The aptly named MDIdeaFactory Inc has come up with an uncomfortable new application for in-ear devices, melding autonomic response with classic Skinnerian psychology to shape wearers’ behaviors. Negative reinforcement isn’t a new idea but adopting ear calorics for that purpose may explain the MDIdea part of the company’s name.
Their patent #11707380, Ear apparatus and methods of use, describes a
“Selectively controllable apparatus for insertion into an ear canal …includ(ing) … thermal mechanisms which enable selective increase or decrease of temperature … to mitigate cravings for food, alcohol, narcotics, or other potentially deleterious substances.”
If you’re having trouble grappling with this idea, the authors offer helpful examples, e.g.,
a mild nausea or pre-nausea condition is created within the user according to a time-temperature profile so as to induce … behavioral modification.
Hearing Economics is all for multipurpose ear devices and audiologists are all for new clinical markets for their devices. But we all may want to pass on this idea and leave it to the psychologists or the MDs with Ideas.
The July 2023 Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Combination hearing aid and cochlear implant system | 11697019 | Envoy Medical Corporation (White Bear Lake, MN) | 7/11/2023 |
| In-ear liveness detection for voice user | 11699449 | Jvckenwood Corporation (Yokoyama, JP) | 7/11/2023 |
| Telephone system for the hearing impaired | 11700325 | Eugenious Enterprises LLC (Medina, OH) | 7/11/2023 |
| Earpiece with GPS receiver | 11700475 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 7/11/2023 |
| Hearing aid comprising a left-right location detector | 11700493 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 7/11/2023 |
| Hearing aid connector | 11700494 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 7/11/2023 |
| Device and method to reduce ear wax clogging of acoustic ports, hearing aid sealing system, and feedback reduction system | 11700495 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 7/11/2023 |
| Hearing device, hearing device-based systems and methods for determining a quality metric for an optical measurement | 11701057 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 7/18/2023 |
| Optimization tool for auditory devices | 11701516 | Soundwave Hearing (Glendale Heights, IL) | 7/18/2023 |
| Dynamic sound masking based on monitoring biosignals and environmental noises | 11705100 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 7/18/2023 |
| Contaminant-proof microphone assembly | 11706551 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 7/18/2023 |
| Open audio device | 11706552 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 7/18/2023 |
| Dual-diaphragm moving-coil audio transducer for hearing device | 11706570 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 7/18/2023 |
| Prosthesis state and feedback path based parameter management | 11706572 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 7/18/2023 |
| Nearfield inductive coupling in a contact hearing system | 11706573 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 7/18/2023 |
| Binaural hearing system for identifying a manual gesture, and method of its operation | 11706575 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 7/18/2023 |
| Acoustically probed over-the-ear hearing assessment devices and methods | 11707210 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 7/25/2023 |
| Ear apparatus and methods of use | 11707380 | MDIdeaFactory Inc (San Diego, CA) | 7/25/2023 |
| Antenna assemblies for use with transcutaneously powered medical implants | 11707631 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 7/25/2023 |
| Method and device for acute sound detection and reproduction | 11710473 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 7/25/2023 |
| Voice detection using ear-based devices | 11711647 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Seattle, WA) | 7/25/2023 |
| RF immune microphone | 11711641 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 7/25/2023 |
| Wireless ear buds with proximity sensors | 11711643 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 7/25/2023 |
| Method for audio signal noise cancellation, apparatus for audio signal processing, and electronic device | 11711649 | Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN) | 7/25/2023 |
| Execution and initialisation of processes for a device | 11711655 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 7/25/2023 |
| Hearing device comprising an amplifier system for minimizing variation in an acoustical signal caused by variation in gain of an amplifier | 11711656 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 7/25/2023 |
| Demodulation in a contact hearing system | 11711657 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 7/25/2023 |
| Implantable middle ear transducer having diagnostic detection sensor | 11711658 | Envoy Medical Corporation (White Bear Lake, MN) | 7/25/2023 |
| Modular connection assembly for a hearing assistance device | 11711660 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 7/25/2023 |
| Conformable vented eartip | 11711661 | Team IP Holdings LLC (Fort Worth, TX) | 7/25/2023 |
| Wireless earpieces for hub communications | 11711695 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 7/25/2023 |
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.
