Sonova’s patent #11997457 (Hearing device for providing physiological information, and method of its operation) takes on the entire Hearable/Hearing Aid/Sensor/Wearable space. The patent is long in length and careful consideration of many aspects. For example,
- Ear devices cover the gamut from CIs to RICs, any/all of which can include
- Biometric sensors used to measure an organism’s biological characteristics, defined as any form of energy and/or matter intrinsic to the living organism and/or emitted from the living organism;
- Other sensors to measure non-intrinsic characteristics, defined as any activity of a human within an ambient environment in a vicinity of the human’s body and/or a characteristic of the ambient environment.
That’s just the broad outline; the patent goes on to define and include a full taxonomy of human physiological and behavioral parameters.
The May 2024 patent list
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Inner ear apparatus | 11975192 | Chen, Taiting (Taipei, TW) | 5/07/2024 |
| Cochlea implant system with measurement unit | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/07/2024 | |
| Active noise cancelling earbud devices | 11978429 | Google LLC (Mountain View, CA) | 5/07/2024 |
| Ambient noise aware dynamic range control and variable latency for hearing personalization | 11978469 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/07/2024 |
| Mobile terminal having hearing aid function, and earphone-based hearing aid system using the same | 11979512 | AlgorKorea Co Ltd (Seoul, KR) | 5/07/2024 |
| Multiple sound source encoding in hearing prostheses | 11979715 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/07/2024 |
| Hearing device with neural network-based microphone signal processing | 11979717 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/07/2024 |
| Contact hearing device and retention structure materials | 11979718 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/07/2024 |
| Objective determination of acoustic prescriptions | 11979719 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/07/2024 |
| Wearable device with directional audio | 11979721 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/07/2024 |
| Earphone | D1025957 | Zound Industries International AB (Stockholm, SE) | 5/07/2024 |
| Earphone | D1025958 | Harman International Industries Inc (Stamford, CT) | 5/07/2024 |
| Hearing aid determining listening effort | 11980477 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/14/2024 |
| Cochlear implant device with a flexible electrode array | 11980754 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/14/2024 |
| Systems and methods for intra-surgical monitoring of cochlear trauma during an electrode lead insertion procedure | 11980755 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/14/2024 |
| Methods and systems for determining position and orientation of a device using acoustic beacons | 11982738 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 5/14/2024 |
| Hearing sensitivity acquisition methods and devices | 11985467 | The Diablo Canyon Collective LLC | 5/14/2024 |
| Hearing device comprising a sound path component | 11985480 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 5/14/2024 |
| Hearing compensation device and hearing compensation method | 11985481 | Rehear Audiology Company Ltd (Taipei, TW) | 5/14/2024 |
| Neural network-driven feedback cancellation | 11985482 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/14/2024 |
| Method for operating a hearing aid, hearing aid and computer program product | 11985483 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 5/14/2024 |
| Implement to be worn on outer ear | 11985484 | ListeningAssist Corporation (Nagoya, JP) | 5/14/2024 |
| Method of fitting a hearing aid gain and a hearing aid fitting system | 11985485 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 5/14/2024 |
| Earphone with in-ear piece | D1026865 | Zound Industries International AB (Stockholm, SE) | 5/14/2024 |
| Ear clip | D1027184 | Socrates Health Solutions Inc (Dallas, TX) | 5/14/2024 |
| Ecole De Technologie Superieure (Montreal, CA) | 11986374 | Ecole De Technologie Superieure (Montreal, CA) | 5/21/2024 |
| Methods of making cochlear implant electrode arrays | 11986654 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/21/2024 |
| Noise reduction for implantable hearing prostheses | 11986655 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/21/2024 |
| Cochlear implants having MRI-compatible magnet apparatus and associated methods | 11986656 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/21/2024 |
| Display eyewear with auditory enhancement | 11990129 | Innovega Inc (Bellevue, WA) | 5/21/2024 |
| Audio system equalizing | 11990880 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 5/21/2024 |
| Method for operating a hearing aid and hearing aid | 11991498 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 5/21/2024 |
| Hearing aid system comprising a database of acoustic transfer functions | 11991499 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/21/2024 |
| Audio synchronization for hearing devices | 11991501 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/21/2024 |
| System and method for personalized hearing aid adjustment | 11991502 | Tuned Ltd (Gan Yos, IL) | 5/21/2024 |
| Hearing assistance device with multipurpose microphone | 11991503 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/21/2024 |
| System for capturing electrooculography signals | 11992324 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/28/2024 |
| Efficient wellness measurement in ear-wearable devices | 11992340 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/28/2024 |
| Compositions and methods for treating non-age-associated hearing impairment in a human subject | 11993777 | Akouos Inc (Boston, MA) | 5/28/2024 |
| Neural network chip for ear-worn device | 11995531 | Chromatic Inc (New York, NY) | 5/28/2024 |
| Real-time detection of feedback instability | 11996078 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 5/28/2024 |
| Hearing device and circuit board for a hearing device | 11996701 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 5/28/2024 |
| Method of operating an ear level audio system and an ear level audio system | 11996812 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 5/28/2024 |
| Open-ear headphone | 11997442 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 5/28/2024 |
| Device for charging electronic devices and in-ear headphones | 11997444 | Molonlave Group LLC (Long Island City, NY) | 5/28/2024 |
| Systems and methods for live conversation using hearing devices | 11997445 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (Suwon-si, KR) | 5/28/2024 |
| Method and apparatus for earpiece audio feedback channel to detect ear tip sealing | 11997447 | Dell Products LP (Round Rock, TX) | 5/28/2024 |
| Hearing device for providing physiological information, and method of its operation | 11997457 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/28/2024 |
| Contact hearing systems, apparatus and methods | 11997458 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/28/2024 |
| Spatial audio array processing system and method | 11997474 | Wave Sciences LLC (Charleston, SC) | 5/28/2024 |
| Earbud case | D1028947 | Nothing Technology Limited (London, GB) | 5/28/2024 |
| Personal hearing device
|
D1029271 | Relajet Tech (Taiwan) Co Ltd (Taipei, TW) | 5/28/2024 |
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.
