Advanced Bionics Ag

Advanced Bionics Corporation

Advance Bionics, LLC

Abhijit Kulkarni

Leonid Michael Litvak

Lakshmi Narayan Mishra

Aniket Saoji

Mark B Downing

Lee F Hartley

Logan P Palmer

Stefan Launer

Gerhard Roehrlein

Michael Allen Faltys

Stefan Daniel Menzl

Volkmar Hamacher

Manish Vaishya

Hans-Uelii Roeck

Scott A Crawford

Wantjinarjo Suwito

Patrick T Wong

Alexander Reich

Lakshimi Narayan Mishra

Matthew Isaac Haller

Kanthaiah Koka

Guillermo A Calle

Manohar Joshi

Kinuko Masaki

Nobutaka Okuyama

Myles McLaughlin

Jack Lin

Hearing assistance apparatus, systems and methods that involve the use of distributed power without the use of a headpiece.

Headpieceless hearing assistance apparatus, systems and methods with distributed power

A cochlear implant system may include a cochlear implant configured to be implanted within a user and a sound processor configured to detect an amount of sound exposure to the user; gradually adjust a most comfortable level ('M level') from an initial value towards a target value in accordance with an adaption time course and in accordance with the detected amount of sound exposure to the user by increasing the M level when the detected amount of sound exposure is above a first threshold and decreasing the M level when the detected amount of sound exposure is below a second threshold; and direct the cochlear implant to apply stimulation having the gradually adjusted M level to the user.

Systems and methods for gradually adjusting a control parameter associated with a cochlear implant system

An exemplary cochlear implant system includes a cochlear implant configured to be implanted within a patient and a sound processor. The sound processor is configured to receive, from a fitting system during a fitting session, a command that sets an M level to an initial value and a target value for the M level; gradually adjust, subsequent to the fitting session, the M level from the initial value towards the target value in accordance with an adaption time course; and direct the cochlear implant to apply stimulation having the gradually adjusted M level to the patient. Other systems and methods are also disclosed.

An exemplary sound processor included in a cochlear implant system associated with a patient 1) receives, from a fitting system while the sound processor is communicatively coupled to the fitting system, a command that sets a control parameter associated with the cochlear implant system to an initial value and data representative of a target value associated with the control parameter, 2) detects a decoupling of the sound processor from the fitting system, the decoupling resulting in the sound processor being in a non-fitting state, and 3) gradually adjusts, while the sound processor is in the non-fitting state, the control parameter from the initial value towards the target value in accordance with an adaption time course associated with the control parameter. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Hearing assistance apparatus, systems and methods that involve the use of distributed power.

Implantable hearing assistance apparatus and corresponding systems and methods

An exemplary system includes 1) a cochlear implant module configured to be implanted within a patient and including cochlear implant circuitry configured to apply electrical stimulation representative of one or more audio signals to the patient, 2) a first connector assembly coupled to the cochlear implant module and configured to be implanted within the patient, the first connector assembly including a first set of induction coils, 3) an implantable module configured to be implanted within the patient, and 4) a second connector assembly coupled to the implantable module and configured to be implanted within the patient, the second connector assembly including a second set of induction coils. The first and second sets of induction coils are configured to form a multi-channel inductive link between the implantable module and the cochlear implant module. Corresponding systems are also disclosed.

Connectorized cochlear implant systems

An exemplary fitting system 1) directs an EAS system to concurrently apply acoustic stimulation to a patient by way of a loudspeaker and electrical stimulation to the patient by way of an electrode located within a cochlea of the patient, 2) determines an interactive effect that the electrical stimulation has on the acoustic stimulation, 3) directs, if the fitting facility determines that the interactive effect is suppressive, the EAS system to use a first stimulation strategy that steers a current field produced by stimulation of the electrode away from intracochlear acoustic responders within the patient that are associated with the acoustic stimulation, and 4) directs, if the fitting facility does not determine that the interactive effect is suppressive, the EAS system to use a second stimulation strategy that steers the current field produced by the stimulation of the electrode towards the intracochlear acoustic responders.

Systems and methods for fitting an electro-acoustic stimulation system to a patient

Hearing assistance apparatus, systems and methods that involve the use of a head mountable power supply to power an implantable cochlear stimulator.

An exemplary system includes 1) a cochlear implant module configured to be implanted within a patient and including cochlear implant circuitry configured to apply electrical stimulation representative of one or more audio signals to the patient, 2) a first connector assembly coupled to the cochlear implant module and configured to be implanted within the patient, the first connector assembly including a first induction coil, 3) an implantable module configured to be implanted within the patient, and 4) a second connector assembly coupled to the implantable module and configured to be implanted within the patient, the second connector assembly including a second induction coil. The first connector assembly may be configured to be removably connected to the second connector assembly in order to facilitate inductive transfer of power between the first induction coil and the second induction coil. Corresponding systems are also disclosed.

An exemplary system includes a sound processor associated with a patient, a first microphone communicatively coupled to the sound processor and configured to detect an audio signal presented to the patient and output a first output signal representative of the audio signal, and a second microphone communicatively coupled to the sound processor and configured to detect the audio signal presented to the patient and output a second output signal representative of the audio signal. The sound processor is configured to 1) receive the first and second output signals, 2) determine that a difference between the first and second output signals meets a threshold condition, and 3) perform, in response to the determination that the difference between the first and second output signals meets the threshold condition, a predetermined action associated with the quality level of the first microphone. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Systems and methods for detecting degradation of a microphone included in an auditory prosthesis system

An exemplary system may include an intracochlear electrode array configured to be inserted into a cochlea of a patient, an intraneural probe comprising an intraneural electrode contact and configured to be inserted into an auditory nerve of the patient, and a computing system. The computing system may be configured to identify an optimal insertion path for an intraneural electrode array into the auditory nerve of the patient by 1) repeatedly stimulating the intraneural electrode contact of the intraneural probe while the intraneural probe is advanced into the auditory nerve along a probe insertion path, 2) using the intracochlear electrode array to record a plurality of evoked responses that occur in response to the repeated stimulation of the intraneural electrode contact, and 3) determining, based on the plurality of evoked responses, whether the probe insertion path is the optimal insertion path for the intraneural electrode array.

Systems and methods for positioning an intraneural electrode array in an auditory nerve

A system and method for generating a beamforming signal is disclosed. A beam forming signal is generated by disposing a first microphone and a second microphone in horizontal coplanar alignment. The first and second microphones are used to detect a known signal to generate a first response and a second response. The first response is processed along a first signal path communicatively linked to the first microphone, and the second response is processed along a second signal path communicatively linked to the second microphone. The first and second responses are matched, and the matched responses are combined to generate the beamforming signal on a combined signal path.

Beamforming microphone system

An exemplary system for facilitating sound localization by a bilateral cochlear implant patient includes 1) a processing facility configured to determine an interaural difference between a first audio signal detected by a first microphone associated with a first ear of a bilateral cochlear implant patient and a second audio signal detected by a second microphone associated with a second ear of the bilateral cochlear implant patient and generate, based on the determined interaural difference, an enhanced interaural level difference (ILD) associated with the low frequency acoustic content of the first and second audio signals and 2) a control facility configured to direct a first cochlear implant associated with the first ear and a second cochlear implant associated with the second ear to generate electrical stimulation representative of the low frequency acoustic content in accordance with the enhanced ILD. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Newbury Park, CA, United States of America

Abhijit Kulkarni