which are positioned in the modiolus or modiolar septum.