Disclosed examples include technology to use residual vestibular function or residual vestibular nerve function of a recipient to provide low frequency information to enhance auditory percepts caused by auditory prostheses. An example can include adding a low frequency actuator to a cochlear implant for placement close to the vestibule of the ear. In addition or instead, one or more electrodes can be disposed proximate the vestibule of the ear to electrically stimulate residual vestibular function provided by, for example, the utricle and saccule. The stimulation provided by these components can be optimized for delivery to the vestibular system.

An illustrative cochlear implant system includes an electrode lead having an array of electrodes, a cochlear implant coupled with the electrode lead and configured to be implanted within a recipient together with the electrode lead, and a processing unit communicatively coupled to the cochlear implant. The processing unit is configured to direct the cochlear implant to apply stimulation to the recipient by way of the array of electrodes. The processing unit is further configured to detect, by way of one or more electrodes included in the array of electrodes, a cortical potential produced by the recipient. Based on the detected cortical potential, the processing unit is configured to determine a fitting parameter associated with the cochlear implant system. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

A computer system for intra-ear sensing and stimulating receives, health data, from an earbud sensor. The system repeatedly calculates an exponential moving average (EMA) of a moving window for the received health data. The system compares each calculated exponential moving average with a lower threshold value and an upper threshold value. The upper threshold value and the lower threshold value are determined based, at least in part, upon a saturation level associated within an amplifier performing the adaptive gain control. When the calculated exponential moving average is larger than the upper threshold, the system decreases a gain associated with the amplifier. When the calculated exponential moving average is smaller than the lower threshold, the system increases a gain associated with the amplifier.

A dichotic pulsatile and analog stimulation system, comprises a first cochlear implant device implanted in one ear of a patient; and a second cochlear implant device implanted in another ear of the patient; wherein the first cochlear implant device comprises a first speech processor configured to provide single channel analog stimulation to a first electrode array mounted to a cochlea of the one ear and the second cochlear implant device comprises a second speech processor configured to provide interleaved pulse stimulation to a second electrode array mounted to a cochlea of the other ear.

A method, including obtaining information indicative of a phenomenon sensed at a read electrode of a cochlear implant electrode array relative to a reference and/or at a read electrode remote from the electrode array relative to a reference, where one of the electrodes of the cochlear implant electrode array was energized executing a first analysis of the information to identify one or more first meanings from among a first group of meanings of the sensed phenomenon, conditioning the obtained information based on the identified one or more first meanings, and executing a second analysis of the conditioned information to identify one or more second meanings from among a second group of meanings of the sensed phenomenon.

Presented herein are techniques that use acoustic scene (environmental) analysis to determine the sound class of sound signals received at a hearing prosthesis and, accordingly, assess the estimated listening difficulty that the acoustic environment presents to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis. This difficulty of the recipient's listening situation can be used to adjust, adapt, or otherwise set the resolution of the electrical stimulation signals delivered to the recipient to evoke perception of the sound signals. In other words, the resolution of the electrical stimulation signals is dynamically adapted based on the present acoustic environment of the hearing prosthesis.

Presented herein are techniques for enhancing a hearing prosthesis recipient's perception of multiple frequencies present in received sound signals. The hearing prosthesis is configured to extract a plurality of frequencies from the received sound signals and to use the plurality of frequencies to modulate the amplitudes of different stimulation pulse sequences that are to be delivered to the recipient via different stimulation channels. The hearing prosthesis may also adapt a stimulation resolution of the stimulation pulse sequences when delivering the modulated stimulation pulses sequences to the recipient.

An alert system detects when an auditory prosthesis recipient is wearing her sound processor. When the processor is not worn, the alert system signals a secondary device, such as an accessory, to provide some other form of tactile stimulation to allow the recipient to be made aware of certain auditory stimuli she is not receiving via the auditory prosthesis. Thus, the alert system can effectively “hear” for the recipient. Since many auditory prosthesis recipients are, for all practical purposes, completely deaf without their external sound processors attached and operational, such an alert system increases the recipient's safety, convenience, and quality of life.

A cochlear implant including a cochlear lead, an antenna, a stimulation processor, and a magnet apparatus, associated with the antenna, including a case defining a central axis, a magnet frame within the case and rotatable about the central axis of the case, and a plurality of elongate diametrically magnetized magnets that are located in the magnet frame, the magnets defining a longitudinal axis and a N-S direction and being freely rotatable about the longitudinal axis relative to the magnet frame.

A tip member for inserting into the cochlea, a device comprising: an elongate member including at least one electrode mounted thereon; and a tip member extending distally from a distal end of the elongate member, the tip member comprising a tapered portion tapering distally and a blunt end portion at a distal end of the tapered portion, wherein the tip member is resiliently flexible, and a method for making such a device.