US Ear Device Patents for October 2019
Behold, The Pinna Pinnas are visible and cute (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty and feature image). Historically, pinnas offered a popular form of corporal punishment and a quick sketch of evil-doers in 19th century German literature (“What big ears you have, Grandma”). And that’s about it.1 Audiologists tend to view the ear inside-out, focusing on…
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US Ear Device Patents for September 2019
Ears Gone Wild With the proliferation of voice assistants talking to an even greater proliferation of IoT devices, not to mention everybody talking at once, it’s a jungle out there. Orion Labs, among others, considers the advantages of facilitated linking of user devices to other communication devices so wearers can figure out what’s up…
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Economics of Technology-Innovative Hearing Screeners for Adults
by Amyn M Amlani, PhD The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 432 million adults, globally, exhibit “disabled” impaired hearing, where disabled is defined as audiometric thresholds greater than 40 dB in the better ear. An additional estimated 1.1 billion listeners worldwide—ranging in age between 12 and 35 years—are at-risk of demonstrating impaired hearing because…
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US ear device patents in July 2019
Got Ear? The pinna, concha and external meatus are wonderful things for hands-free carry, fitness, entertainment and environment awareness. The cochlea is a wonderous thing for hearing, no matter how you get to it. In distal order of anatomy: Pinna as carrying case: consider patent #10382851 for an “Ear-wearable wireless communication flashlight,” when hearing…
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Ear Device Patents in June 2019
This month’s patent crop once again drives home the impression that hearing aids are only one version of innovative tinkering around the ear. Consider GN Hearing’s interesting patent #10327071, intriguingly entitled “Head-wearable hearing device.” Consider that title: where else but the head would a hearing device go? And why device instead of hearing aid? …
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