Embodiments herein relate to ear-wearable device that can be used to detect conditions associated with the ears and related methods. In an embodiment, an ear-wearable device is included having a control circuit, a microphone, an electroacoustic transducer for generating sound in electrical communication with the control circuit, a motion sensor, and a power supply circuit, wherein the ear-wearable device is configured to provide auditory stimulation across a range of frequencies with the electroacoustic transducer, detect vibrations within or about the ear with the microphone, and identify a resonant vibrational frequency based on detected vibrations. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods to detect a wide range of eardrum abnormalities by using high-resolution otoscope images of both a left eardrum and a right eardrum of a subject and report the condition of each of the eardrums as “normal” or “abnormal.”

Presented herein are techniques for monitoring the insertion of an intra-cochlear stimulating assembly for the occurrence of one or more insertion stop conditions. The insertion stop conditions are detectable events indicating that movement of the stimulating assembly into a recipient's cochlea should be at least temporarily stopped. The insertion monitoring is based on objectively measured inner ear potentials, such as acoustically-evoked potentials.

Occlusion devices, earpiece devices and methods of occluding an ear canal are provided. An occlusion device includes an insertion element, a foldable element and an expandable element. The foldable element is disposed on the insertion element and is configured to receive a medium via the insertion element. The expandable element is disposed over the foldable element. The foldable element is configured to unfold, responsive to the medium, and cause the expandable element to expand to contact the ear canal.

A diagnostic system for recording auditory steady-state responses of a person comprises a) a stimulation unit for providing an acoustic stimulus signal to an ear of the person, and b) a recording unit for recording the auditory steady-state responses of the person origination from said acoustic stimulus signal, wherein the stimulation unit is configured to provide that the acoustic stimulus signal comprises a speech-like stimulus provided as a combination of a series of individual frequency-specific stimuli, each having a specified, e.g. predetermined, frequency bandwidth, presentation rate, amplitude and amplitude-modulation. The application further relates to a combined system comprising a diagnostic system and a hearing aid. The invention may e.g. be used for diagnostic instruments for verifying the fitting of a hearing aid.

Occlusion devices, earpiece devices and methods of occluding an ear canal are provided. An occlusion device includes an insertion element, a foldable element and an expandable element. The foldable element is disposed on the insertion element and is configured to receive a medium via the insertion element. The expandable element is disposed over the foldable element. The foldable element is configured to unfold, responsive to the medium, and cause the expandable element to expand to contact the ear canal.

An illustrative system includes a behind-the-ear (BTE) sound processor configured to be worn by a patient behind an ear of the patient. The BTE sound processor is configured to direct a cochlear implant implanted within the patient to apply electrical stimulation to the patient. The system further includes a conductive contact configured to detect a signal representative of an evoked response generated by a brain of the patient. The conductive contact is integrated with the BTE sound processor so as to be located between the BTE sound processor and an external surface of a head of the patient while the BTE sound processor is worn by the patient behind the ear of the patient. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

A diagnostic system may determine a minimum evoked response amplitude and a maximum evoked response amplitude for a recipient of a cochlear implant and determine a mapping between a plurality of audible pitches and a plurality of evoked response amplitudes included in a range defined by the minimum and maximum evoked response amplitudes. The diagnostic system may monitor, during an insertion procedure in which an electrode lead communicatively coupled to the cochlear implant is inserted into a cochlea of the recipient, an evoked response signal recorded during the insertion procedure by an electrode disposed on the electrode lead. As the evoked response signal is being monitored, the diagnostic system may detect an amplitude change in the evoked response signal and present, based on the mapping, acoustic feedback that audibly indicates the amplitude change.

Introduced here are systems and methods to enable recording artists and engineers to specify exactly how the audio track should be played as well as perceived by the user in the case where the frequency transfer functions of the sound playback system and/or listening mechanisms (user's own hearing) can be measured and compensated for. For example, the acoustic environment during recording and mastering can be measured, and the measurements can be recorded in an inaudible portion of an audio track. The acoustic environment can include speaker frequency, distortion, reverberation, channel separation, room acoustics, etc. In addition, a hearing profile of the audio creator, such as the recording artist, sound engineer, mastering person, etc., can be included within the inaudible data. Further, the acoustic environment and/or the hearing profile of the audio consumer can also be used to modify the audio prior to reproducing the audio to the audio consumer.

Embodiments generally relate to a method of determining a hearing threshold value for a subject. The method comprises receiving at least one first response signal relating to an aural stimulation experienced by the subject at a first intensity level; receiving at least one second response signal relating to an aural stimulation experienced by the subject at a second intensity level, wherein the second intensity level is below an expected hearing threshold for the subject; calculating at least one first value relating to the at least one first response signal; calculating a second value relating to the at least one second response signal; plotting the at least one first value against the first intensity level on a plot; calculating a regression curve that fits the plot; and determine the hearing threshold of the subject to be the intensity level that corresponds to the second value along the regression curve.