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US 11,445,312 B2Granted
Hybrid electrically- and mechanically-stimulating cochlear implant
AssigneeCochlear Limited
InventorsJan Vermeiren, Kristof Buytaert, Rishubh Verma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Wires and coils within an electrode assembly electromagnetically interact and cause mechanical motion of the assembly. This mechanical motion can be used to supplement or replace the electrical stimulation provided by a standard cochlear implant and provides targeted acoustic stimulation to the cochlea.
Claims18
An apparatus comprising:
- an elongate carrier having an intra-cochlear region;
- an electrical stimulator disposed at the intra-cochlear region of the elongate carrier and being configured to deliver an electrical stimulus to a cochlea of a recipient;
- and
- a mechanical stimulator comprising at least two induction coils encapsulated in the intra-cochlear region of the elongate carrier, wherein the at least two induction coils are configured to deliver mechanical stimulation to the cochlea of the recipient,
- wherein the mechanical stimulator is disposed at the intra-cochlear region such that the mechanical stimulator is located at a basal region of a recipient's cochlea when the elongate carrier is implanted.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- an elongate carrier having an intra-cochlear region, wherein the intra-cochlear region comprises a proximal intra-cochlear region and a distal intra-cochlear region;
- a mechanical stimulator comprising a first coil and a second coil each encapsulated in the elongate carrier, wherein the first coil and the second coil are disposed within the proximal intra-cochlear region;
- and
- a plurality of electrodes exposed on a surface of the intra-cochlear region.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- using a mechanical stimulator that includes two induction coils encapsulated in an elongate carrier to deliver a first stimulus as acoustic waves generated from an intra-cochlear region of a recipient's cochlea toward an apical end of the recipient's cochlea;
- and
- delivering a second stimulus via that is different than the first stimulus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.