Ear Device Patents for July 2021

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Hearing Health & Technology Matters
August 26, 2021

New Ways of Thinking

With  OTCs on the near horizon, players of various types and motivations continue to enter the mild to moderate hearing loss landscape. That includes Georgia Tech, with a patent for a hearing aid platform which is

Cost effective, such that  low-income individuals in developing countries have access to these important technologies, is customizable based on the particular needs and personality of the individual, so the social stigma of wearing the device is at least partially removed. (rough paraphrase from patent 11070929).

Meanwhile, IBM is thinking outside of the ear on the opposite end of the hearing spectrum, considering a novel alternative to cochlear implants for severe to profound hearing loss.

Looking for a non-invasive approach to improve comfort and reduce risk and cost, IBM’s patent 11076246  proposes an eye-mounted hearing aid (see Figure). The rationale for using the eyeball is to feel rather than see sound:

The cornea of the eye is a highly sensitive area of the body. The cornea contains a high density of mechanoreceptors that can transmit signals to the brain when, for example, the receptors detect contact of a surface the eye or a change in the nature of contact with the surface of the eye.   

 

The July 2021 patent list

 

Description

Patent Number

Assignee

Issued

System and method for adjusting the volume of auditory stimulation during sleep based on sleep depth latencies

11052220

Koninklijke Philips NV (Eindhoven, NL)

7/06/2021

In-ear headphone device with active noise control

11057695

Tymphany Acoustic Technology (Huizhou) Co Ltd (Huizhou, CN)

7/06/2021

Method and device for in ear canal echo suppression

11057701

Staton Techiya LLC (Lighthouse Point, FL)

7/06/2021

Devices and methods for hearing

11057714

EarLens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA)

7/06/2021

Hearing device, a sound receiving arrangement, a set of parts and a hearing device system

11057719

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/06/2021

Remote microphone devices for auditory prostheses

11057720

Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)

7/06/2021

Own voice detection in hearing instrument devices

11057721

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/06/2021

Hearing aid for people having asymmetric hearing loss

11057722

Ear Tech LLC (Indianapolis, IN)

7/06/2021

Hearing aid antenna for high-frequency data communication

11057723

Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)

7/06/2021

Systems and methods for fitting a hearing device

11057724

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/06/2021

Communication device with position-dependent spatial source generation, communication system, and related method

11057729

GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)

7/06/2021

Ear inspection device and method of determining a condition of a subject’s ear

11058286

Helen of Troy Limited (St Michael, BB)

7/13/2021

Wearable customized ear canal apparatus

11058305

EarLens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA)

7/13/2021

Therapeutic agents for inner ear hearing impairment

11058669

Keio University (Tokyo, JP)

7/13/2021

Manufacturing an electrode array for a stimulating medical device

11058871

Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)

7/13/2021

Hearing device with communication logging and related method

11062012

GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)

7/13/2021

Communication device and methods for use by hearing impaired

11064070

Ultratec Inc (Madison, WI)

7/13/2021

Sound level control for hearing assistive devices

11064301

BITwave Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG)

7/13/2021

Method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using monaural audio signals

11064302

Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)

7/13/2021

Bellows vibration body and hearing aid comprising same

11064303

Kyungpook National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (Daegu, KR)

7/13/2021

Hearing aid adapted for embedded electronics

11064304

Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)

7/13/2021

Systems and methods for using a selectively configurable interface assembly to program a hearing device

11064305

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/13/2021

Reducing effect of magnetic and electromagnetic fields on an implant’s magnet and/or electronics

RE48647

MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT)

7/13/2021

Devices and methods for treating ear pain

11065199

Try This First Inc (Walnut Creek, CA)

7/20/2021

Hearing assistance device comprising an implantable part

11065440

Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK)

7/20/2021

Selecting a microphone based on estimated proximity to sound source

11068233

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/20/2021

Communication device and methods for use by hearing impaired

11070669

Ultratec Inc (Madison, WI)

7/20/2021

Contact hearing system with wearable communication apparatus

11070902

Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA)

7/20/2021

Method of operating a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system

11070922

Widex A/S (Lynge, DK)

7/20/2021

Method for directional signal processing for a hearing aid and hearing system

11070923

Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG)

7/20/2021

Method and apparatus for hearing improvement based on cochlear model

11070924

Goldenear Company Inc (Valencia, CA)

7/20/2021

Hearing device for receiving location information from wireless network

11070926

GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)

7/20/2021

Damping in contact hearing systems

11070927

Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA)

7/20/2021

Hearing device and a method for manufacturing thereof

11070928

Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)

7/20/2021

Low-cost hearing aid platforms and methods of use

11070929

Georgia Tech Research Corporation (Atlanta, GA)

7/20/2021

Wireless earbud with package box

D925494

Shenzhen Chuangshenyuan Technology Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN)

7/20/2021

Earbud

D925497

Amazon Technologies Inc (Seattle, WA)

7/20/2021

Advanced electrode array location evaluation

11071856

Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)

7/27/2021

Implantable device having removable portion

11071869

Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)

7/27/2021

Horn assembly and dual-listening bluetooth headset

11076218

Shenzhen Alex Technology Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN)

7/27/2021

Terminal with hearing aid setting, and setting method for hearing aid

11076243

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd (Suwon-si, KR)

7/27/2021

Hearing instrument having a digitally tunable antenna

11076244

GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)

7/27/2021

Ball and socket connection with an acoustic seal and mounting interface for a hearing assistance device

11076245

Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)

7/27/2021

Eye-mounted hearing aid

11076246

International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)

7/27/2021

Computer performance of executing binaural sound

11076255

Applicants: Lyren, Philip Scott (Bangkok, TH) & Norris, Glen A (Tokyo, JP)

7/27/2021

Converting ambisonic audio to binaural audio

11076257

EmbodyVR Inc (San Mateo, CA)

7/27/2021

Earbud

D926162

Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA)

7/27/2021

Earbud

D926163

Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA)

7/27/2021

Holly Hosford-Dunn, Hearing Health MattersHolly 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.

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