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).
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Patent number: 11931575Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: August 20, 2021Date of Patent: March 19, 2024Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Marianna Vatti, Kai Dang, Pierre Stahl, Manuel Segovia Martinez, Dan Gnansia, Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20240082599Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: November 20, 2023Publication date: March 14, 2024Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Søren Kamaric RIIS, Thomas LUNNER, Dorothea WENDT, Bradford BACKUS
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Patent number: 11872408Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: April 18, 2019Date of Patent: January 16, 2024Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Thomas Lunner, Dorothea Wendt, Bradford Backus
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Patent number: 11606648Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: January 31, 2020Date of Patent: March 14, 2023Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Bradford Backus, Régis Pierquin
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Patent number: 11589170Abstract: 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 theType: GrantFiled: September 17, 2021Date of Patent: February 21, 2023Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/SInventors: Bradford Backus, Pierre Stahl
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Patent number: 11546700Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: August 13, 2021Date of Patent: January 3, 2023Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/SInventors: Behnam Molaee, Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20220095059Abstract: 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 theType: ApplicationFiled: September 17, 2021Publication date: March 24, 2022Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Bradford BACKUS, Pierre STAHL
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Publication number: 20220054836Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: August 20, 2021Publication date: February 24, 2022Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Marianna VATTI, Kai DANG, Pierre STAHL, Manuel SEGOVIA MARTINEZ, Dan GNANSIA, Bradford BACKUS
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Publication number: 20220053273Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: August 13, 2021Publication date: February 17, 2022Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Behnam MOLAEE, Bradford BACKUS
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Patent number: 11224745Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 16, 2019Date of Patent: January 18, 2022Assignee: OTICON MEDICAL A/SInventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Guillaume Tourrel, Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20210243532Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: January 31, 2020Publication date: August 5, 2021Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Bradford BACKUS, Régis Pierquin
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Patent number: 10974048Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: November 8, 2017Date of Patent: April 13, 2021Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventor: Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20200121920Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: October 16, 2019Publication date: April 23, 2020Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Søren Kamaric Riis, Guillaume Tourrel, Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20190321655Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: April 18, 2019Publication date: October 24, 2019Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Søren Kamaric RIIS, Thomas Lunner, Dorothea Wendt, Bradford Backus
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Patent number: 10226624Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 21, 2016Date of Patent: March 12, 2019Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventors: Mathias Dietz, Bradford Backus
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Patent number: 10123132Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: February 26, 2016Date of Patent: November 6, 2018Assignee: Oticon Medical A/SInventor: Bradford Backus
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Publication number: 20180133477Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: November 8, 2017Publication date: May 17, 2018Applicant: Oticon Medical A/SInventor: Bradford BACKUS
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Publication number: 20160367805Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: June 21, 2016Publication date: December 22, 2016Applicants: CARL VON OSSIETZKY UNIVERSITÄT OLDENBURG, OTICON MEDICAL A/SInventors: Mathias DIETZ, Bradford BACKUS
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Publication number: 20160255443Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: February 26, 2016Publication date: September 1, 2016Applicant: OTICON MEDICAL A/SInventor: Bradford BACKUS