Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080222564 | Hearing Aid Impression Buildability Index Computation Tool - A method and appertaining system implement the use of manufacturing protocols for hearing aid design such that the ability to build an instrument can be displayed as a numeric parameter based on the partial numerical and metrological contributions of all the essential parameters of the given impression, and a buildability index can be displayed as a 3D virtual image of the proposed shell or preferred shell types. The method utilizes a predefined parameter table comprising parameters to utilize for a buildability determination. The buildability index is computed based on impression shape data, selected shell type, selected number of device options, data obtained from the parameter table, and data obtained from a receiver table, and the buildability index is output to a display of a user interface device or an external system. | 09-11-2008 |
20080247578 | Hearing Aid Receiver With Vibration Compensation - In order to reduce feedback in a hearing aid, a hearing aid receiver is provided that comprises a housing having an inside surface and an outside surface, a motor, an active armature that is attached to the motor and attached to the inside surface of the housing, the active armature being driven in a vibrational manner by the motor, and an external passive component that is attached to the outside surface of the housing, the external passive component designed to vibrate in a direction opposed to vibrations of the active armature. A corresponding method for operating such a hearing aid receives is also provided. | 10-09-2008 |
20080247579 | System and Method For Designing Hearing Aid Components With A Flexible Cover - A method and appertaining system for implementing the method is provided for designing hearing aids having flexible parts. Three-dimensional data is provided that is related to both a soft part and a hard part of a hearing aid component into a computer-based system. Additionally, information is entered related to material characteristics for both the soft part and the hard part of the component. A component within the hearing aid shell is placed and moved in a model generated by the system. Forces, stresses, and/or amount of deformation for parts of the component based on the location of the component and at least one of another component and the shell are calculated, and the three-dimensional data model of the shell is revised based upon the calculated degree of deformation, forces, and/or stresses. | 10-09-2008 |
20080247581 | Construction of A Completely-In-Canal Hearing Instrument With Receiver Compartment - A construction of a CIC instrument is provided, along with a corresponding method of manufacturing such a CIC instrument, that prevents floating components from contacting with an insulated receiver and, therefore, assures feedback-free operation. This is achieved through the presence of a compartment for the receiver in which the receiver resides, and a cover placed on top of the receiver compartment in a mating recess of the receiver compartment. | 10-09-2008 |
20080253597 | Computerized Automated Wax Design and Modeling for Hearing Instruments - A method and appertaining system provide for automatically adding a wax guard to a hearing aid shell impression. The location of a canal, tip of the canal, and central line of the impression are automatically identified in a digital 3D representation of a hearing aid shell impression. A first wax guard plane is determined at a predefined flip distance from the canal tip along the central line, and a second wax guard plane is determined at a predefined canal tip offset distance from the canal tip along the central line. A size and position for a feature of the wax guard is calculated based on predefined parameters, and the wax guard is constructed utilizing the calculated side and position. The type of wax guard can be a bell bore design, an open design, a Philip design, or a flip design. | 10-16-2008 |
20080310728 | Method and system for side detection of 3D undetailed ear impressions - A method and system for side detection of an undetailed 3D ear impression is disclosed. In order to determine whether a received 3D undetailed ear impression is a left or right ear impression, a local coordinate system of the 3D undetailed ear is defined based on side independent features of the 3D undetailed ear impression. A skeleton (or center spline) of the 3D undetailed ear impression is detected, and it is determined whether the 3D undetailed ear impression is a left or right ear impression based on the skeleton and the local coordinate system. | 12-18-2008 |
20090060241 | Completely-In-Canal Hearing Instrument With Robust Feedback Stability - A CIC hearing instrument and appertaining method are provided that improve feedback stability. Accordingly, the microphone inlet is located on the faceplate of the instrument at a position of least vibration. Furthermore, the receiver is located in the device such that its vibrating membrane is parallel to a plane calculated to include a line of minimal vibration on the faceplate and a center of gravity for the instrument. | 03-05-2009 |
20090060242 | Assembly Procedure for CIC With Floating Components - A method and appertaining assembly are provided for CIC hearing aid manufacture for the placement of floating components. A hearing aid shell fixture is formed that comprises an interior region identical in shape and size to an interior region of an actual hearing aid shell, and a replica of one or more shell components that is positioned so as to replicate a position and size of one or more real shell components in the actual hearing aid shell. The hearing aid shell fixture is placed onto a faceplate assembly that comprises a floating component, and a position of the floating component is adjusted to avoid contact with the replica of one or more shell components. The hearing aid shell fixture on the faceplate is subsequently replaced with the actual hearing aid shell. | 03-05-2009 |
20090063107 | Manufacturing Process of Hearing Aid Shells With Reduced Surface Distortions and Adaptive Shell Surface Modification to Improve Fit and Appertaining System - A method and appertaining system is provided for reducing distortions in a hearing aid shell having complex surfaces with areas having high and low curvatures, the distortions occurring due to uneven material loss during tumbling and buffing operations. The method determines the curvature in defined regions of the shell and determines a new shell surface that is dependent upon the curvature in each respective region. Templates may be utilized th further define the new surface. With the new surface thus defined, the tumbling and buffing operations result in an end product having the desired shape. | 03-05-2009 |
20090063184 | Method For Automatic Project File Reconstruction and Batch Processor - A method and appertaining system for performing the method is provided in which the modeling and detailing of a hearing aid shell can be done at a remote site, while the work order handling and the actual manufacture are performed at a local site without the need to transmit large STL files from the remote site to the local site. The local site is able to construct an STL file from data defining the original undetailed impression and a project file containing the detailing algorithms from the remote site. The hearing aid shell may then be manufactured from the STL file. | 03-05-2009 |
20090097682 | Computerized rule based binaural modeling system for the hearing aid design - The invention relates to a method for implementing an automated hearing aid modeling system that is a computerized rule-based binaural modeling system which includes performing a hearing-aid class dependent processing on the hearing aid shell design. Features of the hearing aid shell are recognized and attributes associated with these features are stored. A rule-based product handling for the shell model is used that is determined based on a determined shell type. Global and local offsets are performed on data associated with the shell model, as is binaural processing to augmented detailing and modeling protocols used on the shell model. The hearing aid is created based on the shell model processed according to the preceding steps. An appertaining system for implementing the method is also provided. | 04-16-2009 |
20090097724 | System and Method For The Analysis of Basic Ear Canal Taxonomy - A method and appertaining system determine and output parameters associated with an ear canal according to a particular taxonomy. The output can then be input to various other systems associated with hearing aid design. An intelligent computational approach is utilized that models the physiology of the human ear canal as reconcilable with a conic or quadric section. The canal segment of the impression is sliced, and various parameters are determined according to each slice. Then, these parameters are analyzed in order to create a basic classification of the canal morphology. | 04-16-2009 |
20090099677 | Method For Anatomically Aware Automatic Faceplate Placement Protocols for Hearing Instrument Design - A method is provided for automatically determining the position of and placing a faceplate assembly on a hearing instrument shell that takes into account patient anatomical features. These anatomical features of the shell are used as landmarks for ensuring that the final position of the faceplate on the hearing instrument is optimized both in terms of esthetics and increased comfort. The protocols defined herein take advantage of the intrinsic features of the human ear anatomy and the geometry of the electronic components to ensure that design and manufacturing of ITEs are optimized for efficiency and the process can be completely automated to ensure consistence and practice reproducibility. | 04-16-2009 |
20090196447 | Assembly Method of Custom Hearing Aids - The present invention relates generally to a method for assembling a hearing aid device, comprised of providing a software system that determines a position for a virtual receiver and a position for at least one component of a virtual faceplate inside a hearing aid shell. The present invention also includes utilizing guides to replicate the position for the receiver and the position for at least one component of the faceplate during construction of the shell, and providing the software system to verify that the receiver and one or more components will not collide with the faceplate and guides. The present invention is further comprised of providing the software system to merge the shell with the guides. | 08-06-2009 |
20090238388 | Hearing Aid With Enhanced Vent - A hearing aid with a microphone for receiving acoustic signals and converting them to electrical signals, electronic circuitry for processing the electrical signals, and a speaker for converting the processed electrical signals into acoustic signals, has a shell that encases at least portions of the microphone, the electronic circuitry, and the speaker, the shell further encasing an inside volume. The hearing aid further has a vent that provides an opening between the inside volume and a region external to the hearing aid. A flexible membrane is provided that covers an opening of the vent and an acoustic resistor that contacts the flexible membrane. The membrane helps prevent wax fumes from entering the inside volume, and the acoustic resistor helps to reduce distortion in the frequency response of the hearing aid. | 09-24-2009 |
20090296971 | Hearing Instrument Receiver With Improved Low-Frequency Efficiency - The low frequency efficiency of a hearing instrument receiver can be improved by increasing the unoccupied rear volume. The receiver may be configured with one or more motor and diaphragm assemblies. The receiver may also be fabricated using multiple, conventional receivers with an added housing to create the increased, unoccupied rear volume. | 12-03-2009 |
20100094446 | FEATURE DRIVEN RULE-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR AUTOMATION OF MODELING WORKFLOWS IN DIGITAL MANUFACTURING - A method for designing a prosthetic device includes acquiring a three-dimensional image of an anatomical surface. A rules script for automatically performing a plurality of image processing rules using a script interpreter is executed. For each particular rule of the plurality of rules, one or more anatomical features that are relevant to the particular rule using a surface shaping engine are determined, the one or more determined anatomical features are automatically segmented from the acquired three-dimensional image using a feature detector, and the particular image processing rule is performed on the acquired three-dimensional image based on the automatically segmented anatomical features using a CAD tool. A prosthetic device design is produced based on the three-dimensional image upon which the rules of the plurality of image processing rules have been performed. | 04-15-2010 |
20100131090 | METHOD AND PROCESS FOR AUTOMATING THE DESIGN OF A LOCKING MECHANISM FOR A HEARING INSTRUMENT - In a method for automating design of a locking mechanism for a hearing instrument, a computerized 3D file of an ear impression shell surface is provided based on a 3D scan of a 3D ear impression of a patient's ear. The ear impression shell surface includes a locking surface comprising at least one of a helix or canal concha portion of the patient's ear. A 3D file is provided of a hearing aid shell. With a computer, the hearing aid shell is placed in a desired location in the ear impression shell surface where the hearing aid shell is to be locked in position. With the computer, a volume surface as a 3D file is created representing the locking mechanism by utilizing a profile of the ear impression shell surface to be used as the locking surface. The volume surface runs from the ear impression shell surface and along the profile of the locking surface. | 05-27-2010 |
20100286964 | Method of Generating an Optimized Venting Channel in a Hearing Instrument - A computerized method is provided for designing a vent in a hearing aid housing shell based on an image of a patient's ear canal impression, and wherein a program is provided on a computer-readable medium. With the program, an image of a starter housing shell based on the image of the patient's ear canal impression is created which is longer than a final version of the housing shell to be created. A starter vent running from an inner canal end near the patient's ear drum to an outer end of the starter housing shell is placed inside the shell. Components are then placed substantially as deep as possible inside the starter shell but lying outside of the starter vent. Portions of the starter shell lying beyond where a faceplate is to be mounted are removed and the faceplate is mounted. The starter vent is then grown larger so that it fills substantially all space inside the shell without interfering with the components. | 11-11-2010 |