Hearing aid system including speaker implanted in middle ear
AssigneeAlfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research
InventorsYitzhak Zilberman, Joseph H. Schulman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for enhancing a patient's hearing using electrically driven sound transducer, i.e., a speaker, implanted in the patient's middle ear cavity. More particularly, the speaker is implanted in the middle ear cavity inward of the tympanic membrane and oriented to direct sound energy toward the ossicles or the round window. In a first arrangement, the speaker functions to vibrate the ossicles and thus, via the oval window, actuate the perilymph in the cochlea. In an alternative arrangement, the speaker functions to actuate the cochlea via sound injected into the round window.
Claims21
A system for enhancing a patient's hearing capability, said system comprising:
- a pair of spaced transducers individually responsive to phase offset electric drive signals for producing sound energy;
- and wherein
- said transducer is mounted adjacent to said patient's middle ear cavity for directing said produced sound energy into said cavity.
A system for aiding a patient to hear, said system comprising:
- a pair of spaced speakers;
- said speakers being implanted adjacent to said patient's middle ear cavity for directing phase offset sound energy into said cavity in response to phase offset electric drive signals individually applied to each of said speakers;
- a microphone responsive to sound energy incident thereon for producing electric output signals;
- and
- circuit means responsive to said electric output signals for producing said phase offset electric drive signals for individually driving each of said speakers.
A method of enhancing a patient's hearing comprising:
- mounting a pair of spaced transducers adjacent to said patient's middle ear cavity;
- and
- supplying phase offset electric drive signals to each of said transducers for introducing sound energy into said middle ear cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.