The University of Melbourne

Cochlear Limited

The Bionic Ear Institute

Hearworks Pty, Limited

Graeme Milbourne Clark

James Finlay Patrick

Peter John Blamey

Hugh Joseph McDermott

Brett Anthony Swanson

Andrew E Vandali

Peter Andrew Busby

Lawrence Thomas Cohen

Yit C Tong

David Bruce Grayden

Laurence Irlicht

Peter M Seligman

Antonio Giacomo Paolini

John Bruce Millar

Janine Catherine Clarey

Peter Francis Duke

Raymond C Black

Ian C Forster

Brian Clive Pyman

Anthony Neville Burkitt

Stephen O'Leary

Owen Patrick Kenny

The sound processor and method uses a model of basilar membrane motion to select stimuli, based upon the predicted motion which the acoustic signal presented would produce in an acoustically excited normally hearing cochlea. The filter; used, in contrast to single channel per electrode approaches, cover multiple channels and overlap with each other. Consequently the stimuli presented produce a neural excitation pattern which approximates the spatio-temporal travelling wave observed on the basilar membrane in an acoustically excited normally hearing cochlea. Preferably, the predicted electrode stimuli are based upon the instantaneous predicted amplitude of the electrode location.

Sound processor for a cochlear implant

A sound processor including a microphone (), a pre-amplifier (), a bank of N parallel filters (), means for detecting short-duration transitions in the envelope signal of each filter channel, and means for applying gain to the outputs of these filter channels in which the gain is related to a function of the second-order derivative of the slow-varying envelope signal in each filter channel, to assist in perception of low-intensity sort-duration speech features in said signal.

Emphasis of short-duration transient speech features

A method for processing sound signals to generate electrical stimuli for an auditory prosthesis electrode array including a plurality of electrodes, the method including: deriving () one or more filtered representations (FIGS.and) of an incoming audio signal; and, generating () a series of spikes from each filtered signal representation to directly control electrode stimulation. Each spike has a temporal position based upon an instant at which the filtered signal representation crosses a predetermined threshold (&#xff;;).

Generation of electrical stimuli for application to a cochlea

An improved hearing prosthetic implant and method of stimulating are disclosed. The method comprises stimulating an electrode array using a set of current stimuli having different geometries, so as to provide a more regular and monotonic set of pitch percepts for a user. In one embodiment, this may be achieved by combining different modes of stimulation for a patient, so that some channels utilise one mode and other channels utilise one or more different modes.

Cochlear implant devices

A sound processor including a microphone (1), a pre-amplifier (2), a bank of N parallel filters (3), means for detecting short-duration transitions in the envelope signal of each filter channel, and means for applying gain to the outputs of these filter channels in which the gain is related to a function of the second-order derivative of the slow-varying envelope signal in each filter channel, to assist in perception of low-intensity sort-duration speech features in said signal.

An improved sound processor for a cochlear implant having electrodes for stimulating the auditory nerve, including means for receiving sounds, means for processing the sounds and converting them to electrical stimulation signals for application to the electrodes of the cochlear implant for stimulation of the auditory nerve, said sound processing means including means for generating electrical signals to be applied to the basal electrodes having different predetermined rates of stimulation and the implant having basal electrodes and apical electrodes and the means for generating electrical signals to be applied to the apical electrodes have a different rate of stimulation, the electrical signals to be applied to the basal electrodes having a higher rate of stimulation than the electrical signals to be applied to the apical electrodes.

Sound processor for cochlear implants

An implant package for a cochlear implant, including stimulator electronics contained within a protective housing () and being coupled to an electrode array () for insertion into the cochlea of a patient, and being further coupled to a receiving and/or transmitting coil () enclosed within a protective casing, said protective housing being dimensioned and shaped to be capable of location within the mastoid cavity (C) of the patient nearer to the entry point of the electrode array to the cochlea, said further coupling being contained in a flexible connection between the protective housing () and the protective casing ().

Cochlear implant package

An improved cochlear implant and method of stimulating are disclosed. The method comprises stimulating an electrode array using a set of current stimuli having different geometries, so as to provide a more regular and monotonic set of pitch percepts for a user. In one embodiment, this may be achieved by combining different modes of stimulation for a patient, so that some channels utilise one mode and other channels utilise one or more different modes.

Implant device

A stimulation strategy for cochlear implants seeks to approximate the time domain response of a patient's neural system to electrical stimuli, to the time domain response of a normal hearing person to a corresponding acoustic stimulus. The strategy is designed to induce in the neurons of a patient a time domain response to an acoustic signal which is similar to, or approximates the time domain response induced by the normal processes in a healthy person. Various implementations are disclosed.

Multiple pulse stimulation

An electrotactile vocoder for persons having impaired hearing in which electrical stimulation is applied to a multiplicity of electrodes in contact with either side of each finger so as to electrically stimulate the digital nerves of the user under the control of stimulator circuitry which is in turn controlled by processing circuitry for a speech signal received by a directional microphone worn on the ear of the user. The speech processor is suitably of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,202 Tong et al. modified to cause stimulation of the digital nerves via the eight finger electrodes and a common electrode held in contact with the wrist of the user.

Electrotactile vocoder

Speech processor

A prosthesis and specifically an aural prosthesis which includes an implantable component which is in connection with means which can selectively stimulate neural endings the component being arranged to receive a signal from an extension component which converts a parameter into a transmittable form and which includes a transmitter, the signal from the transmitter received by the implanted component which resolves the signal into groups of two components which can selectively stimulate the neural endings, the stimulation to each ending being independent to stimulation of each other neural ending in both intensity and phase.

Growing community of inventors

Eltham, Australia

Graeme Milbourne Clark