Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090161896 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENVELOPE DETECTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF PITCH CUE OF AUDIO SIGNALS - A method and apparatus for detecting an envelope of an audio signal, and a method and apparatus for enhancing the pitch cue of an audio signal perceived by a cochlear implant patient where the audio signal is processed and input to an implant device of the recipient. The methods and apparatuses use techniques such as filtering, rectifying, detecting peak values, sampling, resetting, comparing and multiplying various signals to detect the envelope or enhance the pitch cue of the audio signal. | 06-25-2009 |
20100174329 | COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL NEURAL STIMULATION - A neural-stimulating device for stimulating nerve cells of a recipient is provided. The neural-stimulating device comprises an electromagnetic radiation source configured to generate one or more optical stimulation signals and an electrical stimulation generator configured to generate electrical stimulation signals. The neural-stimulating device also comprises an implantable stimulating assembly configured to be implanted in the recipient, and having disposed thereon an optical contact to deliver the one or more optical stimulation signals to the nerve cells, and an electrical contact to deliver the electric stimulation signals to the nerve cells. | 07-08-2010 |
20100174330 | NEURAL-STIMULATING DEVICE FOR GENERATING PSEUDOSPONTANEOUS NEURAL ACTIVITY - A neural-stimulating device for stimulating nerve cells of a recipient is provided. The neural-stimulating device comprises an electromagnetic radiation (EMR) generator configured to generate one or more optical stimulation signals configured to cause pseudospontaneous activity; and an implantable stimulating assembly having an optical contact coupled to the EMR generator, the stimulating assembly configured to be implanted in the recipient such that the one or more optical stimulation signals are applied to the nerve cells via the optical contact. | 07-08-2010 |
20100174344 | OPTICAL NEURAL STIMULATING DEVICE HAVING A SHORT STIMULATING ASSEMBLY - A cochlear implant is provided. The cochlear implant comprises a stimulator unit configured to generate electrical stimulation signals based on sound processor-encoded signals, and to generate one or more optical stimulation signals, and an implantable stimulating assembly. The implantable stimulating assembly is configured to be implanted into a basal region of a recipient's cochlea such that when the stimulating assembly is fully implanted, a distal end of the assembly extends to the basal turn of the cochlea. The stimulating assembly also comprises: an optical contact to deliver the one or more optical stimulation signals to the cochlea, and an electrical contact to deliver the electric stimulation signals to a basal region of the cochlea so as to cause perception by the recipient of one or more frequency components of the acoustic sound signal. | 07-08-2010 |
20120046714 | POWER EFFICIENT ELECTRICAL STIMULATION - A method and device are disclosed for neural stimulation with improved power consumption and/or effectiveness. The stimulus generator is arranged, for example via a look up table, to recognise proposed stimuli which will be masked by earlier or simultaneous stimuli. Such masked stimuli are either deleted, or replaced by another stimulus. | 02-23-2012 |
20130144354 | COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL NEURAL STIMULATION - A neural-stimulating device for stimulating nerve cells of a recipient is provided. The neural-stimulating device comprises an electromagnetic radiation source configured to generate one or more optical stimulation signals and an electrical stimulation generator configured to generate electrical stimulation signals. The neural-stimulating device also comprises an implantable stimulating assembly configured to be implanted in the recipient, and having disposed thereon an optical contact to deliver the one or more optical stimulation signals to the nerve cells, and an electrical contact to deliver the electric stimulation signals to the nerve cells. | 06-06-2013 |
20140058314 | PHARMACEUTICAL AGENT DELIVERY IN A STIMULATING MEDICAL DEVICE - A stimulating medical device comprising a stimulating assembly implantable proximate to nerve cells of a recipient having at least one agent delivery port and a plurality of electrical contacts; an electrical stimulation controller configured to generate electrical stimulation signals for application to a first population of the nerve cells via one or more of the plurality of electrical contacts; a pharmaceutical agent source configured to provide a pharmaceutical agent to the at least one delivery port for application to a second population of the nerve cells; and a pharmaceutical agent controller configured to control one or more of the pharmaceutical agent source and the at least one delivery port to cause selective application of the pharmaceutical agent to the second population of nerve cells. | 02-27-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090076569 | FITTING A PROSTHETIC HEARING IMPLANT FOR A RECIPIENT - System and methods for fitting a cochlear implant for a recipient. In a fitting method, receiving, at an acoustic domain user interface, an acoustic target intensity for each of a plurality of frequency channels at which the recipient is to experience a desired percept; loading into a speech processor unit of the cochlear implant a MAP specifying a stimulation signal current level corresponding to a selected acoustic target; presenting the selected acoustic target to the cochlear implant so as to cause the cochlear implant to deliver electrical stimulation to the recipient at the current level corresponding to the selected acoustic target; and upon receipt of an external command: adjusting the current level corresponding to the selected acoustic target; and repeating the loading and the presenting steps. | 03-19-2009 |
20100274072 | SPHINCTERIC CONTROL SYSTEM - A sphincteric control system for controlling the function of a bodily organ, such as the bladder. The system includes a first implanted sphincter disposed about a portion of the bodily organ, a second implanted sphincter disposed about a portion of the bodily organ, and a stimulator unit that is adapted to apply electrical stimulation to each of the first and second implanted sphincters. One of the first or second implanted sphincters is made from a smooth muscle and the other of the first or second implanted sphincters is made from a striated muscle. | 10-28-2010 |
20100280307 | USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM IN MIXED MODE DEVICE - Apparatus and method for at least partially fitting a medical implant system to a recipient is described. The medical implant system is configured to provide electrical stimulation and at least one other mode of stimulation to the recipient. These apparatuses and methods comprise executing a genetic algorithm to select a set of parameter values for the medical implant system. This genetic algorithm may comprise generating successive generations of child populations and then providing a determined set of parameter values to the medical implant system for use in providing stimulation to the recipient. | 11-04-2010 |
20120143284 | IMPLANT STIMULATION DEVICE - An implantable stimulation device is disclosed which provides for reduced power consumption when compared with bipolar stimulation and better stimulation performance when compared with monopolar stimulation. Implantable stimulator devices use less power in monopolar stimulation mode than that of bipolar stimulation but stimulation performance is greater when using bipolar stimulation. The device comprises circuitry capable of simultaneous stimulation between a reference electrode and an electrode of a stimulation array and between electrodes of the stimulation array, the ratio of current to the reference electrode and array electrodes being selectable. | 06-07-2012 |
20140350640 | Implantable Medical Device and Tool Sensors - Implantable medical devices and instruments (tools) including one or more implantable sensors. In certain embodiments, a hearing prosthesis comprises an implantable stimulating assembly configured to be implanted in a recipient's cochlea. At least one implantable sensor is disposed in the implantable stimulating assembly and is configured to monitor an insertion attribute. | 11-27-2014 |