1. A hearing amplification system comprising:
a sound processor for placement in an external portion of an ear to receive a sound and transmit a signal corresponding to said sound; and
an implant comprising an implant membrane, a fluid contained within a fluid compartment bounded by the implant membrane, and an oscillator for oscillation in response to the signal transmitted from the sound processor;
wherein the fluid and the implant membrane form a coupling interface between the oscillator and a round window membrane of the ear.
2. The hearing amplification system of claim 1, further comprising a ribbon for holding a portion of the implant and retaining a surface of the implant membrane in engagement with the round window membrane of the ear.
3. The hearing amplification system of claim 2, wherein the ribbon comprises a material selected from titanium, platinum and combinations thereof.
4. The hearing amplification system of claim 2, wherein the ribbon comprises a malleable strip having first and second ends engaging opposed sides of the implant, and a medial portion between the first and second ends defining an apex for abutment against a middle ear wall.
5. The hearing amplification system of claim 2, wherein the ribbon is crimped onto the implant to form an elongate assembly.
6. The hearing amplification system of claim 1, wherein oscillation of the oscillator imparts movement to the round window membrane and induces a reverse traveling wave in the inner ear to produce a percept of sound.
7. The hearing amplification system of claim 1, wherein the oscillator comprises a magnetic oscillator, and the sound processor transmits an electromagnetic signal.
8. The hearing amplification system of claim 1, wherein the oscillator comprises a piezoelectric oscillator, and the sound processor transmits an electronic current signal.
9. The hearing amplification system of claim 1, wherein the fluid comprises saline.
10. A fluid membranous implant coupling mechanism for electromagnetic or piezoelectric direct drive systems to directly drive a round window membrane of an ear to achieve amplification for hearing impaired ears with a damaged middle ear mechanism, said implant coupling mechanism comprising a fluid, an implant membrane containing said fluid, and an oscillator operatively coupled to drive the round window membrane through the fluid and the implant membrane.
11. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 10, further comprising a ribbon member having a first ribbon portion for engagement with the implant membrane and a second ribbon portion for engagement with a wall of the middle ear to position the fluid membranous implant coupling mechanism at the round window membrane.
12. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 11, wherein the ribbon member comprises a material selected from titanium, platinum and combinations thereof.
13. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 11, wherein the first ribbon portion comprises first and second fingers engaging opposed sides of the implant membrane therebetween, and the second ribbon portion comprises a medial portion between the first and second fingers and defining an apex for abutment against a middle ear wall.
14. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 13, wherein the ribbon member is crimped onto the implant to form an elongate assembly.
15. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 10, wherein the oscillator is a magnetic oscillator.
16. The implant coupling mechanism of claim 10, wherein the oscillator is a piezoelectric oscillator.
17. A malleable ribbon for coupling to a fluid membranous implant which a) directs energy of oscillation toward a juxtaposed membrane of the implant to a round window membrane, and b) provides an adjustable engagement of the round window membrane of the niche anteriorly with the wall of the middle ear posteriorly to secure the device.
18. The malleable ribbon of claim 17, comprising a material selected from titanium, platinum and combinations thereof.
19. A method of treating hearing loss comprising:
implanting a fluid membranous coupling in contact with a round window membrane of an ear, the fluid membranous coupling comprising an oscillator, a fluid medium and an implant membrane;
placing a sound processor in an external portion of the ear to receive a sound and transmit a signal corresponding to said sound; and
driving the oscillator in response to the signal transmitted by the sound processor to deliver energy to the round window membrane through the fluid medium and the implant membrane.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising engaging the fluid membranous coupling implant with the round window membrane by attaching a biocompatible metal ribbon to a portion of the implant, and securing the ribbon in engagement posteriorly with a wall of the middle ear while simultaneously protruding a portion of the implant membrane anteriorly to engage the round window membrane.
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising crimping the metal ribbon to elongate the implant.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer-implemented method for defining a view of data in a computer system, comprising:
(a) executing a relational database management system (RDBMS) that stores the information in the computer system;
(b) maintaining, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more RDBMS tables, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) accepting user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein the hierarchy comprises parent-child relationships with no level consistency;
(d) storing the hierarchy as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(e) utilizing the hierarchy to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the hierarchy comprises two or more branches, each having one or more levels; and
the one or more levels of each branch are not logical equivalents.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchy is defined by:
recursively identifying one or more relations between one or more nodes of the hierarchy;
calculating one or more hierarchy levels for each of the one or more nodes; and
depicting the one or more relations and one or more hierarchy levels as one or more parent-child relationships in the hierarchy.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input specifies a type of hierarchy.
5. A computer-implemented method for defining a view of data in a computer system, comprising:
(a) executing a relational database management system (RDBMS) that stores the information in the computer system;
(b) maintaining, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more RDBMS tables, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) accepting user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein:
(1) the hierarchy has one or more branches and one or more levels;
(2) each of the one or more levels has a consistent meaning; and
(3) one of the one or more branches has inconsistent depths because at least one level of one of the one or more branches is unpopulated;
(d) storing the hierarchy as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(e) utilizing the hierarchy to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one level of the one or more branches is unpopulated because there is no entry at the one level.
7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:
calculating the one or more levels for one or more hierarchy objects of the hierarchy, wherein one of the one or more hierarchy objects is configured to have more than one link to another hierarchy object.
8. An apparatus for defining a view of data in a computer system, comprising:
(a) a relational database management system (RDBMS) executing in the computer system;
(b) a master data management system configured to maintain, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more tables in the RDBMS, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) a hierarchy manager, executing in the computer system configured to:
(i) accept user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein the hierarchy comprises parent-child relationships with no level consistency; and
(ii) store the hierarchical structure as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(d) a hierarchy viewer configured to utilize the hierarchical structure to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:
the hierarchy comprises two or more branches, each having one or more levels; and
the one or more levels of each branch are not logical equivalents.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the hierarchy is defined by:
recursively identifying one or more relations between one or more nodes of the hierarchy;
calculating one or more hierarchy levels for each of the one or more nodes; and
depicting the one or more relations and one or more hierarchy levels as one or more parent-child relationships in the hierarchy.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user input specifies a type of hierarchy.
12. An apparatus for defining a view of data in a computer system, comprising:
(a) a relational database management system (RDBMS) executing in the computer system;
(b) a master data management system configured to maintain, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more tables in the RDBMS, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) a hierarchy manager, executing in the computer system configured to:
(i) accept user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein:
(1) the hierarchy has one or more branches and one or more levels;
(2) each of the one or more levels has a consistent meaning; and
(3) one of the one or more branches has inconsistent depths because at least one level of one of the one or more branches is unpopulated;
(ii) store the hierarchical structure as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(d) a hierarchy viewer configured to utilize the hierarchical structure to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one level of the one or more branches is unpopulated because there is no entry at the one level.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the hierarchy manager is further configured to:
calculate the one or more levels for one or more hierarchy objects of the hierarchy, wherein one of the one or more hierarchy objects is configured to have more than one link to another hierarchy object.
15. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of defining a view of data in a computer system, the method steps comprising:
(a) executing a relational database management system (RDBMS) that stores the information in the computer system;
(b) maintaining, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more RDBMS tables, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) accepting user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein the hierarchy comprises parent-child relationships with no level consistency;
(d) storing the hierarchy as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(e) utilizing the hierarchy to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein:
the hierarchy comprises two or more branches, each having one or more levels; and
the one or more levels of each branch are not logical equivalents.
17. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the hierarchy is defined by:
recursively identifying one or more relations between one or more nodes of the hierarchy;
calculating one or more hierarchy levels for each of the one or more nodes; and
depicting the one or more relations and one or more hierarchy levels as one or more parent-child relationships in the hierarchy.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the user input specifies a type of hierarchy.
19. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of defining a view of data in a computer system, the method steps comprising:
(a) executing a relational database management system (RDBMS) that stores the information in the computer system;
(b) maintaining, as part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows to manage data that resides in one or more RDBMS tables, wherein the data is hierarchical in nature;
(c) accepting user input that defines a hierarchy that is projected onto the data, wherein:
(1) the hierarchy has one or more branches and one or more levels;
(2) each of the one or more levels has a consistent meaning; and
(3) one of the one or more branches has inconsistent depths because at least one level of one of the one or more branches is unpopulated;
(d) storing the hierarchy as metadata in the RDBMS; and
(e) utilizing the hierarchy to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.
20. The article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the one level of the one or more branches is unpopulated because there is no entry at the one level.
21. The article of manufacture of claim 19, the method further comprising:
calculating the one or more levels for one or more hierarchy objects of the hierarchy, wherein one of the one or more hierarchy objects is configured to have more than one link to another hierarchy object.