US 12,447,340 B2
Auditory neural interface device
Saman Hagh Gooie, Hamburg (DE); Bálint Várkuti, Munich (DE); and Ricardo Smits Serena, Munich (DE)
Assigned to Ceregate GmbH, Munich (DE)
Filed by CEREGATE GMBH, Munich (DE)
Filed on Mar. 18, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/698,341.
Claims priority of application No. 21215578 (EP), filed on Dec. 17, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0191129 A1, Jun. 22, 2023
Int. Cl. A61N 1/05 (2006.01); A61N 1/36 (2006.01); A61N 1/372 (2006.01); H04R 25/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61N 1/36038 (2017.08) [A61N 1/0541 (2013.01); A61N 1/36062 (2017.08); A61N 1/36128 (2013.01); A61N 1/37282 (2013.01); H04R 25/558 (2013.01); H04R 2225/41 (2013.01); H04R 2225/43 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An auditory neural interface device for sound perception by an individual, comprising:
a receiver comprising one or more microphones configured to receive sound signals;
a processor operably connected to the receiver and configured to encode a received sound signal as a multi-channel neurostimulation signal comprising a plurality of channels,
wherein, in encoding the received sound signal as the multi-channel neurostimulation signal, the processor is configured to:
apply a filter operation to the received sound signal to generate a plurality of subcomponent signals of the received sound signal;
map each subcomponent signal of the plurality of subcomponent signals to a different respective channel of the multi-channel neurostimulation signal;
determine, via an auto-calibration procedure, a maximal number of different perceivable perceptual channels that are specific for the individual; and
select the applied filter operation based on the determination, such that a fidelity of a representation of the received sound signal by the plurality of subcomponent signals is maximized for the determined maximal number of different perceivable perceptual channels,
wherein the multi-channel neurostimulation signal is configured to:
directly stimulate afferent sensory neurons of a central nervous system (CNS) of the individual and thereby elicit, for each channel of the multi-channel neurostimulation signal, one or more non-auditory perceptions in a cortex area of the individual, wherein each channel of the multi-channel neurostimulation signal is associated with a different non-auditory perception; and
a wired or wireless transmitter configured to transmit the multi-channel neurostimulation signal to a neurostimulation device configured to apply the multi-channel neurostimulation signal to a neurostimulation electrode of the individual.