Fig 1. Oticon USPTO ##9351086 for Hearing Aid Device with In-the-Ear-Canal Microphone.
“Space is a scarce resource in a hearing aid.”
That simple but powerful observation heralds the purpose of Oticon’s US patent #9338569 (Portable Electronic Device Comprising a Folded Substrate), shown in the title image. That purpose is to cram as much amplification technology as possible into the smallest space.
Oticon’s next patented step is to use the folded substrate in a design described in US patent #9351086, shown in Figure 1. There, directional mics, battery, DSP chip, speaker, open dome are all loaded into the ear canal with a removal string. The worm-like effect is designed so that “an improved feedback reduction is thereby achieved, while allowing a relatively large gain to be applied to the incoming signal.”
Pretty darned cute — a CIC that leverages the benefits of the RIC open-ear fitting which itself revolutionized hearing aid fitting over a decade ago. What to call it? CIC-RIC isn’t quite accurate but rhymes and has a ring to it.
The Two-Month Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Accelerated Fitting of Cochlear Implants Based on Current Spread | 9320896 | Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 4/26/2016 |
| Objective Allocation of Implant Electrode Bands Based on Excitation Spread | 9320887 | Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 4/26/2016 |
| Using Mobile Consumer Devices to Communicate with Consumer Medical Devices | 9323893 | Orca Health, Inc. (Sandy, UT) | 4/26/2016 |
| Lithium Battery Having Irregularly Shaped Casing | 9325029 | Greatbatch Ltd. (Clarence, NY) | 4/26/2016 |
| Inflatable Bubble | 9326059 | Asius Technologies, LLC (Longmont, CO) | 4/26/2016 |
| Flexible Protocol for an Implanted Prosthesis | 9326075 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 4/26/2016 |
| System and Method for Sharing Network Resources between Hearing Devices | 9326077 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 4/26/2016 |
| Implantable Fluid Delivery System with Floating Mass Transducer Driven Pump | 9327071 | Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 5/03/2016 |
| Hearing Profile Test System and Method | 9326706 | iHear Medical, Inc. (San Leandro, CA) | 5/03/2016 |
| Customization of Adaptive Directionality for Hearing Aids Using a Portable Device | 9332359 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/03/2016 |
| Hearing Aid | 9332356 | Brainstorm Audio, LLC (Dover, DE) | 5/03/2016 |
| Compression and Mixing for Hearing Assistance Devices | 9332360 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/03/2016 |
| Portable Electronic Device Comprising a Folded Substrate | 9338569 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 5/10/2016 |
| Binaurally Coordinated Compression System | 9338563 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/10/2016 |
| Earphones and Hearing Aids with Equalization | 9338555 | J. Craig Oxford (Nashville, TN) | 5/10/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Charger Housing | D755976 | Earzqo, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) | 5/10/2016 |
| Auditory Signal Processing | 9338567 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/10/2016 |
| Inflatable Ear Piece and a Method of Its Manufacture | 9338568 | Sonion Nederland B.V. (Hoofddorp, Netherlands) | 5/10/2016 |
| Electrode for common cavity cochlear malformation | 9333338 | Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 5/10/2016 |
| Implantable Cochlear Systems with Intracochlear Electrode Array for Balance Stabilization | 9339649 | The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) and University Health Network (Toronto, Canada) | 5/17/2016 |
| Adjustable Securing Mechanism for a Space Access Device | 9344819 | Eargo, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) | 5/17/2016 |
| Wireless Power Transmission Device and Method for Controlling Power Supply for Wireless Power Transmission Device | 9343909 | Nitto Denko Corp (Osaka, JP) | 5/17/2016 |
| Portable Electronic Device for Wearing at the Ear and a Method of Operating a Portable Electronic Device | 9344812 | Teknologisk Institut (Taastrup, DK) | 5/17/2016 |
| Easily Installable Microphone for Implantable Hearing Aid | 9344818 | Kyungpook National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (Daegu, KR) | 5/17/2016 |
| Hearing Aid System and a Hearing Aid | 9344816 | Widex A/S (Lynge, Denmark) | 5/17/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Device and Method for Feedback Reduction | 9344814 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 5/17/2016 |
| Methods for Operating a Hearing Device as Well as Hearing Devices | 9344813 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/17/2016 |
| Stimulus Timing for a Stimulating Medical Device | 9339648 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/17/2016 |
| Evaluation of sound quality and speech intelligibility from neurograms | 9351088 | Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 5/24/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Device with In-the-Ear-Canal Microphone | 9351086 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 5/24/2016 |
| Learning Control of Hearing Aid Parameter Settings | 9351087 | GN ReSound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 5/24/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Systems | 9357317 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/31/2016 |
| Hearing Aid, Loudspeaker, and Feedback Canceller | 9357315 | Rion Co. Ltd. (Kokubunji-Shi, Tokyo, Japan) | 5/31/2016 |
| Hearing Aid Battery Door | D757945 | ZPower, LLC (Camarillo, CA) | 5/31/2016 |
| Hearing Prosthesis with Accessory Detection | 9357318 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/31/2016 |
| Automated Sound Processor with Audio Signal Feature Determination and Processing Mode Adjustment | 9357314 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/31/2016 |
| Input selection for an auditory prosthesis | 9352154 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/31/2016 |
| Systems and methods for detecting nerve stimulation with an implanted prosthesis | 9352153 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 5/31/2016 |
| Time Division Multiplexed Access Method of Operating a near Field Communication System and a near Field Communication System Operating the Same | 9357316 | NXP B.V. (Eindhoven, NL) | 5/31/2016 |
| Method and device for reducing acoustic feedback | 9357301 | Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) | 5/31/2016 |
| Elastic Body of Audio Accessory, Audio Accessory and Electronic Device Supporting the Same | 9357319 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si, KR) | 5/31/2016 |
| Method of Fitting a Hearing Aid System and a Hearing Aid Fitting System | 9363614 | Widex A/S (Lynge, Denmark) | 6/07/2016 |
| Accessory Member, and Accessory Comprising the Same | 9358751 | Kyocera Corp (Kyoto, JP) | 6/07/2016 |
| Environmentally Sealed Hearing Assistance Device | 9363613 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 6/07/2016 |
| Method for Operating a Hearing Device and a Hearing Device | 9363612 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 6/07/2016 |
| Automated Method of Classifying and Suppressing Noise in Hearing Devices | 9364669 | The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (Austin, TX) | 6/14/2016 |
| External Ear Canal Voice Detection | 9369814 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 6/14/2016 |
| Omniphobic Perforated Barrier for Hearing Aid Transducers | 9369816 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 6/14/2016 |
| Vanadium Boride Air Multiple Electron High Capacity Battery | 9368846 | The George Washington University (Washington, DC) | 6/14/2016 |
| BTE Hearing Aid Having Two Driven Antennas | 9369813 | GN ReSound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 6/14/2016 |
| High Power RF Field Effect Transistor Switching Using DC Biases | 9368975 | Qualcomm Inc (San Diego, CA) | 6/14/2016 |
| Methods and apparatus for processing audio signals | 9369102 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 6/14/2016 |
| Binaural enhancement of tone language for hearing assistance devices | 9374646 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 6/21/2016
|
| System and method for embedding conductive traces into hearing assistance device housings | 9374650 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) | 6/21/2016
|
| Fitting device and a method of fitting a hearing device to compensate for the hearing loss of a user; and a hearing device and a method of reducing feedback in a hearing device | 9374645 | GN ReSound A/S (Ballerup, Denmark) | 6/21/2016 |
| Hearing assistance system and method | 9374648 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 6/21/2016 |
| Method of performing an RECD measurement using a hearing assistance device | 9374638 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, Denmark) | 6/21/2016 |
| Injection moulded circuit carrier having an integrated circuit board | 9374891 | Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) | 6/21/2016 |
| External component of a hearing prosthesis | D760392 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 6/28/2016 |
| Temperature sensor and temperature probe | 9377368 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 6/28/2016 |
| Hearing prosthesis system having interchangeable housings | 9375572 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 6/28/2016 |
| Stimulating assembly fixation features | 9375565 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) | 6/28/2016 |
| Hearing instrument with an integral injection-molding casing | 9380396 | Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) | 6/28/2016 |
| Microphone protective device | 9380367 | Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) | 6/28/2016 |
How about a “CRIC” ==> Completely-receiver-in-the-canal?
What was really interesting was Samsung’s patent; If you check the images section, you’ll the patent is for a part on a device that looks remarkably like an RIC.
Scott, the more I think on it (which isn’t much), the more I’m leaning toward IED — Invisible Ear Device. That covers whatever gets put in the ear canal, so long as it’s completely in there.
And yes, the images from many of the patents, Samsung’s included, are really interesting. Glad you like perusing the list and thanks for commenting.