Noise cancellation earpiece

A communications system with noise cancellation, comprising:

• a microphone port located in an ear canal for detecting sound in said ear canal;
• a speaker port located in said ear canal for broadcasting sound signals into said ear canal, the speaker port being operably connected to a speaker transducer positioned outside the ear canal;
• a sound processor for processing ambient sounds received by said micro-phone port to produce processed signals, the sound processor being located outside the ear canal;
• noise cancellation means for producing an inverse noise signal of noise detected in said ear canal by said microphone, the noise cancellation means being located outside the ear canal;
• and
• means for sending said inverse noise signal to said speaker port to broadcast said inverse noise signal into said ear canal and to substantially cancel at least a portion of the ambient noise in the ear canal, wherein when the microphone port and speaker port are positioned in said ear of a user, the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds and wherein at least one of the ports has a transducer that is located outside the ear canal.

A communications system with noise cancellation, comprising:

• a microphone port located in an ear canal for detecting sound in said ear canal;
• a speaker port located in said ear canal for broadcasting sound signals into said ear canal;
• a behind-the-ear unit, the behind-the-ear unit including a sound processor for processing ambient sounds received by said microphone port to produce processed signals and including a speaker transducer operably connected to the speaker port;
• and
• a noise cancellation means for producing an inverse noise signal of noise detected in said ear canal by said microphone, the noise cancellation means being located outside the ear canal;
• wherein the speaker transducer is adapted to broadcast said inverse noise signal into said ear canal to substantially cancel at least a portion of the ambient noise in the ear canal, wherein when the microphone port and speaker port are positioned in said ear of a user, the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds.

A communications system with noise cancellation, comprising:

• an ear tube section including at least one ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal of a user so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds;
• a microphone port in operative communication with said ear tube section for detecting sound in said ear canal;
• a speaker port in operative communication with said ear tube section for broadcasting sound signals into said ear canal, the speaker port being operably connected to a speaker transducer positioned outside the ear canal;
• a sound processor for amplifying ambient sounds received by said microphone port to produce processed signals, the sound processor being located outside the ear canal;
• noise cancellation means for producing an inverse noise signal of a portion of the sound detected in said ear canal by said microphone port;
• means for sending said inverse noise signal to said speaker port to broadcast said inverse noise signal into said ear canal and to substantially cancel a first portion of the ambient sounds in the ear canal;
• and
• means for sending a second portion of the ambient sounds to an external device.