US 6,473,651 B1Granted

Fluid filled microphone balloon to be implanted in the middle ear

AssigneeAdvanced Bionics AG

InventorsJanusz A. Kuzma, Thomas J. Balkany, William Vanbrooks Harrison

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Abstract

An implantable microphone system, usable with a cochlear implant system or other hearing aid prosthesis, detects sound pressure waves (acoustic waves) at a movable member within the middle ear, e.g., the tympanic membrane or the stapes, through a fluid communication channel (20) established between the middle ear movable member and a microphone capsule (10). The microphone capsule (10) includes two compartments (11, 12) separated by a flexible diaphragm (13). One compartment (12) is in fluid communication with a thin-walled balloon, filled with a suitable fluid (30), positioned in contact with the movable member within the middle ear. The other compartment (11) is mechanically coupled through a suitable mechanical linkage (16) to a microphone sensor (14). The microphone sensor, in turn, is electrically connected to the cochlear implant system or other hearing aid prosthesis.

Claims18

Dependent claims

An implantable microphone system, usable by a patient having a cochlear prosthesis, comprising:

a microphone capsule having first and second chambers separated by a flexible diaphragm, the second chamber having a first fluid therein;
a microphone sensor within the first chamber that is in mechanical contact with the flexible diaphragm, the microphone sensor comprising a transducer that converts movement of the flexible diaphragm to an electrical signal;
a balloon implantable in the middle ear of the patient, the balloon having a second fluid therein, and having a wall adapted to be coupled with a movable component of the middle ear, wherein movement of the middle ear component causes the balloon wall to also move;
a fluid communication channel coupling the first fluid within the second compartment of the microphone capsule with the first fluid inside of the balloon, wherein vibrations of the balloon wall are coupled through the fluid communication channel to the flexible diaphragm within the microphone capsule;
wherein the microphone sensor of the first chamber of the microphone capsule senses movement of the flexible diaphragm, which movement of the flexible diaphragm corresponds to movement of the middle ear component sensed through the fluid communication channel, whereby the microphone sensor generates an electrical signal representative of the movement of the middle ear component.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.