A hearing device may provide hearing-to-touch sensory substitution as a therapeutic approach to deafness. Through use of signal processing on received signals, the hearing device may provide better accuracy with the hearing-to-touch sensory substitution by extending beyond the simple filtering of an incoming audio stream as found in previous tactile hearing aids. The signal processing may include low bitrate audio compression algorithms, such as linear predictive coding, mathematical transforms, such as Fourier transforms, and/or wavelet algorithms. The processed signals may activate tactile interface devices that provide touch sensation to a user. For example, the tactile interface devices may be vibrating devices attached to a vest, which is worn by the user. The vest may also provide other types of information to the user.

A hearing prosthesis, comprising: a microphone; a sound processor; an external transmitter unit including a coil; an internal receiver unit including a coil; a stimulator unit, wherein the stimulator unit includes a control circuit, a voltage measurement component, a resistor and a signal generator, wherein the measurement circuit is configured to output a signal indicative of the voltage across the resistor; and a stimulating lead assembly array, wherein at least a portion of the hearing prosthesis is configured to apply an electrical signal to tissue inside a cochlea of a recipient, and at least a portion of the hearing prosthesis is configured to sense an electrical property inside of the cochlea that results from the applied electrical signal and the interaction of the applied electrical signal to the tissue.

An artificial vestibular organ system includes an artificial semicircular canal; a liquid filled in the artificial semicircular canal; artificial hair for sensing movement of liquid in the artificial semicircular canal; a signal conversion unit for converting an electrical or magnetic signal generated from the artificial hair into a body stimulation signal; a body stimulation pulse generation unit for transmitting the body stimulation pulse converted by the signal conversion unit to the ampulla; and a power unit. The artificial hair can be constituted in a pressure sensing manner or in a speed sensing manner for sensing the flow rate. The pressure sensing type can be formed of flex sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, or an FSR sensor, and the velocity sensing type can include rotary wings rotated according to the flow of the liquid or a speed measuring instrument for measuring the rotating speed of the rotary wings.

An implanted microphone is provided that allows for isolating an acoustic response of the microphone from vibration induced acceleration responses of the microphone. The present invention measures the relative motion between a microphone diaphragm, which is responsive to pressure variations in overlying media caused by acoustic forces and acceleration forces, and a cancellation element that is compliantly mounted within a housing of the microphone, which moves primarily in response to acceleration forces. When the microphone and cancellation element move substantially in unison to acceleration forces, relative movement between these elements corresponds to the acoustic response of the microphone diaphragm. This relative movement may be directly measured using various optical measuring systems.

Presented herein are techniques that make use of objective measurements, such as acoustically-evoked inner ear responses, in the fitting process to determine the acoustic prescription (gain functions) that are used by an electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis to translate received sound signals into output acoustic simulation levels. More specifically, a plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses are obtained from an inner ear of a recipient of an electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis. One or more input/output functions for at least one region of the inner ear are determined based on the plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses and the one or more input/output functions are, in turn, used to determine one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis.

An implantable device includes an exterior gold surface and a thin film disposed on the exterior gold surface and forming a barrier between the exterior gold surface and an implanted environment, in which the thin film includes molecules with a head portion, the head portion attached to the exterior gold surface.

An implantable device includes an exterior gold surface and a thin film disposed on the exterior gold surface and forming a barrier between the exterior gold surface and an implanted environment, in which the thin film includes molecules with a head portion, the head portion attached to the exterior gold surface.

An implantable device includes an exterior gold surface and a thin film disposed on the exterior gold surface and forming a barrier between the exterior gold surface and an implanted environment, in which the thin film includes molecules with a head portion, the head portion attached to the exterior gold surface.

An implantable device includes an exterior gold surface and a thin film disposed on the exterior gold surface and forming a barrier between the exterior gold surface and an implanted environment, in which the thin film includes molecules with a head portion, the head portion attached to the exterior gold surface.

A system for indicating a direction to a user is disclosed. The system may include a first unit and a second unit to be worn proximate to a first ear and a second ear of the user respectively. The system may indicate a direction to the user through tactile sensations delivered proximate to the ears of the user by the first and second units. The system may also include microphones to aid in determining the direction of a source of a sound and the system may indicate the determined direction, thereby allowing the user to localize the sound. The system may also function as hearing aids. The system may aid individuals with hearing disabilities by alerting them to the direction of the source of a sound.