Implantable microphone management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11722815-B2
Application number	US-202117228173-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 12, 2021
Priority date	Jun 21, 2017
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

A device, including an implantable microphone, including a transducer, and a chamber in which a gas is located such that vibrations originating external to the microphone based on sound are effectively transmitted therethrough, wherein the transducer is in effective vibration communication with the gas, wherein the transducer is configured to convert the vibrations traveling via the gas to an electrical signal, the chamber and the transducer correspond to a microphone system, wherein the chamber corresponds to a front volume of the microphone system, and the transducer includes a back volume corresponding to the back volume of the microphone system, and the implantable microphone is configured to enable pressure adjustment of the front and/or back volume in real time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
capturing at a first temporal location first sound originating external to a recipient with an implanted microphone system implanted in the recipient while the implanted microphone system has a first transfer function;
subsequent to the first temporal location, at a second temporal location, experiencing a first event that causes the first transfer function to change to a second transfer function different from the first transfer function; and
during a first temporal period beginning after the first temporal location, while continuing to experiencing the first event, automatically changing the transfer function of the microphone system at least back towards the first transfer function via pressure management within the implanted microphone system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first event last more than 30 seconds at a steady state; and
within about 15 seconds during the 30 seconds, while continuing to experiencing the first event, automatically changing the transfer function of the microphone at least about 80% of the way back to the first transfer function via the pressure management within the microphone.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first event last more than 30 seconds at a steady state; and
within about 15 seconds during the 30 seconds, while continuing to experiencing the first event, automatically changing the transfer function of the microphone to effectively 100% of the way back to the first transfer function via the pressure management within the microphone.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the microphone system is part of a hearing prosthesis that includes an implanted noise cancellation system;
the noise cancellation system includes an algorithm that cancels feedback, which algorithm is at least partially dependent on the transfer function of the microphone system and which algorithm accommodates changes in the transfer function of the microphone system; and
the pressure management system has prevented the noise cancellation system from chasing the changes in the transfer function of the microphone between the first temporal location and an end of the first temporal period.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
sound is captured during the first temporal period while the pressure is managed, the sound capture causing a diaphragm of a transducer of the microphone system to vibrate, wherein the pressure management effectively does not impact a vibration characteristic of the diaphragm resulting from the sound.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the pressure management includes actively equalizing pressure in a front volume and a back volume of a transducer of the implanted microphone system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evoking a hearing percept based on output of the implanted microphone system based on the first sound captured by the implanted microphone system.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the first temporal period, evoking a hearing perception based on sound captured by the implanted microphone.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the first temporal period, while continuing to experience the first event, evoking a hearing percept based on sound captured by the implanted microphone.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the pressure management includes transferring fluid from a front volume to a back volume of the implantable microphone system.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the microphone system is part of a hearing prosthesis that includes a feedback mitigation system, and the pressure management does not impact effective operation of a feedback mitigation algorithm of the feedback mitigation system.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evoking a hearing percept using the implanted microphone based on a time constant corresponding to more than 60 Hz during the first temporal period while the transfer function is between the first transfer function and the second transfer function.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the microphone system is part of an implantable hearing prosthesis; and
the pressure management adjusts a pressure in a front volume of the implanted microphone system in a timeframe fast enough that the adjustment accommodates a noise cancellation system of the hearing prosthesis and slow enough that the adjustment accommodates the microphone system.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the implantable microphone system is part of a hearing prosthesis that includes an implanted noise cancellation system;
the hearing prosthesis is configured to adjust a transfer function of the noise cancellation system to accommodate for the first event; and
the implantable microphone system is configured to adjust a pressure within a microphone volume via the pressure management of the microphone system in a timeframe fast enough that the adjustment accommodates the noise cancellation system and slow enough that the adjustment accommodates the implantable microphone system.

Assignees

• Cochlear Ltd

Inventors

• Easter James Roy
• Gebrekidan Maekele

Classifications

• H04R1/42 Primary

  Combinations of transducers with fluid-pressure or other non-electrical amplifying means · CPC title

• H04R25/407

  Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers · CPC title

• H04R25/48

  using constructional means for obtaining a desired frequency response (H04R25/652 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R2225/41

  Detection or adaptation of hearing aid parameters or programs to listening situation, e.g. pub, forest · CPC title

• H04R2430/01

  Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in sound systems · CPC title