A tympanic membrane prosthesis includes a tubular body having a lumen extending therethrough and open at each of a proximal and distal end. The tubular body forms a structurally self-supporting, body compatible, and body absorbable device. The device is formed of a composite structure that includes an inner portion having an inside surface and an outer portion having an outside surface. The inside surface forms at least a portion of the lumen extending through the tubular body. The inside surface is adapted to provide less resistance to fluid flow than the outside surface. The outside surface is adapted to produce an inflammatory reaction in adjacent tissue at a tympanic membrane. The device is adapted for insertion into an opening through the tympanic membrane for placement with the proximal end and the distal end disposed on opposite sides of the tympanic membrane.

The present invention relates to the preparation of a membrane for use in the repair of the middle ear including perforations and damage to the tympanic membrane. More particularly, the invention provides for compositions and methods for preparing silk fibroin biocompatible polyurethane membranes using a solvent, which have improved biodegradation, mechanical and vibroacoustic properties.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a collagen membrane that has particular mechanical properties. In particular, the present invention relates to a method A of producing a collagen membrane comprising the steps of (i) isolating a collagen-containing tissue and incubating same in an ethanol solution; (ii) incubating the collagen-containing tissue from step (i) in a first solution comprising an inorganic salt and an anionic surfactant in order to denature non-collagenous proteins contained therein; (iii) incubating the collagen-containing tissue produced in step (ii) in a second solution comprising an inorganic acid until the collagen in said material is denatured; and (iv) incubating the collagen-containing tissue produced in step (iii) in a third solution comprising an inorganic acid with simultaneous mechanical stimulation for sufficient time to enable the collagen bundles in said collagen-containing tissue to align; wherein the mechanical stimulation comprises applying tension cyclically to the collagen-containing tissue.

Implantable devices, such as artificial organs, increasingly incorporate hardware, software, firmware, and/or wireless communication capabilities. For example, such implantable devices can utilize wireless technology to allow for efficient configuration, maintenance, and operational analysis. As these implantable devices become more connected, electronic security will become more important. This disclosure relates to implantable devices that may utilize a secure boot process and secure communication, both between artificial devices in the human body and between these devices and the external world. This disclosure provides secure communication approaches for maintaining the digital privacy and integrity of artificial devices, for protecting the individual from malicious hacking of data, and for controlling of such implantable devices.

An improved implantable auditory stimulation system includes two or more implanted microphones for transcutaneous detection of acoustic signals. Each of the implanted microphones provides an output signal. The microphone output signals may be combinatively utilized by an implanted processor to generate a signal for driving an implanted auditory stimulation device. The implanted microphones may be located at offset subcutaneous locations and/or may be provided with different design sensitivities, wherein combinative processing of the microphone output signals may yield an improved drive signal. In one embodiment, the microphone signal may be processed for beamforming and/or directionality purposes.

Ear implants for auricular tissue reconstruction in a patient are provided. The ear implant may be a tissue scaffold multicomponent assembly for reconstruction of auricular tissue. Thus, the assembly may include both a first and a second tissue scaffold component. Each comprises a biocompatible polymeric material having a plurality of open pores configured to support cell growth. The first tissue scaffold component defines a central void region and at least a portion of an outer ear framework of the patient after implantation. The second tissue scaffold component defines a base portion. After implantation into the patient, the second tissue scaffold component seats within the central void region of the first tissue scaffold component, so that the second tissue scaffold component is secured to the first tissue scaffold component. Methods for reconstructing auricular tissue in a patient using such ear implant tissue scaffolds are also provided.

A bionic cochlea includes a fluid filled vessel having a window disposed in one of its walls and a flexible fluid filled tube in fluid communication at one end with the vessel through the window. The other end of the tube has a diaphragm in communication with the ossicles of a mammalian ear. The diaphragm flexes when exposed to an acoustic pulse to produce an acoustic pressure pulse in the fluid inside the tube and vessel. A plurality of piezoelectric nanowires is disposed within the fluid filled vessel. The nanowires vibrate in response to at least one predetermined wavelength in the acoustic pressure pulse transmitting through the fluid and produce electrical signals. Electrical wires in communication with the nanowires receive the electrical signals and pass these signals to the mammalian auditory nerve.

A middle ear implant system includes a bone conduction transducer configured for fixed attachment to skull bone of a patient beneath the skin behind the ear, and for generating sound vibrations from an external communications signal received through the skin for coupling to the skull bone for bone conduction sound perception by the patient. A malleable ossicle connector is connected to the bone conduction transducer and a middle ear hearing structure of the patient. And one or more isolation springs are configured for placement at the fixed attachment of the bone conduction transducer to the skull bone to acoustically decouple the bone conduction transducer from the skull bone to avoid bone conduction sound perception so that sound perception from the external communications signal is solely via the middle ear sound perception from vibrations coupled to the middle ear hearing structure by the ossicle connector.

An apparatus includes an enclosure containing a hermetically sealed region, the enclosure configured to be implanted on or within a recipient. The apparatus further includes circuitry within the hermetically sealed region and configured to generate signals. The apparatus further includes at least one heating element configured to receive the signals and to generate heat in response to the signals. The apparatus further includes at least one flow control element outside the hermetically sealed region and configured to respond to the heat by controlling a flow of liquid through at least one cannula to controllably administer the liquid internally to the recipient.

A passive ossicular prosthesis has a sound-conducting prosthesis body with a first coupling element for mechanical connection to the incus, malleus, or an actuator end piece of an active hearing aid at one end. The bight is made of a strip-shaped metallic material, partially open toward the outside via a gap-type opening and is intraoperatively crimped in the middle ear for permanent attachment. There is a second coupling element at the other end of the prosthesis body for connection to a further component of the ossicular chain or directly to the inner ear. The bight includes elongated perforations with longitudinal axes extending, in the implanted state, along a curved trajectory at a right angle or slant relative to an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis (a) of the enclosed object to reduce spring action and stiffness and markedly reduce the force to be applied for the crimping.