Subcutaneous piezoelectric bone conduction hearing aid actuator and system
AssigneeDalhousie University
InventorsRobert Bruce Alexander Adamson, Jeremy A. Brown, Manohar Bance, Akhelish Kotiya
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Abstract
An implantable bone-conduction hearing actuator based on a piezoelectric element, such as a unimorph or bimorph cantilever bender, is described. Unlike other implantable bone conduction hearing actuators, the device is subcutaneous and once implanted is entirely invisible. The device excites bending in bone through a local bending moment rather than the application of a point force as with conventional bone-anchored hearing aids.
Claims22
A bone conduction hearing aid, comprising:
- a piezoelectric transducer for subcutaneous fixation to a skull of a patient in the vicinity of the mastoid promontory, the piezoelectric transducer being laterally distorted in response to an applied electrical field thereby applying a compressional lateral stress and bending moment to bone of the skull in the vicinity the piezoelectric transducer and bending the bone to generate bone vibration to excite the movement of cochlear fluids;
- and
- driver circuitry to apply the electrical field to the piezoelectric transducer in response to sound waves detected by a microphone.
An actuator for a bone conduction hearing aid system, comprising at least one piezoelectric transducer for subcutaneous fixation to a skull of a patient in the vicinity of the mastoid promontory, the piezoelectric transducer being laterally distorted in response to an applied electrical field thereby applying a compressional lateral stress and a bending moment to bone of the skull in the vicinity the piezoelectric transducer and bending the bone to generate bone vibration to excite the movement of cochlear fluids.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.