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WO1996021333A1 - Dispositif et appareil acoustiques implantables magnetostrictifs, et procede associe - Google Patents

Dispositif et appareil acoustiques implantables magnetostrictifs, et procede associe Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996021333A1
WO1996021333A1 PCT/US1995/016994 US9516994W WO9621333A1 WO 1996021333 A1 WO1996021333 A1 WO 1996021333A1 US 9516994 W US9516994 W US 9516994W WO 9621333 A1 WO9621333 A1 WO 9621333A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
magnetostrictive
sound
hearing aid
ear
membrane
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1995/016994
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Kenneth J. Dormer
Original Assignee
Central Ear Research Institute, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Central Ear Research Institute, Inc. filed Critical Central Ear Research Institute, Inc.
Publication of WO1996021333A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996021333A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/60—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles
    • H04R25/604—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of acoustic or vibrational transducers
    • H04R25/606—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of acoustic or vibrational transducers acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to hearing aids and methods and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid device which undergoes elastic deformation and restoration in response to an electromagnetic field to create the perception of sound in an implant recipient.
  • "Hearing aid” is used descriptively as referring to something for aiding a user to hear or in some manner sense or perceive sound. In this sense the present invention is a hearing aid, but preferred embodiments of the invention are technically referred to as implantable hearing devices (IHDs) . Such a preferred embodiment is specifically a magnetostrictive IHD.
  • the perception of sound in a person normally occurs when sound waves strike the tympanic membrane causing the small bones of the ossicular chain in the middle-ear to vibrate.
  • the middle-ear vibrations are conducted through the membranes of the oval and round windows, resulting in electrical impulses being transmitted from the cochlea through the auditory or cochlear nerve to the brain.
  • the transducers of the inner ear may be reduced in number resulting in sensorineural hearing loss.
  • Hearing aids are available to improve the perception of hearing in sensorineural-impaired individuals.
  • One conventional hearing aid which is widely used is an "air- conduction" type apparatus. Air-conduction hearing aids merely amplify the incoming sound. However, some hearing-impaired persons derive little or no benefit from an air-conduction hearing aid because of insufficient amplification, poor freguency response or acoustic feedback oscillation noise.
  • a cochlear implant hearing aid is referred to in U.S. Patent No. Re. 32,947 to Dormer et al., incorporated herein by reference.
  • a bone-conduction hearing aid converts sound waves into a mechanical vibration which vibrates the cochlear capsule, thus stimulating the cochlea and creating the perception of sound in a user. See U.S. Patent No. 4,612,915 to Hough et al. and U.S. Patent No. 4,774,933 to Hough et al. , both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • Another kind of hearing aid, specifically of the IHD type is shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,606,329 to Hough, which is incorporated by reference herein. This patent discloses converting sound into an electromagnetic signal and transmitting the electromagnetic signal transcutaneously.
  • a circuit implanted subcutaneously in the temporal bone of the user outside of the middle-ear receives the electromagnetic signal and electromagnetically transmits a responsive signal into the middle-ear of the user.
  • a magnet is implanted in the ossicular chain in the middle-ear. The magnet responds to the responsive signal and vibrates the ossicular chain in the middle-ear to stimulate the inner ear to create the perception of sound in the hearing impaired user.
  • This patent discloses various forms of the aforementioned magnet, including some of the alternative variations for implanting this vibration generating component in the middle-ear of the hearing impaired person. See also U.S. Patent No. 5,015,225 to Hough et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Other IHD embodiments are described in U.S. Patent
  • the present invention provides an improved implantable hearing aid apparatus, device and method which meet the needs described above.
  • the hearing aid device comprises a body adapted to be implanted in an implant auditory path of an implant recipient.
  • the body is composed of a biocompatibly adapted magnetostrictive material so that the body undergoes elastic deformation and restoration within the implant auditory path in response to a varying electromagnetic field applied as a representation of a sound to be perceived by the implant recipient.
  • the hearing aid apparatus of the present invention comprises sound processing means for receiving sound and for converting the sound into an electromagnetic signal, and the apparatus further comprises magnetostrictive means for vibrating within an auditory path of the user in response to the electromagnetic signal to stimulate an inner ear of the user to create the perception of sound in the user.
  • This invention also provides a method of stimulating the inner ear to create the perception of sound in a human, comprising artificially generating sound representing oscillations within an auditory path of a human, including magnetostrictively driving a member of the group consisting of ossicles of a middle-ear of the human, a membrane of an oval window adjacent the middle- ear, a membrane of a round window adjacent the middle-ear and a related tympanic membrane, in response to a sound so that the driven member produces and transmits the oscillations into the inner ear, thereby stimulating the inner ear.
  • the present invention has a lower energy requirement to obtain a given displacement for generating movement in the implant auditory path. This can result in decreased battery drain and greater miniaturization of the implantable magnetostrictive apparatus. Furthermore, the amplitude of sound restoration can be greater to the implant recipient, improving hearing restoration for every level of mild-moderate-high sensorineural hearing impairment. Also, the magnetostrictive member has a precise axis of motion that can be positioned for more exact vibration of the ossicles, the membrane of the round window, the membrane of the oval window or the tympanic membrane.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through an ear canal of a user with a first embodiment of an implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus of the present invention in position.
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the ear canal of the user with a second embodiment of the implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus of the present invention in place.
  • FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the sound processing means utilized in the hearing aid apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3.
  • FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view through the ear canal of the user with a third embodiment of the implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus of the present invention in place.
  • FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view through the ear canal of the user with an embodiment of the implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus wherein a magnetostrictive body and a coil are located within the implant auditory path.
  • FIG. 7 is a composite view of various forms of the magnetostrictive device of the hearing aid apparatus shown in FIGS. 2-6.
  • FIGS. 8-18 are partial views of the ear canal illustrating various alternative attachments of the magnetostrictive device in the user.
  • FIG. 1 shows an apparatus which includes sound processing means 2 for receiving sound waves, converting the sound waves into an electromagnetic signal and transmitting the electromagnetic signal into an implant auditory path of a user where magnetostrictive means 4 is at least partially located.
  • the magnetostrictive means 4 mechanically drives structure of the implant auditory path. By mechanically driving a structure in the implant auditory path, the perception of sound is created in the hearing impaired user or implant recipient.
  • “Implant auditory path” as used herein means the auditory path defined from the tympanic membrane through a middle-ear and oval window to a related round window.
  • the magnetostrictive means 4 of the present invention can be used in combination with existing sound processing means 2. While only illustrative, the preferred embodiments which follow show different means for processing sound into an electromagnetic signal which effects elastic deformation and restoration of the implanted magnetostrictive means 4.
  • FIG. 2 which but for the nature of element 10 described hereinbelow is the same as a figure disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,606,329, which patent is incorporated herein by reference, a first embodiment of an implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus is illustrated and designated generally by the numeral 12.
  • This embodiment of hearing aid apparatus 12 has a sound processing component 14 for converting sound into an analog electromagnetic signal.
  • the sound processing component 14 can include an output transmitter 15 for transmitting a first electromagnetic signal transcutaneously.
  • the output transmitter 15 is connected by wiring 16 to a microphone and associated circuitry enclosed in a case (not shown) .
  • the transmitter 15 is placed supercutaneously on the skull of the user for transmitting the first electromagnetic signal transcutaneously to a signal receiving and transmitting means or component 18 which is implanted subcutaneously in the temporal bone outside of the middle-ear of the user.
  • Signal receiving and transmitting component 18 includes (1) a receiving means 20 for receiving the transcutaneous electromagnetic signal from the transmitter 15 and (2) a transmitting means 22 for transmitting a second, responsive electromagnetic signal subcutaneously into the implant auditory path of the user.
  • magnetostrictive means 4 includes a magnetostrictive body 10 implanted in the ossicular chain in the middle-ear.
  • the malleus, incus and stapes together comprise a normal ossicular chain.
  • the magnetostrictive means 4 can be connected within the ossicular chain (either to a bone thereof or in place of a bone or part thereof) as shown in FIG. 2, or it can be connected to tissue apart from the ossicular chain but within the implant auditory path.
  • the magnetostrictive means 4 can be connected directly to a membrane of an oval window or round window or to a tympanic membrane as explained further hereinbelow. Referring to FIG.
  • magnetostrictive body 10 receives, by being disposed within the field of the signal, the subcutaneous electromagnetic signal from the transmitting component 22 and vibrates the ossicular chain in response to this electromagnetic signal. This vibration stimulates the normal functioning of the inner ear to create the perception of sound in the hearing impaired user.
  • FIGS. 3 and 4 which but for the nature of element 10 are the same as figures shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,776,322, which patent is incorporated herein by reference, a second embodiment of an implantable magnetostrictive hearing aid apparatus is designated generally by the numeral 30.
  • the sound processing means 2 of hearing aid apparatus 30 includes a microphone 34 for receiving sound waves, an electronic means 36 connected to microphone 34 for converting the sound waves into an electromagnetic signal, and an output transmitter 38 for transmitting the electromagnetic signal into the middle-ear.
  • the output transmitter 38 is disposed in body portion 40 of the sound processing means 2 of the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • Hearing aid apparatus 30 also includes magnetostrictive means 4 shown as body 10 the same as illustrated in FIG.
  • the illustrated magnetostrictive means 4 receives the electromagnetic signal from the sound processing means 2 and vibrates the ossicular chain in response to the electromagnetic signal, which stimulates the inner ear to create the perception of sound in the hearing impaired user.
  • Hearing aid apparatus 30 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be positioned in the ear canal of a user since external sound processing means has been eliminated.
  • Hearing aid apparatus 50 includes a sound processing component 52 which can be positioned in or on the skull of a user.
  • the sound processing component 52 includes a microphone 54 for receiving sound waves and an electronic means 56 connected to the microphone 54 for converting the received sound waves into an electromagnetic signal.
  • the sound processing component 52 is enclosed within a subcutaneous housing 58.
  • Electrodes 60 connect the electronic means 56 to an output transmitter 62.
  • the output transmitter 62 which is imbedded in the temporal bone in close proximity to the middle-ear, transmits the electromagnetic signal into the implant auditory path of the user.
  • Magnetostrictive means 4 is shown in FIG. 5 the same as in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the same explanation applies here.
  • hearing aid apparatus 50 can be positioned in the skull of a user.
  • magnetostrictive means 4 is spaced from a coil such that magnetostrictive means 4 is located within the implant auditory path and the coil is located outside of the implant auditory path.
  • magnetostrictive means 4 and coil 66 which is connected to electrodes 60, can both be located within the implant auditory path.
  • the coil 66 can be wound around the magnetostrictive body 10.
  • the sound processing means 2 of the apparatus can be any suitable bioco patible means for providing a sufficient driving signal to the magnetostrictive means 4.
  • the device of the present invention is comprised of the magnetostrictive means 4 formed of a magnetostrictive material.
  • a magnetostrictive material is one which is subject to the phenomenon of elastic deformation when exposed to a magnetic field. Magnetostriction is a result of the rotation of small magnetic domains which causes internal strains in the material. These strains result in a positive expansion of the magnetostrictive material in the direction of the magnetic field. As the field is increased, more domains rotate and become aligned until finally saturation is achieved, where nearly all domains are aligned in the direction of the field. If the field is reversed, the domains reverse direction but again align along the field direction and also result in an increase in the length of the magnetostrictive material.
  • a magnetostrictive means comprised of the member or body 10 formed of any material possessing magnetostrictive properties and biocompatibility with the implant recipient will suffice as the device of the present invention.
  • An alloy comprised of terbium, dysprosium and iron is the preferred material of the magnetostrictive member or body 10 due to the high displacement-to-energy- requirement ratio which is characteristic of this alloy.
  • This alloy is commercially available under the trademark TERFENOL-D® from Etrema Products, Inc., a subsidiary of Edge Technologies, Inc. located in Ames, Iowa.
  • the magnetostrictive member or body 10 is formed of a material which is represented by the chemical formula Tb 03 Fe 20 Dy 07 .
  • a suitable biocompatible coating or casing For example, a presently preferred embodiment includes hermetically sealing the magnetostrictive material in a titanium can which is welded shut by laser or electron beam welding. An inert precious metal coating can also be used, for example.
  • FIGS. 7-14 which but for the nature of the body 10 are the same as figures disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,015,225 (and the other two aforementioned related patents incorporated herein by reference) , examples of the body 10 of magnetostrictive means 4 are shown in detail.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates various embodiments of magnetostrictive member or body 10.
  • FIGS. 8-14 indicate various locations in the implant auditory path of the user in which the various embodiments of the magnetostrictive means 4 can be placed.
  • the member 10 is connected to one or more middle-ear ossicles.
  • the proximal end of the member 10 abuts the malleus and the distal end of the member 10 abuts structure below the oval window; in FIGS. 10 and 11 the distal ends are in the oval window and the proximal ends adjoin an ossicle (the incus in FIG. 10 and the malleus in FIG. 11) .
  • FIGS. 15-18 illustrate other, more preferred, embodiments for the disposition of the member 10. In a particularly preferred embodiment shown in FIG.
  • FIGS. 16 and 17 show preferred embodiments of the magnetostrictive member 10 attached to the proximal side (or alternatively, on the distal side) of the tympanic membrane medial (FIG. 16) and lateral (FIG. 17) to the handle of the adjacent malleus of the related middle-ear ossicular chain.
  • FIG. 18 illustrates the member 10 implanted between the round window and a stabilizing bony support structure in the middle-ear.
  • magnetostrictive member or body 10 As well as their location in the implant auditory path, are illustrative only and many other embodiments are possible.
  • magnetostrictive member or body 10 can be considered a prosthesis replacing one or more of the small bones of the ossicular chain. Rather than replacing a portion of the ossicular chain, magnetostrictive member or body 10 can be attached to a bone of the ossicular chain. It can also be used in effect in parallel with one or more bones of the ossicular chain. Magnetostrictive member or body 10 can also be attached to the membrane of the oval window or round window in the middle-ear, such as referred to above.
  • the magnetostrictive member or body 10 can be positioned on the surface of the round or oval window membrane, such that magnetostrictive member or body 10 touches but does not compress the membrane (very much like the footplate of the stapes touches the oval window membrane) .
  • a similar technique can be used for the round window abutment where the magnetostrictive member or body 10 extends across the middle-ear cavity like a bridge.
  • the magnetostrictive member or body 10 is attached at one end to the round window membrane and can be either attached at the other end to the malleus or can stand alone without attachment to the malleus.
  • An alternate form of attachment for both the round and oval windows is to glue the magnetostrictive member or body 10 to the round or oval window membrane using fibrin glue or biocompatible cemen .
  • the aforementioned apparatus is used to artificially generate sound-representing oscillations within the auditory path of the human.
  • This includes magnetostrictively driving a member of the group consisting of ossicles of a middle-ear of the human, a membrane of the oval window adjacent the middle-ear, a membrane of the round window adjacent the middle-ear and a related tympanic membrane.
  • the driven member produces and transmits the sound-representing oscillations into the inner ear.
  • magnetostrictive means 4 such as a TERFENOL-D® rod, body or formed prosthesis 10 is surgically implanted, in a known manner, at a locus of the ear structure from which vibrations can be conducted, preferably by intrinsic physiological functioning, to an operative cochlea.
  • An electromagnetic signal which corresponds to detected sound waves is then transmitted to where the magnetostrictive body 10 is located.
  • the magnetostrictive body 10 responds to the electromagnetic signal by elastically deforming (expanding) and restoring (contracting from the expanded state) in response to variations in the electromagnetic signal corresponding to frequencies of the sensed sound.
  • the elastic expansion and contraction of the magnetostrictive body 10 vibrates the structure to which the body is attached (preferably, at least one of the group consisting of the small bones of the ossicular chain, the membrane of the round window, the membrane of the oval window and the tympanic membrane) .
  • Vibration of the ear structure is conveyed from the locus of the application to the cochlea in the inner ear resulting in an impulse being transmitted via the cochlea nerve to the brain, thereby creating the perception of sound in the implant recipient.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
  • Neurosurgery (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Prostheses (AREA)

Abstract

L'appareil acoustique perfectionné (12) selon la présente invention comprend un composant (14) de traitement des sons, recevant les sons et les convertissant en un signal électromagnétique, ainsi qu'un dispositif de magnétostriction (4) qui vibre dans une voie auditive de l'utilisateur en réponse au signal électromagnétique afin de stimuler l'oreille interne à induire la perception des sons. Le dispositif de magnétostriction (4) selon l'invention comprend un corps (10) implantable dans une voie auditive d'un receveur de l'implant, et est composé d'un matériau magnétostrictif biocompatible, de sorte que le corps (10) subisse une déformation et une restitution élastiques dans la voie auditive en réponse à un champ électromagnétique variable appliqué en tant que représentation d'un son devant être perçu par le receveur. Le procédé selon la présente invention consiste à générer artificiellement des sons représentant des oscillations dans une voie auditive.
PCT/US1995/016994 1994-12-29 1995-12-29 Dispositif et appareil acoustiques implantables magnetostrictifs, et procede associe WO1996021333A1 (fr)

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US36628494A 1994-12-29 1994-12-29
US08/366,284 1994-12-29

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1439737A2 (fr) 2003-01-15 2004-07-21 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geräte Ges.m.b.h. Transducteur électromécanique implantable
WO2011066295A1 (fr) 2009-11-24 2011-06-03 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete Gmbh Microphone implantable pour systèmes auditifs
US8363862B2 (en) 2008-07-11 2013-01-29 Brain Basket, LLC Magnetostrictive auditory system
US9301066B2 (en) 2011-10-06 2016-03-29 Brain Basket, LLC Auditory comprehension and audibility device

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4606329A (en) * 1985-05-22 1986-08-19 Xomed, Inc. Implantable electromagnetic middle-ear bone-conduction hearing aid device

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4606329A (en) * 1985-05-22 1986-08-19 Xomed, Inc. Implantable electromagnetic middle-ear bone-conduction hearing aid device

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
ETREMA PRODUCTS, INC., Now Imagine the Possibilities, a Brochure. *

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1439737A2 (fr) 2003-01-15 2004-07-21 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geräte Ges.m.b.h. Transducteur électromécanique implantable
US7481761B2 (en) 2003-01-15 2009-01-27 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geräte Ges.m.b.H. Implantable converter for cochlea implants and implantable hearing aids
US8363862B2 (en) 2008-07-11 2013-01-29 Brain Basket, LLC Magnetostrictive auditory system
US8923535B2 (en) 2008-07-11 2014-12-30 Brain Basket, LLC Magnetostrictive auditory system
WO2011066295A1 (fr) 2009-11-24 2011-06-03 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete Gmbh Microphone implantable pour systèmes auditifs
WO2011066306A1 (fr) 2009-11-24 2011-06-03 Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete Gmbh Microphone implantable pour systèmes auditifs
US9301066B2 (en) 2011-10-06 2016-03-29 Brain Basket, LLC Auditory comprehension and audibility device

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