DE20105562U1 - Hearing system with an implant placed subcutaneously in the head of a hearing impaired person - Google Patents

Description

Brümmerstedt Oelfke

law firm

bruckhoff apparatebau gmbh 546/11

Hearing system with an implant placed subcutaneously in the head of a hearing-impaired person

For the majority of people with inner ear hearing loss, even the most modern hearing aid technology cannot achieve satisfactory hearing rehabilitation. For this large number of sufferers, partially implantable hearing systems have been developed in which a cochlear implant replaces the lost functions of the inner ear. Such a cochlear implant contains a receiver connected to a receiving coil, from which a bundle of electrodes extends into the cochlea and stimulates corresponding fibers of the auditory nerve, which transmits this information to the brain, where it is decoded and interpreted as acoustic signals.

This implant includes a so-called headset, which contains a microphone, a transmitter, possibly a speech processor and a transmitting coil, and which must be worn behind the ear in such a way that the implant and headset are coupled to each other via the transmitting and receiving coils. Since optimal coupling only works when the transmitting and receiving coils are positioned exactly opposite each other,

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It is known to provide a permanent magnet in the implant and in the headset, which ensures that the headset adheres to the head and is adjusted in the correct position.

However, the permanent magnets are a hindrance in some cases, for example when the patient has to undergo an MRI scan. In this case, the magnet has to be surgically removed from the implant and then reinserted.

Efforts are therefore being made to avoid using permanent magnets as an adhesive aid.

A headset is known in which the headset is attached to one end of a bending element, the other end of which can be fixed in the patient's ear by means of an earmold. The bending element is designed in such a way that it maintains its respective bending position so that the clinician or the patient can move the headset into the optimal position, which it then maintains.

In practice, however, difficulties have arisen. For practical and anatomical reasons, the doctor who inserts the implant will not always place the implant in the same place relative to the outer ear. Therefore, the doctor who attaches the headset must first measure how long the bending element must be in order to ensure optimal adjustment. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that the length of the bending element is ultimately not correct, so that a new headset has to be made because the original headset

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is firmly connected to the bending element, so that differences in

the assumption of costs for the new production between the health insurance company and

the manufacturer of the headset and the doctor who fits the headset.

The invention is therefore based on the object of avoiding the aforementioned difficulties.

The invention is based on a hearing system with an implant which is fitted subcutaneously in the head of the hearing-impaired person and which contains a receiving coil and a receiver coupled to the auditory nerve, and with an external headset which contains a microphone, a transmitter, possibly a speech processor and a transmitting coil and which is to be worn behind the ear in such a way that the implant and headset can be optimally coupled via the transmitting and receiving coil without the use of permanent magnets, wherein the headset is fitted to one end of a bending element, the other end of which can be secured to the ear of the hearing-impaired person by means of an earmold.

The stated object is achieved according to the invention in a hearing system of the aforementioned type in that a holding part is attached to one end of the bending element, into which the headset can be detachably inserted.

The invention makes it possible to provide the clinician or the person who fits the headset with various inexpensive units consisting of a bending element and a holding part with different lengths of the bending element, from which he can select the appropriate unit during the fitting, into which only the headset then needs to be inserted, whereby

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Different forms of the holder can also be used, into which different headset brands can be inserted. The headset can be secured in the holder using a simple snap-in connection, for example. This avoids having to replace a headset that has already been manufactured due to incorrect adjustments.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an embodiment shown in the drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 the external part of the hearing system to be worn behind the ear and

Fig. 2 shows the external part of the hearing system of Fig. 1 in its operating position on the head of a patient.

The external part of the hearing system consists of a connecting part 1, to which a bending element 2 is connected, at the free end of which a holding part 3 is attached, which has the shape of a ring and serves to hold a cylindrical headset 4, which contains the electronic elements of the external part of the hearing system, such as the microphone, transmitter and transmitter coil. The connecting part 1 is provided with a right-angled attachment 5, which can be snapped into an earpiece 6, which has been made to fit the patient by the hearing aid acoustician and which holds the external part of the hearing system in place. The headset 4 can be secured in the holding part 3 in any way, e.g. by means of a snap-in connection or the like.

Fig. 2 shows the attachment of the external part of the hearing system to the patient's head. After the arrangement has been fixed by means of the earmold 6, the bending element 2 is bent so that the headset 4 with the holding part 3 assumes its optimal position in relation to the implant. A unit with a selected length of the bending element 2 can be used first, and if it turns out that the length of the bending element 2 is not such that the optimal position in relation to the implant can be achieved, the unit consisting of the connecting part 1, bending element 2 and holding part 3 only needs to be detached from the earmold 6 and replaced with a corresponding unit with a longer or shorter bending element 2. The headset 4 is then detached from the replaced unit and inserted into the new unit.

Claims (1)

Hearing system with an implant fitted subcutaneously in the head of the hearing-impaired person, which contains a receiving coil and a receiver coupled to the auditory nerves, and with an external headset containing a microphone, a transmitter, optionally a speech processor and a transmitting coil, which is to be worn behind the ear in such a way that the implant and headset can be optimally coupled via the transmitting and receiving coil without the use of permanent magnets, wherein the headset is fitted to one end of a bending element, the other end of which can be secured to the ear of the hearing-impaired person by means of an earmold, characterized in that a holding part ( 3 ) is fitted to one end of the bending element ( 2 ), into which holding part the headset ( 4 ) can be detachably inserted.