Contact hearing systems, apparatus and methods
AssigneeEarlens Corporation
InventorsCem Shaquer, Louis Wong, Kulbir Sandhu, Mudhafar Hassan Ali, Thanh Tran
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a hearing aid which includes a lateral ear canal assembly and a medial ear canal assembly. In embodiments of the invention the medial ear canal assembly may include smart circuitry adapted to control parameters and outputs of the medial ear canal assembly. In embodiments of the invention various methods and circuitry are described, wherein the methods and circuitry are adapted to improve the performance and efficiency of the hearing aid.
Claims17
A method of transmitting data from a lateral ear canal assembly to a medial ear canal assembly, the method comprising:
- modulating the data;
- exciting a first coil on the lateral ear canal assembly with the modulated data such that the first coil generates a magnetic field, the lateral ear canal assembly being positioned in an ear canal of a user;
- receiving the generated magnetic field at the medial ear canal assembly and generating a received signal representative of the modulated signal, the medial ear canal assembly being positioned in the ear canal of the user and on a tympanic membrane of the user and medially of the lateral ear canal assembly;
- and
- passing the received signal through a diode rectifying circuit to generate a demodulated signal;
- using the demodulated signal to generate a drive signal;
- and
- using the drive signal to drive a microactuator positioned on the medial ear canal assembly, wherein the microactuator comprises a balanced armature transducer connected to the tympanic membrane of the user through an umbo lens, and wherein the microactuator is driven to vibrate the tympanic membrane, generating user perceptible sound.
A method of transmitting data from a lateral ear canal assembly to a medial ear canal assembly, the method comprising:
- exciting a first coil on the lateral ear canal assembly to generate a magnetic field, the lateral ear canal assembly being positioned in an ear canal of a user;
- receiving at least a portion of the generated magnetic field at a second coil positioned on the medial ear canal assembly, wherein the medial ear canal assembly is positioned in the ear canal of the user and on a tympanic membrane of the user and medially of the lateral ear canal assembly, and wherein the received magnetic field induces a received signal in the second coil;
- rectifying the output of the second coil by passing the output of the second coil through a diode rectifying circuit;
- and
- transmitting at least a portion of the rectified output to a load positioned on the medial ear canal assembly, wherein the load comprises a balanced armature transducer connected to an umbo lens, and wherein the balanced armature transducer is driven to vibrate the tympanic membrane via the umbo lens, generating user perceptible sound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.