Home Alone with Your Ear Devices
Zipline Health’s patent #10463241 laments time lost and illness exacerbated by the inconvenient fact that “diagnosing external and middle ear infections requires a live in-person physician appointment and consultation.” The ear’s unclaimed territory beckons as a solution (image above).
Zipline envisions fully-loaded earpieces–light source, magnification lens, air conduction channel, miniature camera–coupled to an air conduction tube, insufflator, and electrical wiring/data tube connectivity to some combination of smart phone/computer/cloud. The result is a bulky set of at-home earpieces functioning as thermometer, otoscope, tympanometer, etc., with all data interpreted, diagnosed and treatment prescribed remotely.
Ear device wearers don’t have to be sick in bed to optimize home time by maximizing ear space use. Figure 1 is for iHear Medical’s patent #10489833, affording device wearers the opportunity to conduct e-commerce transactions, at least with their device providers. Eventually this will likely include Amazon and everybody else as Voice platforms and apps gain ubiquity. An added benefit of iHear’s approach is that the transaction process automatically take the wearer through verification steps for security (e.g., ID device and/or user) and device functionality (e.g., calibration and/or system performance).
The November 2019 List
|
Private audio streaming at point of sale |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Auditory augmentation system and method of composing a media product |
Time Machine Capital Limited (Warwickshire, GB) |
11/05/2019 |
Above (Time Machine I think?) great practical use of AR – not just for gamers anymore! Maybe transition to “Your dog is barking” and turn of outside audio when dog barks???
|
Converting multi-microphone captured signals to shifted signals useful for binaural signal processing and use thereof |
Nokia Technologies Oy (Espoo, FI) |
11/12/2019 |
Multiple microphones can be used to capture efficiently audio events. However, often it is difficult to convert the captured signals into a form such that the listener can experience the event as if being present in the situation in which the signal was recorded. Particularly, the spatial representation tends to be lacking, i.e., the listener does not sense the directions of the sound sources, as well as the ambience around the listener, identically as if he or she was in the original event. NOTE: Dolby patent in list is doing similar question
|
Symmetric binaural rendering for high-order ambisonics |
Google Inc (Mountain View, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
Binaurally rendered high-order ambisonics (HOA) refers to the creation of many (e.g., at least 9) virtual loudspeakers which combine to provide a pair of signals to left and right headphone speakers. Frequently, such rendering takes into account the effect of a human auditory system using a set of Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs). Performing convolutions on signals from each loudspeaker with the set of HRTFs provides the listener with a faithful reproduction of the sound source.
…
|
Description |
Patent Number |
Assignee |
Issued |
|
Ear ailment diagnostic device and method |
Zipline Health Inc (San Francisco, CA) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Hearing test method and system, readable record medium and computer program product |
Invictumtech Inc (Dover, DE) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Body noise reduction in auditory prostheses |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
MRI-compatible magnet apparatus and associated methods |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Ear horn assembly for headworn computer |
Mentor Acquisition One LLC (Plantation, FL) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Auditory augmentation system and method of composing a media product |
Time Machine Capital Limited (Warwickshire, GB) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Multi mode voice assistant for the hearing disabled |
Motorola Mobility LLC (Chicago, IL) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Over-ear speaker system for head-mounted display unit |
Facebook Technologies LLC (Menlo Park, CA) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Method of operating a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using monaural audio signals |
Starkey Laboratories Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Binaural hearing systems and methods for preserving an interaural level difference between signals generated for each ear of a user |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Systems and methods for facilitating interaural level difference perception by enhancing the interaural level difference |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Suspended components in auditory prostheses |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Hearing device |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Wireless sound transmission system and method |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Binaural multi-channel decoder in the context of non-energy-conserving upmix rules |
Dolby International AB (Amsterdam Zuidoost, NL |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Method to expedite playing of binaural sound to a listener |
Applicant: Lyren, Philip Scott (Bangkok, TH) |
11/05/2019 |
|
|
Headphone with biological feature detection function, interaction system and biological feature detection method |
Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co Ltd |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Earphone having acoustic impedance branch for damped ear canal resonance and acoustic signal coupling |
Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Systems and method for adjusting auditory prostheses settings |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Private audio streaming at point of sale |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Antenna structure for hearing devices |
Starkey Laboratories Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Low-power active bone conduction devices |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Integrity management of an implantable device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Converting multi-microphone captured signals to shifted signals useful for binaural signal processing and use thereof |
Nokia Technologies Oy (Espoo, FI) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Ear cleaning apparatus |
Applicant: Telebrands Corp (Fairfield, NJ) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Removable auditory prosthesis interface |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/12/2019 |
|
|
Elastic sensor for measuring vital parameters in the auditory canal |
Cosinuss GmbH (Munich, DE) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Adhesive earplugs useful for sealing the ear canal |
Tusker Medical Inc (Meno Park, CA) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Dereverberation device and hearing aid |
Rion Co Ltd (Tokyo, JP) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Ear wearable device |
Samsung Electronics Co ltd (Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, KR) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Configurable hearing aid comprising a beamformer filtering unit and a gain unit |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Configuration of hearing prosthesis sound processor based on visual interaction with external device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Hearing aid for people having asymmetric hearing loss |
Domestic Legacy Limited Partnership (Indianapolis, IN) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Hearing assistance device ear-to-ear communication using an intermediate device |
Starkey Laboratories Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
11/19/2019 |
|
|
Method for obtaining ear drum standard image and the related design of otoscope and software |
Syncvision Technology Corp (New Taipei, TW) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Electronic hearing protector with switchable electrical contacts |
3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Implantable hearing prosthesis |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Relay interface for connecting an implanted medical device to an external electronics device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Remote verification of hearing device for e-commerce transaction |
iHear Medical Inc (San Leandro, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Acoustic in ear detection for a hearable device |
Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Relay interface for connecting an implanted medical device to an external electronics device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Impulse-aware sound processing |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Hearing device with neural network-based microphone signal processing; |
Starkey Laboratories Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Hearing aid with distributed processing in ear piece |
Starkey Laboratories Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Damping in contact hearing systems |
EarLens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Non-surgical bone conduction hearing aid |
Applicant: Haynes, Joel E (Tarzana, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Symmetric binaural rendering for high-order ambisonics |
Google Inc (Mountain View, CA) |
11/26/2019 |
|
|
Binaural audio calibration |
International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY) |
11/26/2019 |
Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD, owned and operated a dispensing audiology practice in Tucson and was active in management of HearingHealthMatters.org through 2017. She holds BA degrees in Communication Sciences, Psychology and Economics; MA in Communication Disorders; PhD in Hearing Sciences. Following post-doctoral work at Max Planck Institute (Munich, DE) and Eaton-Peabody Auditory Physiology Lab (Boston), she joined the Stanford medical school faculty as director of audiology. She has authored/edited numerous text books, chapters, journals, and articles and taught Marketing and Practice Management in a variety of academic settings. She continues to consult and write on topics related to hearing health care vis-à-vis consumer demands, professional training, technological advancement, capital investment, industry consolidation, regulatory control, product and service distribution, and strategic pricing
