New hearing device patents featured new players, new money, new concepts, interesting art work, and political commentary. Today’s feature image, courtesy of Starkey’s USPTO #9264824, may not be great art but it succinctly states the company’s dim view of Keynesian economics and government tax ideology.
Fig 1. Qualcomm patent #9225306 shows a hearing aid hiding in the anatomy of the ear and skull.
The art award goes to Qualcomm, which joined the hearing aid patent club with USPTO #9225306. The Qualcomm patent describes “methods, systems and devices for controlling the output of a hearing aid worn by a wearer based on whether the wearer is speaking.” The patent explores “further embodiments” which include a hearing aid doing a variety of thing as it nestles into the most artistically drawn and meticulously labeled ear illustration seen in recent patents. The rendering is reminiscent of (or perhaps borrowed from) classical anatomical drawings in Gray’s Anatomy (Fig 1).
The money went to GN Store Nord, which secured a €75M R&D loan on January 19 from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for R&D on wireless hearing devices and fitting technology centered on next generation silicon chipsets. The GN project runs through 2017 and “…is expected to result in numerous patent applications.”
New concepts lie in the automated wireless frontier, a place that seems largely devoid of audiologists and audiometry but big on new and old patent players:
- Australian company Blamey & Saunders plans to fit “… a sound processing device for an individual .. using natural sounds without specialized audiometric equipment or audiological expertise…[using] user’s perceptions…from which a hearing map is derived.” (patent #9253583)
- Panasonic picks up on the hearing perception/environmental mapping concepts with a goal to improve wearer satisfaction. Its two patents describe automatic recording, via EEG, of “states of hearing in scenes of daily life.” Recordings are stored and managed at remote server fitting sites (patents #9247361 and 9232904).
In the absence of audiometry and coming full circle to current public policy discussion, RIT’s patent application #20150359468 is an exciting must-read, remarkably different from typical dry patent language. “Method for Determining Hearing Thresholds in the Absence of Pure-Tone Testing” hits the high points of PCAST and IOM considerations (see the many posts in HHTM’s Hearing Health section on Disruptions for review) and reaches a rousing conclusion:
“Therefore, in principle, enabling hearing thresholds to be determined using a self-administered test delivered over the internet has the potential to facilitate direct sales of PSAPs and hearing aids to consumers, significantly reducing cost and increasing accessibility for millions of individuals.”
The Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Electroactive Polymer Systems | 9216237 | Personics Holdings, LLC (Boca Raton, FL) | 12/22/2015 |
| Head-Mounted Device for Settable Compound Delivery System for Inflatable In-Ear Device | 9216114 | Sonomax Technologies, Inc. (Montreal, Quebec, CA) | 12/22/2015 |
| Implant Current Controlled Battery Charging Based on Temperature | 9225190 | Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (Buffalo, NY) | 12/29/2015 |
| Hearing Aid Device | 9226085 | Sonion Nederland BV (Hoofddorp, NL) | 12/29/2015 |
| Gain Control for an Electro-Acoustic Device with a Facial Movement Detector | 9225306 | Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego, CA) | 12/29/2015 |
| Hearing Device with a Microphone | 9232318 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 1/05/2016 |
| Hearing Aid with Audio Codec and Method | 9232323 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 1/05/2016 |
| Hearing Aid with a Bushing for an Ear Wax Guard | 232325 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 1/05/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Devices with Reduced Background and Feedback Noises | 9232322 | Zhimin Fang (London, CA) | 1/05/2016 |
| Methods and apparatus for cochlear implant signal processing | 9227059 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 1/05/2016 |
| Systems and Methods of Facilitating Manual Adjustment of One or More Cochlear Implant System Control Parameters | 9227060 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 1/05/2016 |
| Method and Apparatus for Determining an Amplification Factor of a Hearing Aid Device | 9232330 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 1/05/2016 |
| Method for Determining a Compression Characteristic, Method for Determining a Knee Point and Method for Adjusting a Hearing Aid | 9232326 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 1/05/2016 |
| Portable Electronic Device and a Method of Manufacturing a Fuel Cell Reservoir | 9231265 | Teknologisk Institut (Taastrup, DK) | 1/05/2016 |
| Data/Power Transfer over a Communication Link | 9227058 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 1/05/2016 |
| External Button Processor with a Rechargeable Battery | 9227064 | MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 1/05/2016 |
| Modular Auditory Prosthesis Systems and Methods | 9232320 | Advanced Bionics AG (CH) | 1/05/2016 |
| Device for Collection of Fluid | 9233201 | Muovisola Oy (Polvijarvi, FI) | 1/12/2016 |
| Dipole Antenna for a Hearing Aid | 9237404 | GN Resound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 1/12/2016 |
| Hearing Aid with an Antenna | 9237405 | GN Resound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 1/12/2016 |
| Pushbutton Pullstring Adapter for Hearing Aid | 9236203 | Audina Hearing Instruments Inc. (Longwood, FL) | 1/12/2016 |
| Electroencephalogram Recording Apparatus, Hearing Aid, Electroencephalogram Recording Method, and Program | 9232904 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) | 1/12/2016 |
| Method of Adjusting a Binaural Hearing System, Binaural Hearing System, Hearing Device and Remote Control | 923703 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 1/12/2016 |
| Monitoring device and a method for wireless data and power transmission in a monitoring device | 9240825 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 119/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Interconnection System | 9241225 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 1/19/2016 |
| Adaptive Self-Calibration of Small Microphone Array by Soundfield Approximation and Frequency Domain Magnitude Equalization | 9241228 | STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific PTE.LTD. (Singapore) | 1/19/2016 |
| Directional Filtering of Audible Signals | 9241223 | Malaspina Labs (Barbados) Inc. (Upton, St. Michael, BB) | 1/19/2016 |
| Formant Based Speech Reconstruction from Noisy Signals | 9240190 | Malaspina Labs (Barbados) Inc. (Upton, St. Michael, BB) | 1/19/2016 |
| Binaural Compressor Preserving Directional Cues | 9241222 | GN Resound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 1/19/2016 |
| Wireless sound transmission system and method | 9247355 | Sonova AG (Stafa, CH) | 1/26/2016 |
| Music player watch with hearing aid remote control | 9247356 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 1/26/2016 |
| Method for Operating a Hearing Aid and Corresponding Hearing Aid | 9247352 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 1/26/2016 |
| Hearing Instrument Housing Having a Plug-In Connection, Plug and Hearing Instrument | 9247360 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 1/26/2016 |
| Method for the Transmission of Data between a Hearing Device and an External Unit, and Associated Configuration | 9247354 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 1/26/2016 |
| Acoustic Coupler | 9247353 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 1/26/2016 |
| DACS Actuator | 9247357 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 1/26/2016 |
| Hearing aid with safety feature for opening a battery door | 9247358 | GN Resound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 1/26/2016 |
| Suspension for a Hearing Device Receiver | 9247329 | GN Resound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 1/26/2016 |
| Hearing Aid, Hearing Aid Fitting Management System, Server Device, and Computer Device | 9247361 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) | 1/26/2016 |
| Single-Microphone Wind Noise Suppression | 9253568 | Broadcom Corporation (Irvine, CA) | 2/02/2016 |
| System and Method for a Cancelation Circuit | 9253569 | Infineon Technologies AG (Neubiberg, DE) | 2/02/2016 |
| Array Microphone Apparatus for Generating a Beam Forming Signal and Beam Forming Method | 9253567 | STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific PTE.LTD. (Singapore) | 2/02/2016 |
| Sound Processor Accessory | 9248287 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 2/02/2016 |
| Voice Communication Unit | 9252877 | Joseph C Lee & Timothy Lee (Riverside, CA) | 2/02/2016 |
| Automated Fitting of Hearing Devices | 9253583 | Blamey & Saunders Hearing Pty LTD. (Melbourne, Australia) | 2/02/2016 |
| Method of Controlling an Effect Strength of a Binaural Directional Microphone, and Hearing Aid System | 9253581 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 2/02/2016 |
| Hearing Instrument and Hearing Instrument | 9253582 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 2/02/2016 |
| Hearing Apparatus for Binaural Supply and Method for Providing a Binaural Supply | 9253571 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 2/02/2016 |
| Systems and Methods for Detecting and Identifying a Wireless Power Device | 9252846 | Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego, CA) | 2/02/2016 |
| Method and Device for Frequency Compression with Harmonic Correction | 9258655 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore SG) | 2/09/2016 |
| Method of manufacturing a soft custom ear mold and a soft custom ear mold | 9258657 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 2/09/2016 |
| Inner hair cell stimulation model for use by a cochlear implant system | 9254384 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 2/09/2016 |
| Test device for a speaker module for a listening device | 9258658 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 2/09/2016 |
| Method and System for Parameter Based Adaptation of Clock Speeds to Listening Devices and Audio Applications | 9258653 | Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC (Phoenix, AZ) | 2/09/2016 |
| Apparatus for Controlling Electric Field Distribution by Utilizing Short Trace Structures | 9257755 | Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. (Guangming District of Shenzhen, Shenzhen) | 2/09/2016 |
| Multi-Port Device Package | 9254995 | Analog Devices, Inc. (Norwood, MA) | 2/09/2016 |
| Hearing Aid System with Lost Partner Functionality | 9264821 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 2/16/2016 |
| Detecting and switching battery polarity in a battery charger | 9263903 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 2/16/2016 |
| System for automatic reception enhancement of hearing assistance devices – | 264822 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 2/16/2016 |
| Integration of hearing aids with smart glasses to improve intelligibility in noise | 9264824 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 2/16/2016 |
| Three dimensional substrate for hearing assistance devices | 9264826 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 2/16/2016 |
| Dual Cartridge Directional Microphone | 9264798 | Sonion Nederland BV (Hoofddorp, NL) | 2/16/2016 |
| MRI Safe Actuator for Implantable Floating Mass Transducer | 9264825 | Vibrant Med-El Hearing Technology GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 2/16/2016 |
| Wireless Power Carrier-Synchronous Communication | 9264108 | Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego, CA) | 2/16/2016 |
| Wire Constructs | 9263172 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 2/16/2016 |
Editor’s note: The Patent Series is updated every two months. Click links for patents approved in Nov/Dec 2015, Sept/Oct 2015, Jul/Aug 2015, May/Jun 2015, Mar/Apr 2015, Jan/Feb 2015, Nov/Dec 2014, Sep/Oct 2014, July/Aug 2014, May/Jun 2014, Mar/Apr 2014, Jan/Feb 2014, Nov/Dec 2013, September/October 2013, Jul/Aug 2013, May/Jun 2013, Mar/Apr 2013, Jan/Feb 2013, Nov/Dec 2012
