Cochlear Limited

Oticon Medical A/s

Martin Besnard

Pierre Stahl

Yannick Vaiarello

Julien Venet

Philippe Monier

Yannik Vaiarello

According to a first aspect, a sound processor unit of a cochlear implant system is disclosed. The sound processor unit comprises an electric circuit, which comprises a sound processor antenna with a sound processor antenna capacitance and a sound processor antenna inductance, wherein the sound processor antenna capacitance and the sound processor antenna inductance are connected in series and form a resonant circuit. An improved cochlear implant system is provided in that the electric circuit of the sound processor unit further comprises a switching element connected in series with the sound processor antenna capacitance and the sound processor antenna inductance, and the electric circuit of the sound processor unit further comprises an inductive element connected in parallel with the switching element, wherein when the switching element is in a closed state, the inductive element is in a short-circuited state and the sound processor antenna has a first resonant frequency, and when the switching element is in an open state, the inductive element is in a non-short-circuited state and the sound processor antenna has a second resonant frequency which differs from the first resonant frequency.

Cochlear implant system with antenna detection, frequency switching and/or frequency tuning

A cochlear implant hearing aid system is disclosed. The system comprises an external unit configured to receive acoustic sound and process the acoustic sound into a coded audio signal, and an implantable unit configured to receive the coded audio signal. Further, the external unit comprises a power supply unit connected via a first path to a switching unit, wherein the switching unit is connected via a second path to ground and is connected at an output thereof to a first coil. Furthermore, the switching unit is configured to operate as a switching element configured to switch between switching states, wherein the switching states include a first state for applying and a second state for not applying a current to the first coil. The coded audio signal is supplied to the switching unit as a control signal, and the first coil is inductively linked to a second coil arranged in the implantable unit. The system further comprises a measuring unit connected to at least one of the first and second paths and configured to measure a dissipative current occurring in relation to the switching states of the switching unit. Based on the at least one measured dissipative current, a resonance frequency of the inductive link between the first and second coils is adapted.

Cochlear implant hearing aid system

A method and a cochlea implant system for providing reliably control and stability of the ratio between the positive charge and the capacitive discharge of an electrical pulse are disclosed. The system includes an external unit configured to receive acoustical sound and process the acoustical sound into a coded audio signal, and an implantable unit configured to receive the coded audio signal. The system further comprises a pulse generating unit configured to generate a first electrical pulse of a first pulse duration and a second electrical pulse of a second pulse duration different from the first pulse duration based on the coded audio signal. The system still further comprises an electrode array including a plurality of electrodes, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrodes is configured to receive at least the first electrical pulse and the second electrical pulse, and a capacitor connected to the at least one of the plurality of electrodes. The system still further comprises a measurement unit configured to measure, across the connection of the at least one of the plurality of electrodes and the capacitor, a first voltage based on the first electrical pulse and a second voltage based on the second electrical pulse. The system still further comprises an evaluation unit configured to calculate a voltage difference between the measured first and second voltages.

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Vallauris, France

Martin Besnard