An otoscope and method for visualizing compliance of the tympanic membrane in response to a pressure stimulus. The otoscope includes a handle, a housing, a laser assembly configured to selectively project a grid array of dots on a tympanic membrane of a patient, a camera configured to selectively capture activity of the tympanic membrane, a pressure transducer configured to selectively apply a stimulus to the tympanic membrane, a display pivotably coupled to the handle, and a controller. The display is configured to display the tympanic membrane in true color and a two-dimensional interpolated surface plot representing activity of the tympanic membrane in response to the stimulus.

One embodiment is directed to a system comprising a head-mounted member removably coupleable to the user's head; one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters coupled to the head-mounted member and configured to emit light with at least two different wavelengths toward at least one of the eyes of the user; one or more electromagnetic radiation detectors coupled to the head-mounted member and configured to receive light reflected after encountering at least one blood vessel of the eye; and a controller operatively coupled to the one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters and detectors and configured to cause the one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters to emit pulses of light while also causing the one or more electromagnetic radiation detectors to detect levels of light absorption related to the emitted pulses of light, and to produce an output that is proportional to an oxygen saturation level in the blood vessel.

One embodiment is directed to a system comprising a head-mounted member removably coupleable to the user's head; one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters coupled to the head-mounted member and configured to emit light with at least two different wavelengths toward at least one of the eyes of the user; one or more electromagnetic radiation detectors coupled to the head-mounted member and configured to receive light reflected after encountering at least one blood vessel of the eye; and a controller operatively coupled to the one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters and detectors and configured to cause the one or more electromagnetic radiation emitters to emit pulses of light while also causing the one or more electromagnetic radiation detectors to detect levels of light absorption related to the emitted pulses of light, and to produce an output that is proportional to an oxygen saturation level in the blood vessel.

A system and method for automatically and dynamically controlling the output (e.g., volume) of an audio headphone device is disclosed, which includes detecting the invocation of the acoustic reflex with an audio headphone device. The disclosed system can measure the response of the tympanic membrane and middle ear to various SPL and frequencies. That information may be used for automated or customized warning or limiting levels either within the headphone, or at the audio playback device.

A system, device, and wireless computer technology-implemented method for providing hearing healthcare education and communication for a patient, his/her communication partner, and a hearing care provider. The system provides the patient at least one educational and experiential module and a method for assessing the patient's comprehension of the module's lessons. The system further provides the patient with a method to select personal hearing aid and communication goals; a method to evaluate his/her progress on achieving each personal goal; and a method to report his/her hearing experiences. The system further provides a method to compare data reported by the patient to personalized thresholds. When one or more of the patient's reports do not meet the thresholds, the system sends automated alerts to the hearing care provider to encourage prompt remedial action and sends automated reminders to the patient to improve the patient's ability to achieve his/her personal goals.

An audio system for user hearing assessment includes one or more audio capture devices, and processing circuitry. The one or more audio capture devices are configured to capture audio of a conversation of a user and convert the audio to audio signals. The processing circuitry is configured to use the audio signals to identify multiple conditions associated with user hearing difficulty. The conditions include any of words, phrases, frequencies, or phonemes, and environmental audio conditions that are followed by an indication of user hearing difficulty. The processing circuitry is configured to generate a hearing profile for the user based on the identified conditions associated with user hearing difficulty. The processing circuitry is configured to adjust an operation of an audio output device using the hearing profile to reduce a frequency of user hearing difficulty if the user requires audio enhancement.

A device for determining the frequency of a dominant tone of a tinnitus perceived by a patient. A tone generator plays tones, an input unit receives patient evaluations, and a controller carries out a similarity measurement and a comparison of pairs of tones. The controller controls the tone generator for the similarity measurement to generate successive tones, and, after playing a respective tone, receive patient's evaluation regarding the similarity of the tone to the dominant tone of the tinnitus. The controller also controls the tone generator for the comparison of pairs of tones to play successive pairs of tones, and, after playing a respective pair, receives the patient's evaluation as to which tone of the pair is more similar to the at least one dominant tone of the tinnitus. Using the results, the frequency most similar to the frequency of the dominant tone of the tinnitus can be determined.

Disclosed herein are of systems, methods, and computer-program products for determining if a response is an electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP), refining raw data of an eCAP amplitude growth function (AGF) and utilizing maximum (i.e., steepest) slope from moving linear regression to effectively estimate cochlear nerve function, and determining quality of an electrode-neuron interface (ENI) using a model developed from eCAP attributes.

Techniques are provided for mobile platform based detection and prevention (or mitigation) of hearing loss. An example system may include a hearing loss indicator data generation circuit configured to measure hearing loss indicator data associated with use of the device by a user. The hearing loss indicator data may include ambient sound characteristics, user speech volume level and user volume setting of the device. The system may also include an audio context generation circuit configured to estimate context data associated with use of the device. The context data may be based on classification of audio input to the device and on the location of the device. The system may further include an interface circuit configured to collect the hearing loss indicator data and the context data over a selected time period and provide the collected data to a hearing loss analysis system at periodic intervals.

An expert diagnosis system integrated in a hearing prosthesis system is configured to diagnosis, grade, and remediate inner ear crises. In particular, the expert diagnosis system analyzes combinations of in-situ measured inner ear potentials, obtained in response to electrical and/or acoustic stimulation, in order to identify crisis signatures and to correlate those crisis signatures to clinical symptoms of a specific type and cause of an inner ear crises (i.e., automatically diagnosis the inner ear crisis). The expert system is further configured to grade the severity of the identified clinical symptoms and initiate some form of remedial action to address the identified inner ear crisis.