Advanced Bionics Ag

Phonak Ag

Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden

Volkmar Hamacher

Patrick Joseph Boyle

Abhijit Kulkarni

Logan P Palmer

Stefan Daniel Menzl

Manish Vaishya

Hans-Uelii Roeck

Josef Chalupper

Alexander Reich

Konstantin Silberzahn

Hans Bernhard

Stefan Fredelake

Abdulrahman Abdullah Hagr

Waldo Nogueira

Phillipp Hehrmann

Raphael Sebastian Koning

Tim Nauwelaers

Hassan Alshehri

Jack Lin

Martin Grossoehmichen

Jeroen J Briaire

Johannes HM Frijns

A system may include a unit for capturing signals induced at electrodes of an electrode array in response to stimulation of a cochlea by applying auditory nerve stimulation signals to the electrodes; a memory unit for storing the captured signals and/or data derived from the captured signals; and an electrode migration detection unit for detecting electrode migration relative to the cochlea by comparing presently captured signals and/or data derived from such presently captured signals to stored previously captured signals and/or data derived from such previously captured signals.

Cochlear implant system and method for detecting electrode migration using electrically evoked compound action potentials

A system includes a unit for capturing ECAP signals induced at electrodes of an electrode array in response to stimulation of a cochlea by applying auditory nerve stimulation signals to the electrodes; a memory unit for storing the captured ECAP signals and/or ECAP data derived from the captured ECAP signals; an electrode migration detection unit for detecting electrode migration relative to the cochlea by comparing presently captured ECAP signals and/or ECAP data derived from such presently captured ECAP signals to stored previously captured ECAP signals and/or ECAP data derived from such previously captured ECAP signals; and a unit for outputting an alarm signal in case that electrode migration is detected by the electrode migration detection unit.

A cochlear implant, for use with a micro camera, including a stimulation assembly, a cochlear lead with an electrode array, a lens associated with the distal region of the electrode array, an optical fiber bundle that extends proximally from the lens and outwardly from the proximal region of the cochlear lead, a camera interface in which the proximal end of the optical fiber bundle is located and that is configured to receive the micro camera, and at least one illumination guide that extends from the camera interface to the cochlear lead.

Cochlear implant leads and methods of making the same

A bimodal hearing stimulation system comprises an implantable stimulation assembly for applying neural stimulation to a patient's hearing according to an electrical stimulation signal; an acoustic stimulation unit for applying acoustic stimulation to the patient's hearing according to an acoustic stimulation signal; and a sound processor for generating the electric stimulation signal and the acoustic stimulation signal from an input audio signal. The sound processor is configured to divide the input audio signal into a plurality of frequency bands. The sound processor comprises a weighting unit for dynamically determining for each of the frequency bands a relative loudness weight of the electric stimulation and a relative loudness weight of the acoustic stimulation as a function of the present level of the input audio signal in the respective frequency band. The sound processor is configured to apply the weighting function when generating the electric stimulation signal and the acoustic stimulation signal.

Bimodal hearing stimulation system

A neural stimulation system comprises a microphone arrangement for capturing an audio signal from ambient sound, a sound processor unit, a headpiece, and an implantable neural stimulator, the sound processor unit comprising a housing to be worn behind a patient's ear or at a patient's body, and a signal processing unit within the sound processor unit housing for generating a neural stimulation signal from the captured audio signal, the sound processor being communicatively coupled to the headpiece for supplying the neural stimulation signal to the headpiece, the headpiece comprising a housing separate from the housing of the sound processor and to be fixed at the patient's head, a signal transmission unit for transmitting the neural stimulation signal to a signal receiving unit of the implantable cochlear stimulator, and a user interface for controlling operation of the sound processor unit.

Neural stimulation system

There is provided a cochlear implant system, comprising a sound processor for generating an auditory nerve stimulation signal from an input audio signal; an implantable stimulation assembly comprising an electrode array for electrical stimulation of the cochlea according to the neural stimulation signal; and an electrode migration monitoring unit including a unit for capturing ECAP signals induced at the electrodes of the electrode array in response to stimulation of the cochlea by applying auditory nerve stimulation signals to the electrodes, an electrode migration detection unit for detecting electrode migration relative to the cochlea by comparing presently captured ECAP signals and/or ECAP data derived from such presently captured ECAP signals to stored previously captured ECAP signals and/or ECAP data derived from such previously captured ECAP signals, and a unit for outputting an alarm signal in case that electrode migration is detected by the electrode migration detection unit.

Cochlear implant system

There is provided a hearing assistance system, comprising an audio streaming device, a first hearing device for stimulating a first ear of a user, and a second hearing device for stimulating a second ear of the user, the audio streaming device comprising an audio input interface for receiving an input stereo audio signal, a unit for analyzing the input stereo audio signal in order to determine at least one azimuthal localization cue by comparing the two channels of the stereo signal, a unit for processing the input stereo audio signal in order to produce an output stereo audio signal, and a unit for supplying one channel of the output stereo audio signal to the first hearing device and for supplying the other channel of the output stereo audio signal to the second hearing device.

Hearing assistance system

There is provided a hearing assistance system comprising an auditory prosthesis device for neural stimulation of a patient's hearing at one of the patient's ears and a hearing aid for acoustic stimulation of the patient's hearing at the same one or the other one of the patient's ears.

System for combined neural and acoustic hearing stimulation

A behind-the-ear sound processor module includes a BTE-housing; an adjustable microphone module attached to the BTE-housing for capturing input audio signals from ambient sound; and a sound processor unit for generating, from the input audio signals, a neural hearing stimulation signal to be supplied to an implantable neural stimulation arrangement, wherein the microphone module comprises a plurality of microphones and a support element for carrying the microphones, wherein the support element is movable between a beamformer position enabling the plurality of microphones to act as a directional microphone array in a beamformer audio signal processing mode of the sound processor unit and a T-Mic position enabling at least one of the microphones to act as a T-Mic in a T-Mic audio signal processing mode of the sound processor unit at a position closer to the entrance of the ear canal than in the beamformer position.

Sound processor module

A system for stimulation of a patient's ipsilateral cochlea, having at least two spaced apart patient-worn microphones for providing first and second audio signals from ambient sound; a sound processor for generating an ipsilateral auditory nerve stimulation signal in a plurality of output channels from at least one of the input audio signals; and a stimulation assembly for being implanted within the ipsilateral cochlea and having a plurality of stimulation channels for ipsilateral stimulation of the patient's hearing according to the ipsilateral auditory nerve stimulation signal. The sound processor comprising a DOA unit for determining periodically a main direction of incidence of ambient sound from a sound source by analyzing the first and second audio signals, and a directional information coding unit for coding information concerning the determined main direction of incidence in the ipsilateral auditory nerve stimulation signal in manner to enable the patient to localize the sound source.

System and method for neural hearing stimulation

A system includes a cochlear implant electrode arrangement comprising a plurality of stimulation channels; means for dividing an audio signal into a plurality of analysis channels; means for establishing an electrode-nerve-interface model of hearing stimulation via the cochlear implant electrode arrangement; means for determining a signal level value and a noise level value for each analysis channel by analyzing the respective frequency domain signal; means for determining a noise reduction gain parameter for at least some of the analysis channels as a function of the signal level value and the noise level value of the respective analysis channel; means for applying noise reduction to the frequency domain signal according to the noise reduction gain parameters to generate a noise reduced frequency domain signal; and means for generating a stimulation signal for each of the stimulation channels according to the noise reduced frequency domain signal.

Method and system for electrical stimulation of a patient's cochlea

An exemplary cochlear electrode array includes a flexible body having a pre-curved spiral shape so as to conform with the curvature of a human cochlea, a plurality of stimulation electrode contacts spaced apart along a first side of the flexible body, a bundle of wires embedded within the flexible body for electrically connecting the electrode contacts to at least one stimulation signal source, at least one inflatable portion extending along at least part of the length of the flexible body, the at least one inflatable portion being adapted to straighten the flexible body, starting from the pre-curved shape, prior to insertion into the cochlea upon being inflated by being filled with gas or liquid, and to allow the flexible body to gradually reassume its pre-curved shape during insertion of the flexible body into the cochlea upon gradual withdrawal of gas or liquid from the at least one inflatable portion.

Cochlear implant electrode array and method for inserting the same into a human cochlea

An at least partially implantable hearing aid has 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. The actuator has a rigid housing () closed on at least one side by a vibration diaphragm () that is driven by a piezoelectric transducer (). 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.

Hearing aid comprising an intra-cochlear actuator

A bone conduction hearing aid system with right and left ear microphone arrangements; right and left ear ambient sound signal processing units, right and left ear bone conduction output transducers for stimulating the user's right and left ear cochlea, respectively; a right and left ear cross-talk compensation filter units for generating right and left ear crosstalk compensation signals, respectively, from the processed audio signals of the respective signal processing unit according to an estimated transcranial transfer function; and means for subtracting the left ear cross-talk compensation signal from the processed audio signals of the right ear signal processing unit to generate the right ear output audio signals, and means for subtracting the right ear cross-talk compensation signal from the processed audio signals of the left ear signal processing unit to generate the left ear output audio signals.

Bone conduction hearing aid system

A system includes a sound processor included in an electro-acoustic stimulation ('EAS') device and that directs a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation to a patient and a receiver to apply acoustic stimulation to the patient. The system further includes a volume control facility and a selection facility that selectively associates the volume control facility with the electrical stimulation in response to a first user input, selectively associates the volume control facility with the acoustic stimulation in response to a second user input, and selectively associates the volume control facility with both the electrical stimulation and the acoustic stimulation in response to a third user input.

Growing community of inventors

Hannover, Germany

Volkmar Hamacher