Compact hearing aids

A tympanic membrane actuation assembly, comprising:

• a housing configured to be disposed on at least one of a medial side or a lateral side of a tympanic membrane of a user;
• a mass disposed within the housing, the mass configured to be actuated;
• and
• a bending mode actuator disposed within the housing and coupled to the mass, the bending mode actuator coupled to the mass at an oblique position along a surface of the mass, the bending mode actuator configured to convert electrical signals into mechanical motion to actuate the mass and modulate the tympanic membrane.

A hearing aid, which is insertable through a user's tympanic membrane to amplify certain frequencies and cancel other frequencies, comprising:

• a tympanic membrane actuation assembly, comprising:
• a first housing configured to be disposed on a first side of a tympanic membrane of a user;
• a first mass disposed within the first housing, the first mass configured to be actuated;
• and
• a first bending mode actuator disposed within the first housing and coupled to the first mass at a first position along a lateral surface of the first mass, the first bending mode actuator configured to convert electrical signals into mechanical motion to actuate the first mass;
• a second housing configured to be disposed on a second side of the tympanic membrane of a user;
• a second mass disposed within the second housing, the second mass configured to be actuated;
• and
• a second bending mode actuator disposed within the second housing and coupled to the second mass at a second position along a lateral surface of the second mass, the second bending mode actuator configured to convert electrical signals into mechanical motion to actuate the second mass, wherein the first position and the second position are non-axial and unaligned with each other.