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US 11,910,165 B2Granted
Removable attachment of a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device with limited skin deformation
AssigneeCochlear Limited
InventorsMarcus Andersson, Kristian Asnes, Erik Martin Holgersson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An external component including a vibratory portion configured to vibrate in response to a sound signal to evoke a hearing percept via bone conduction and including a coupling portion configured to removably attach the external component to an outer surface of skin of a recipient of the hearing prosthesis while imparting deformation to the skin of the recipient at a location of the attachment, in a one-gravity environment, of an amount that is about equal to or equal to that which results from the external component having mass.
Claims24
A method of evoking a hearing percept, comprising:
- removably attaching an external component including a vibrator portion of a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device, a sound processor, and a microphone, to skin of a recipient;
- and
- generating vibrations with the vibrator portion such that the generated vibrations are transferred into skin of the recipient and into underlying bone of the recipient so as to evoke a hearing percept, wherein
- the vibrator portion, the sound processor and the microphone are located proximate the area of skin of the recipient into which the generated vibrations are transferred,
- the evocation of the hearing percept occurs while the external component is removably attached to the skin of the recipient,
- the removable attachment of the external component is maintained while generating the vibrations without substantial static pressure on the skin contacting a first location of the external component through which vibrations are transferred to the skin, and
- the external component is a behind-the-ear (BTE) device, the BTE device including a battery so that the battery is located behind an auricle of the recipient when the BTE device is attached to the recipient,
- the microphone is configured to capture sound from an ambient environment of the recipient,
- the vibrator portion is located between opposite sidewalls of a housing of the BTE device, which housing is contoured to the auricle, and
- a first adhesive for adhering to skin is located on a first side of the housing, and a second adhesive for adhering to skin is located on the second side of the housing.
7 more elements
A method of evoking a hearing percept, comprising:
- removably attaching an external component including a vibrator portion of a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device, a sound processor, and a microphone, to skin of a recipient;
- and
- generating vibrations with the vibrator portion such that the generated vibrations are transferred into skin of the recipient and into underlying bone of the recipient so as to evoke a hearing percept, wherein
- the vibrator portion, the sound processor and the microphone are located proximate the area of skin of the recipient into which the generated vibrations are transferred;
- the external component is a behind-the-ear (BTE) device,
- the action generating the vibrations to evoke a hearing percept is executed with the BTE device on one side of a head of the recipient of the BTE device,
- the method further comprises:
- moving the BTE device to an opposite side of the head of the recipient and generating vibrations with the vibrator portion such that the generated vibrations are transferred into skin of the recipient on the opposite side of the head and into underlying bone of the recipient on the opposite side of the head so as to evoke a second hearing percept, and
- a portion of the BTE device facing forward, relative to a face of a recipient, when used on the one side of the head also faces forward when used on the opposite side of the head.
6 more elements
A method of evoking a hearing percept, comprising:
- removably attaching an external component including a vibrator portion of a passive transcutaneous bone conduction device, a sound processor, and a microphone, to skin of a recipient;
- and
- generating vibrations with the vibrator portion such that the generated vibrations are transferred into skin of the recipient and into underlying bone of the recipient so as to evoke a hearing percept, wherein
- the vibrator portion, the sound processor and the microphone are located proximate the area of skin of the recipient into which the generated vibrations are transferred, and
- the action of generating vibrations is executed using a transducer with at least two static magnetic flux circuits where a first of the at least two static magnetic flux circuits is located on a first side of a plane normal to a longitudinal axis of the transducer and a second of the at least two static magnetic flux circuits is located on a second side of the plane opposite the first side.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.