Patents by Inventor Bradford BACKUS

Bradford BACKUS has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11931575
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a cochlear implant system, and more particularly, the disclosure relates to a processor unit which includes a switching mean configured to switch between using a fixed stimulation frame onset or a variable stimulation frame onset for frame coding a plurality of stimulation pulses into a one or more stimulation frames.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Marianna Vatti, Kai Dang, Pierre Stahl, Manuel Segovia Martinez, Dan Gnansia, Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20240082599
    Abstract: A cochlear implant hearing aid system is disclosed. The cochlear implant hearing aid system comprises an external part. The external part includes a sound pickup unit configured to pick up sound from the environment and a sound processing unit configured to process said sound. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises an implant part. The implant part includes an implant processing unit and a plurality of cochlea stimulation electrodes for stimulation of a cochlea of a user. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit a near-infrared wave. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared receiver configured to receive said near-infrared wave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Søren Kamaric RIIS, Thomas LUNNER, Dorothea WENDT, Bradford BACKUS
  • Patent number: 11872408
    Abstract: A cochlear implant hearing aid system is disclosed. The cochlear implant hearing aid system comprises an external part. The external part includes a sound pickup unit configured to pick up sound from the environment and a sound processing unit configured to process said sound. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises an implant part. The implant part includes an implant processing unit and a plurality of cochlea stimulation electrodes for stimulation of a cochlea of a user. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit a near-infrared wave. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared receiver configured to receive said near-infrared wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Thomas Lunner, Dorothea Wendt, Bradford Backus
  • Patent number: 11606648
    Abstract: An implantable hearing aid system is disclosed. According to one or more of the mentioned aspects, the implantable hearing aid system comprises a charger unit which includes a coil unit having a first resonance frequency, a hearing aid and an implantable component. The hearing aid includes a rechargeable battery, an inductive coil arrangement having a second resonance frequency configured to form an inductive charging link with the coil unit to receive power signals from the charger unit. The implantable component includes an implantable coil, wherein the inductive coil arrangement may further be configured to form a transcutaneous link with the implantable coil to transmit at least one of data and power to the implantable component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Bradford Backus, Régis Pierquin
  • Patent number: 11589170
    Abstract: An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a method and a hearing aid system comprising; a microphone unit configured to receive an acoustical input and provide an audio signal based on the acoustical input, and wherein the audio signal includes a sound pressure level; a storing unit including a normal hearing loudness model, a loudness scheme, a stimulation model and a coding parameter model; a sound output unit configured to stimulate auditory nerve fibers of a recipient of the hearing aid system based on audible stimulations; a processing unit configured to; extract a normal hearing loudness based on the sound pressure level and the normal hearing loudness model, and the normal hearing loudness model includes a plurality of normal hearing loudness as a function of a plurality of sound pressure levels; transform the normal hearing loudness to a secondary hearing loudness according to a loudness scheme; determine a stimulation level within a dynamic range of a recipient of the hearing aid system based on the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/S
    Inventors: Bradford Backus, Pierre Stahl
  • Patent number: 11546700
    Abstract: The aspect of the disclosure is achieved by a cochlear implant system which comprises a microphone unit configured to receive an acoustical signal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal and an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes. Furthermore, the system comprises a processor unit including a filter bank which includes multiple bandpass channels configured to divide the audio signal into multiple bandpass audio signals. Each of the multiple bandpass channel may be confined to an electrode of the plurality of electrodes. Furthermore, the system may comprise a first temporal feature extractor configured to determine a primary group of temporal features of a bandpass audio signal of the multiple bandpass audio signals, and a second temporal feature extractor configured to window filter the bandpass audio signal and determine a secondary group of temporal features of the window filtered bandpass audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/S
    Inventors: Behnam Molaee, Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20220095059
    Abstract: An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a method and a hearing aid system comprising; a microphone unit configured to receive an acoustical input and provide an audio signal based on the acoustical input, and wherein the audio signal includes a sound pressure level; a storing unit including a normal hearing loudness model, a loudness scheme, a stimulation model and a coding parameter model; a sound output unit configured to stimulate auditory nerve fibers of a recipient of the hearing aid system based on audible stimulations; a processing unit configured to; extract a normal hearing loudness based on the sound pressure level and the normal hearing loudness model, and the normal hearing loudness model includes a plurality of normal hearing loudness as a function of a plurality of sound pressure levels; transform the normal hearing loudness to a secondary hearing loudness according to a loudness scheme; determine a stimulation level within a dynamic range of a recipient of the hearing aid system based on the
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2021
    Publication date: March 24, 2022
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Bradford BACKUS, Pierre STAHL
  • Publication number: 20220054836
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a cochlear implant system, and more particularly, the disclosure relates to a processor unit which includes a switching mean configured to switch between using a fixed stimulation frame onset or a variable stimulation frame onset for frame coding a plurality of stimulation pulses into a one or more stimulation frames.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Marianna VATTI, Kai DANG, Pierre STAHL, Manuel SEGOVIA MARTINEZ, Dan GNANSIA, Bradford BACKUS
  • Publication number: 20220053273
    Abstract: The aspect of the disclosure is achieved by a cochlear implant system which comprises a microphone unit configured to receive an acoustical signal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal and an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes. Furthermore, the system comprises a processor unit including a filter bank which includes multiple bandpass channels configured to divide the audio signal into multiple bandpass audio signals. Each of the multiple bandpass channel may be confined to an electrode of the plurality of electrodes. Furthermore, the system may comprise a first temporal feature extractor configured to determine a primary group of temporal features of a bandpass audio signal of the multiple bandpass audio signals, and a second temporal feature extractor configured to window filter the bandpass audio signal and determine a secondary group of temporal features of the window filtered bandpass audio signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2021
    Publication date: February 17, 2022
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Behnam MOLAEE, Bradford BACKUS
  • Patent number: 11224745
    Abstract: A cochlear implant device is disclosed, comprising an inductive antenna, a stimulation unit, an electrode array, and an energy harvesting apparatus. The inductive antenna is configured to receive energy to operate the cochlear implant and to receive signals for a stimulation of a cochlea via an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes. The stimulation unit is configured to process the signals received by the inductive antenna to be usable for the electrodes of the electrode array. The electrode array is configured to apply the signals processed by the stimulation unit to the cochlea for the stimulation thereof. The energy harvesting apparatus is connected to the stimulation unit or to the electrode array, and is configured to harvest energy based on at least one of thermal, biochemical, biophysical, and mechanical processes/phenomena pertaining to the cochlea, and is configured to provide harvested energy to the stimulation unit or the electrode array, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/S
    Inventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Guillaume Tourrel, Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20210243532
    Abstract: An implantable hearing aid system is disclosed. According to one or more of the mentioned aspects, the implantable hearing aid system comprises a charger unit which includes a coil unit having a first resonance frequency, a hearing aid and an implantable component. The hearing aid includes a rechargeable battery, an inductive coil arrangement having a second resonance frequency configured to form an inductive charging link with the coil unit to receive power signals from the charger unit. The implantable component includes an implantable coil, wherein the inductive coil arrangement may further be configured to form a transcutaneous link with the implantable coil to transmit at least one of data and power to the implantable component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Bradford BACKUS, Régis Pierquin
  • Patent number: 10974048
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a cochlear implant system is disclosed. The system includes an input unit, a filterbank, a processing unit and an implant. The input unit is configured to provide a first electrical signal from a first sound source and a second electrical signal from a second sound source. The filterbank is configured to filter the first electrical signal into a plurality of first band limited signals and the second electrical signal into a plurality of second band limited signals. The processing unit is configured to generate a primary pulse pattern based on a first band selected from the plurality of first band limited signals and to generate a secondary pulse pattern based on a second band selected from the plurality of second band limited signals, the first band and the second band being defined by same or substantially overlapping frequency ranges and the implant is configured to receive the primary pulse pattern and the secondary pulse pattern from the processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventor: Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20200121920
    Abstract: A cochlear implant device is disclosed, comprising an inductive antenna, a stimulation unit, an electrode array, and an energy harvesting apparatus. The inductive antenna is configured to receive energy to operate the cochlear implant and to receive signals for a stimulation of a cochlea via an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes. The stimulation unit is configured to process the signals received by the inductive antenna to be usable for the electrodes of the electrode array. The electrode array is configured to apply the signals processed by the stimulation unit to the cochlea for the stimulation thereof. The energy harvesting apparatus is connected to the stimulation unit or to the electrode array, and is configured to harvest energy based on at least one of thermal, biochemical, biophysical, and mechanical processes/phenomena pertaining to the cochlea, and is configured to provide harvested energy to the stimulation unit or the electrode array, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Publication date: April 23, 2020
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Guillaume Tourrel, Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20190321655
    Abstract: A cochlear implant hearing aid system is disclosed. The cochlear implant hearing aid system comprises an external part. The external part includes a sound pickup unit configured to pick up sound from the environment and a sound processing unit configured to process said sound. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises an implant part. The implant part includes an implant processing unit and a plurality of cochlea stimulation electrodes for stimulation of a cochlea of a user. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared transmitter configured to transmit a near-infrared wave. The cochlear implant hearing aid system further comprises a near-infrared receiver configured to receive said near-infrared wave.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Søren Kamaric RIIS, Thomas Lunner, Dorothea Wendt, Bradford Backus
  • Patent number: 10226624
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a method for producing stimulation pulses in a bilateral cochlear implant (CI) is disclosed. The method includes receiving a sound at a first microphone or a first microphone array positioned at or in the vicinity of a first ear of a user of the bilateral CI and receiving the sound at a second microphone or a second microphone array positioned at or in the vicinity of a second ear of the user of the bilateral CI. Furthermore, generating, using the first microphone or first microphone array, a first microphone signal in response to the sound received at the first microphone or first microphone array and generating, using the second microphone or second microphone array, a second microphone signal in response to the sound received at the second microphone or second microphone array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Mathias Dietz, Bradford Backus
  • Patent number: 10123132
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, an auditory device for generating an electrode stimulation signal is disclosed. The device includes a filter bank configured to filter an incoming audio signal into a plurality of band pass limited audio signals, each band pass limited audio signal relating to an audio frequency band. The device further includes a processor configured to extract an onset time for firing an electrode in accordance with rate of change of a band pass limited audio signal and/or a derived band pass limited audio signal satisfying a predetermined criterion, and a signal generator for generating the electrode stimulation signal for the electrode corresponding to the band pass limited audio signal and/or derived band pass limited audio signal in accordance with the determined onset time. The device includes a plurality of implantable stimulation electrodes configured to deliver the electrode stimulation signal to a region of cochlea.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventor: Bradford Backus
  • Publication number: 20180133477
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a cochlear implant system is disclosed. The system includes an input unit, a filterbank, a processing unit and an implant. The input unit is configured to provide a first electrical signal from a first sound source and a second electrical signal from a second sound source. The filterbank is configured to filter the first electrical signal into a plurality of first band limited signals and the second electrical signal into a plurality of second band limited signals. The processing unit is configured to generate a primary pulse pattern based on a first band selected from the plurality of first band limited signals and to generate a secondary pulse pattern based on a second band selected from the plurality of second band limited signals, the first band and the second band being defined by same or substantially overlapping frequency ranges and the implant is configured to receive the primary pulse pattern and the secondary pulse pattern from the processing unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2017
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventor: Bradford BACKUS
  • Publication number: 20160367805
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a method for producing stimulation pulses in a bilateral cochlear implant (CI) is disclosed. The method includes receiving a sound at a first microphone or a first microphone array positioned at or in the vicinity of a first ear of a user of the bilateral CI and receiving the sound at a second microphone or a second microphone array positioned at or in the vicinity of a second ear of the user of the bilateral CI. Furthermore, generating, using the first microphone or first microphone array, a first microphone signal in response to the sound received at the first microphone or first microphone array and generating, using the second microphone or second microphone array, a second microphone signal in response to the sound received at the second microphone or second microphone array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Publication date: December 22, 2016
    Applicants: CARL VON OSSIETZKY UNIVERSITÄT OLDENBURG, OTICON MEDICAL A/S
    Inventors: Mathias DIETZ, Bradford BACKUS
  • Publication number: 20160255443
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, an auditory device for generating an electrode stimulation signal is disclosed. The device includes a filter bank configured to filter an incoming audio signal into a plurality of band pass limited audio signals, each band pass limited audio signal relating to an audio frequency band. The device further includes a processor configured to extract an onset time for firing an electrode in accordance with rate of change of a band pass limited audio signal and/or a derived band pass limited audio signal satisfying a predetermined criterion, and a signal generator for generating the electrode stimulation signal for the electrode corresponding to the band pass limited audio signal and/or derived band pass limited audio signal in accordance with the determined onset time. The device includes a plurality of implantable stimulation electrodes configured to deliver the electrode stimulation signal to a region of cochlea. (FIG.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2016
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Applicant: OTICON MEDICAL A/S
    Inventor: Bradford BACKUS