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US 8,265,766 B1Granted
Methods and systems of automatically detecting an impedance of one or more electrodes in a cochlear implant system
AssigneeAdvanced Bionics AG
InventorsAbhijit Kulkarni, Lakshmi N. Mishra, Leonid M. Litvak, Mark B. Downing, Aniket Saoji, Patrick T. Wong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for automatically detecting an impedance of one or more electrodes in a cochlear implant system include providing an implantable cochlear stimulator coupled to one or more electrodes, generating an electrical stimulation current with the implantable cochlear stimulator in accordance with stimulation parameters, automatically detecting an impedance of at least one of the electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule, and performing a predefined action in accordance with the detected impedance.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- providing an implantable cochlear stimulator coupled to one or more electrodes;
- generating an electrical stimulation current with said implantable cochlear stimulator in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters;
- automatically detecting an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- and
- adjusting, in accordance with said detected impedance, a pulse width of said electrical stimulation current to maintain constant a total electric charge level.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- providing an implantable cochlear stimulator coupled to one or more electrodes;
- generating an electrical stimulation current with said implantable cochlear stimulator in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters;
- automatically detecting an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- using the detected impedance to identify at least one disabled electrode;
- and
- using current steering to compensate for said disabled electrode.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- an implantable cochlear stimulator;
- one or more electrodes electrically coupled to said implantable cochlear stimulator;
- and
- a sound processing unit;
- wherein said sound processing unit is configured to:
- direct said implantable cochlear stimulator to apply an electrical stimulation current to a stimulation site within a patient via at least one of said electrodes;
- automatically detect an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- and
- adjust, in accordance with said detected impedance, a pulse width of said electrical stimulation current to maintain constant a total electric charge level.
6 more elements
A system comprising:
- an implantable cochlear stimulator;
- one or more electrodes electrically coupled to said implantable cochlear stimulator;
- and
- a sound processing unit;
- wherein said sound processing unit is configured to:
- direct said implantable cochlear stimulator to apply an electrical stimulation current to a stimulation site within a patient via at least one of said electrodes;
- automatically detect an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- and
- maintain, in accordance with said detected impedance, a consistent loudness level of an audio signal as perceived by said patient.
6 more elements
A system comprising:
- an implantable cochlear stimulator;
- one or more electrodes electrically coupled to said implantable cochlear stimulator;
- and
- a sound processing unit;
- wherein said sound processing unit is configured to:
- direct said implantable cochlear stimulator to apply an electrical stimulation current to a stimulation site within a patient via at least one of said electrodes;
- automatically detect an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- use the detected impedance to identify at least one disabled electrode;
- and
- use current steering to compensate for said disabled electrode.
7 more elements
A system comprising:
- an implantable cochlear stimulator;
- one or more electrodes electrically coupled to said implantable cochlear stimulator;
- and
- a sound processing unit selectively and communicatively coupled to said implantable cochlear stimulator;
- wherein said sound processing unit is configured to
- direct said implantable cochlear stimulator to apply an electrical stimulation current to a stimulation site within a patient via at least one of said electrodes,
- automatically detect an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule, and
- maintain a consistent sound quality of an audio signal as perceived by a patient.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- providing an implantable cochlear stimulator coupled to one or more electrodes;
- generating an electrical stimulation current with said implantable cochlear stimulator in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters;
- automatically detecting an impedance of at least one of said electrodes in accordance with a predefined schedule;
- and
- maintaining, in accordance with said detected impedance, a consistent loudness level of an audio signal as perceived by said patient.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.