Contact hearing systems, apparatus and methods

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a hearing aid which includes a lateral ear canal assembly and a medial ear canal assembly. In embodiments of the invention the medial ear canal assembly may include smart circuitry adapted to control parameters and outputs of the medial ear canal assembly. In embodiments of the invention various methods and circuitry are described, wherein the methods and circuitry are adapted to improve the performance and efficiency of the hearing aid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of transmitting data from a lateral ear canal assembly to a medial ear canal assembly, the method comprising:
 modulating the data;   exciting a first coil on the lateral ear canal with the modulated data such that the coil generates a magnetic field;   receiving the generated magnetic field at the medial ear canal assembly and generating a received signal representative of the modulated signal; and   demodulating the received signal to generate a demodulated signal;   using the demodulated signal to generate a drive signal; and   using the drive signal to drive a microactuator positioned on the medial ear canal assembly.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the received signal comprises an electrical current which is induced in a coil by the magnetic field and wherein the coil is positioned on the medial ear canal assembly. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the received signal comprises an electrical voltage induced across at least one coil by the magnetic field and wherein the coil is positioned on the medial ear canal assembly. 
     
     
         4 . A method of transmitting data from a lateral ear canal assembly to a medial ear canal assembly, the method comprising:
 exciting a first coil on the lateral ear canal assembly to generate a magnetic field;   receiving at least a portion of the generated magnetic field at a second coil positioned on the medial ear canal assembly, wherein the received magnetic field induces a received signal in the second coil;   rectifying the output of the second coil; and   transmitting at least a portion of the rectified output to a load positioned on the medial ear canal assembly.   
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein the load comprises a vibratory element adapted to vibrate in response to the rectified output. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 5 , wherein the load comprises a balanced armature transducer. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the received signal comprises a voltage induced across the second coil. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the received signal comprises a current induced in the second coil. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 6  wherein the first coil is excited with a signal having a push/pull format. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 9  wherein the first coils is excited with a signal having a zero crossing. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the first coil generates magnetic flux and the first coil is coupled to the second coil by the magnetic flux. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the received signal comprises a data portion. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein the received signal further comprises an energy portion. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein at least a portion of the energy in the received signal is used to charge an energy storage device. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein at least a portion of the received signal provides data to the medial ear canal assembly. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the medium between the lateral ear canal assembly and the medial ear canal assembly comprises air. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the medium between the lateral ear canal assembly and the medial ear canal assembly comprises air in the ear canal of a user. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the magnetic field travels between the first and second coil through air. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 18  wherein the air between the first and second coil comprises air in the ear canal of the user. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the medial ear canal assembly is optically visible from the lateral ear canal assembly. 
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 4  wherein the only material between the medial ear canal assembly and the lateral ear canal assembly is air in the ear canal of a user. 
     
     
         22 . A method of transmitting data and power from a lateral ear canal assembly to a medial ear canal assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
 encoding the data to be transmitted into a signal;   driving a first coil positioned on the lateral ear canal assembly using encoded data;   driving a second coil positioned on the medial ear canal assembly by inductively coupling the first coil to the second coil.