Implantable magnetic hearing aid transducer

An apparatus for improving hearing by mechanically vibrating an ossicle in a middle ear, the apparatus comprising:

• a sealed housing proportioned and adapted to be disposed in the middle ear and secured to the ossicle;
• a magnet assembly, including a magnet, disposed within the housing, the magnet assembly having a mass;
• an electrically conductive coil disposed within the housing, wherein the coil is configured and adapted to receive electrical current generated by a sound transducer;
• and
• mounting means for mounting the magnet and the coil to the housing such that the coil is more rigidly secured to the housing than the magnet.

An apparatus for improving hearing by delivering vibrations to an oval window of an ear, the apparatus comprising:

• a sealed housing;
• a magnet assembly, including a magnet, disposed within the housing;
• an electrically conductive coil disposed within the housing, the coil configured and adapted to receive electrical current generated by a sound transducer
• mounting means for mounting the magnet and the coil to the housing;
• and conduction means adapted for conducting vibrations from the housing to the oval window of an ear while substantially isolating the vibrations from the surrounding region.

An apparatus for improving hearing by producing vibrations in a middle ear, the apparatus comprising:

• a sealed housing;
• a magnet assembly, including a magnet, disposed within the housing, the magnet assembly generating a substantially uniform flux field;
• an electrically conductive coil disposed within the housing;
• mounting means for mounting the magnet and the coil within the housing such that the coil and magnet are able to move relative to each other when alternating current is passed through the coil and such that the movement of the magnet is substantially limited to within the uniform flux field and is thereby substantially linear in relation to the current in the coil.

A method of improving heating by producing mechanical vibrations within the middle ear comprising the steps of:

• providing a magnet and a coil disposed within said and secured to a housing;
• securing the housing substantially exclusively to a structure in the ear;
• and
• delivering an alternating current to the coil to produce relative movement of the magnet and coil and to thereby cause the housing the vibrate.

A method of improving hearing by delivering vibrations to an oval window of an ear, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a housing, a magnet disposed within and attached to the housing, and a coil disposed within and attached to the housing, such that the coil is attached to the housing more rigidly than the magnet;
• (b) detecting a sound wave having a frequency;
• (c) converting the sound wave to alternating electrical current having the same frequency as the sound wave;
• (d) producing a first relatively uniform magnetic field within the housing using the magnet;
• (e) conducting the alternating electrical current through the coil to produce a second magnetic field;
• (f) interacting the first and second magnetic fields to produce vibrations of the housing;
• and
• (g) conducting the vibrations to the oval window of the ear while substantially isolating the vibrations from surrounding regions of a middle ear.