Toss our baby out with the bath water….
Iyo Inc, a “secret moonshot startup founded by ex-Google leaders,” doesn’t think much of hearing aids. Their patent #11632648, for an Ear-mountable listening device having a ring-shaped microphone array for beamforming, iterates the many failings of hearing aids as follows (heavily paraphrased):
- Hearing aids … often fail to accurately reproduce environmental cues
- …have drawbacks when worn all day in a variety of environments…
- …are fixed devices intended to amplify whatever sounds emanate from directly in front of the user. However, an auditory scene surrounding the user may be more complex and the user’s listening desires may not be as simple as merely amplifying sounds emanating directly in front of the user….
- …monolithic implementations are common, not easily custom tailored to the end user, and if damaged, require the entire device to be replaced at greater expense.
MIT’s patent #11630513 for an End-to-end deep neural network for auditory attention decoding, zeros in on hearing aids’ failure to improve listening ability in multi-talker environments, beckoning in social isolation and cognitive decline.
Surrounded by failure, it’s comforting to fall back on C.S. Lewis’s observation that “failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” The industry has come a long way on that road and has a long and inviting path ahead as incumbents and newcomers keep finding and improving on present day failures that we used to consider successes.
The April 2023 Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| External system for implanted medical devices | 11617893 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/04/2023 |
| Digital signature using phonometry and compiled biometric data system and method | 11620368 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 4/04/2023 |
| Determining social interaction of a user wearing a hearing device | 11621018 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/04/2023 |
| Tap detection | 11622187 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/04/2023 |
| Audio enhancement for hearing impaired in a shared listening environment | 11622197 | Sony Group (Tokyo, JP) | 4/04/2023 |
| Method of fitting a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system | 11622203 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 4/04/2023 |
| Hearing device and hearing device module | 11622204 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 4/04/2023 |
| Activating a mode of a hearing device | 11622205 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/04/2023 |
| In ear hearing device with a housing enclosing acoustically coupled chambers | 11622206 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/04/2023 |
| Generating a hearing assistance device shell | 11622207 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 4/04/2023 |
| System and method for personalizing a hearing aid | 11622210 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 4/04/2023 |
| Ear mounted audio devices controllable by remote control | 11622213 | Davidson, Curt (applicant, San Marco CA) | 4/04/2023 |
| Hearing device assemblies | 11622215 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/04/2023 |
| System and method for interactive mobile fitting of hearing aids | 11622216 | Team IP (Fort Worth, TX) | 4/04/2023 |
| Implant tool | D982745 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/04/2023 |
| Adjustable hearing protection device | 11622890 | Arjen Teake De Jong & Richard Vincent Armin De Jong (Barneveld, NL) | 4/11/2023 |
| Acoustic noise reduction audio system having tap control
|
11626095 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 4/11/2023 |
| Active noise cancelling earbud devices | 11626097 | Google (Mountain View, CA) | 4/11/2023 |
| Hearing device for identifying a sequence of movement features, and method of its operation | 11627398 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/11/2023 |
| Hearing device assembly | 11627403 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 4/11/2023 |
| Audio-based social media platform | 11627105 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 4/11/2023 |
| Wearable audio device with selective frequency attenuation | 11627406 | Change Healthcare Holdings, LLC (Nashville, TN) | 4/11/2023 |
| Loop antenna for hearing aid | 11627420 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 4/11/2023 |
| Method for realizing hearing aid function based on bluetooth headset chip and a bluetooth headset | 11627421 | Shenzhen Tingduoduo Technology Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN) | 4/11/2023 |
| Low-power active bone conduction devices | 11627422 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/11/2023 |
| Hearing aid | D983377 | Xiamen Retone Hearing Technology Co Ltd | 4/11/2023 |
| End-to-end deep neural network for auditory attention decoding | 11630513 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) | 4/18/2023 |
| Remote microphone devices for auditory prostheses | 11632632 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/18/2023 |
| Feature extraction in hearing prostheses | 11632634 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/18/2023 |
| Hearing aid comprising a noise reduction system | 11632635 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 4/18/2023 |
| Method for operating a hearing device | 11632638 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/18/2023 |
| Ear-mountable listening device having a ring-shaped microphone array for beamforming | 11632648 | Iyo Inc (Redwood City, CA) | 4/18/2023 |
| Hearing prosthesis electrode array with resiliently flexible tip member | 11633590 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/25/2023 |
| Automatic gain control in an active noise reduction (ANR) signal flow path | 11636841 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 4/25/2023 |
| Ear-mountable listening device having a microphone array disposed around a circuit board | 11636842 | Iyo Inc (Redwood City, CA) | 4/25/2023 |
| Charger operable in different charging modes for charging an accumulator of the charger and an accumulator of an audio device | 11637343 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 4/25/2023 |
| Hearing device assembly | 11638080 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 4/25/2023 |
| Hearing aid for placement in a user’s ear canal | 11638101 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 4/25/2023 |
| Acoustic implant feedback control | 11638102 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 4/25/2023 |
| Ear-worn electronic device incorporating motor brain-computer interface | 11638104 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 4/25/2023 |
| Hearing system comprising a hearing aid and a processing device | 11638106 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 4/25/2023 |
| Hearing device with two microphone filters | 11638107 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 4/25/2023 |
| Canal hearing devices with sound port contaminant guards | 11638108 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 4/25/2023 |
| Device and method to reduce ear wax clogging of acoustic ports, hearing aid sealing system, and feedback reduction system | 11638109 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) techiya | 4/25/2023 |
| Hearing aid | D984646 & 7 | Garber, Dylan Arthur, applicant (Scottsdale, AZ) | 4/25/2023 |
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.
