Hearing aid comprising an intra-cochlear actuator
AssigneeAdvanced Bionics AG
InventorsHans Bernhard, Volkmar Hamacher
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Abstract
An at least partially implantable hearing aid has an input transducer (26) for capturing audio signals from ambient sound, an audio signal processing unit (32) for processing the captured audio signals, an actuator (20) for stimulating a patient's hearing, and a driver unit (44) for driving the actuator. The actuator has a rigid housing (64) closed on at least one side by a vibration diaphragm (66) that is driven by a piezoelectric transducer (68, 88). The housing is designed to float in the cochlea in direct contact with the cochlear liquids in order to couple vibration energy from the diaphragm directly into the cochlear liquids.
Claims26
An at least partially implantable hearing aid comprising an input transducer for capturing audio signals from ambient sound, an audio signal processing unit for processing the captured audio signals, an actuator for stimulating a patient's hearing, and a driver unit for driving the actuator, wherein the actuator comprises a rigid housing closed on at least one side by a vibration diaphragm and a piezoelectric transducer arranged for driving the vibration diaphragm, wherein the housing is flexibly supported in a manner for essentially freely floating in the cochlea in direct contact with the cochlear liquids in order to couple vibration energy from the diaphragm directly into the cochlear liquids, wherein the piezoelectric transducer is provided as a piezoelectric thin film on the diaphragm in a disc bender configuration.
A method of providing hearing assistance to a patient, comprising the steps of:
- capturing audio signals from ambient sound, processing the captured audio signals, and stimulating the patient's hearing by an implanted actuator comprising a rigid housing closed on at least one side by a vibration diaphragm driven by a piezoelectric transducer while the actuator is flexibly supported in a manner for essentially freely floating in a cochlea in direct contact with the cochlear liquids, and coupling vibration energy from the diaphragm directly into the cochlear liquids.
An at least partially implantable hearing aid comprising an actuator for stimulating a patient's hearing and an implant unit which is adapted for being implanted under a patient's skin, the implant unit comprising a driver unit for driving the actuator, wherein the actuator comprises a rigid housing closed on at least one side by a vibration diaphragm and a piezoelectric transducer arranged for driving the vibration diaphragm, wherein the housing is flexibly supported in a manner for freely floating in the cochlea in direct contact with the cochlear liquids connected only to a cable assembly that connects the actuator to the implant unit in order to couple vibration energy from the diaphragm directly into the cochlear liquids.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.