Piezoelectric MEMS microphones for hearing aids

用于助听器的压电 MEMS 麦克风

• 批准号: 8592954
• 负责人: Robert John Littrell
• 金额: $ 54.07万
• 依托单位: BAKER-CALLING, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-23 至 2015-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8592954
• 关键词: Acoustics; Adopted; Adoption; American; Audiometry; Back; Buffers; Cellular Phone; Cosmetics; Coupling; Development; Device Designs; Devices; Effectiveness; Electric Capacitance; Electronics; Elements; Environment; Evaluation; Floor; Frequencies; Goals; Grant; Hearing; Hearing Aids; High temperature of physical object; Housing; Industry; Lead; Manufacturer Name; Mechanics; Metric; Modality; Noise; Output; Performance; Phase; Price; Probability; Process; Production; Productivity; Quality of life; Semiconductors; Services; Signal Transduction; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Solutions; System; Techniques; Technology; Temperature; Testing; Time; Transducers; United States National Institutes of Health; Water; Weight; Work; base; commercialization; cost; design; hearing impairment; improved; meetings; metal oxide; prototype; public health relevance; response; sensor; solid state electronics; sound; success

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from hearing loss and would benefit from some form of hearing augmentation. However, the hearing aid (HA) adoption rate is low, less than 25% [Kochkin, (2009)] and those who do adopt wait more than 10 years before doing so [Donahue, (2010)]. There are a variety of reasons for the low utilization rate and long delay in adopting HAs including effectiveness, price, comfort, size, and cosmetic issues. Clearly there is a need to improve HAs so that those who suffer from hearing impairment can be more effectively helped to improve their quality of life and productivity through better treatment. In this proposal, the development of a new microphone for HA applications is sought as one avenue to improve HA effectiveness and increase utilization. In particular, development of the first piezoelectric, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) microphones that satisfy the stringent acoustical specifications of the hearing aid industry will be undertaken. The three specific aims of the grant are to (1) design and fabricate the MEMS piezoelectric transducer element, (2) design and fabricate the amplifying electronics for readout of the transducer's electrical signal, and (3) design an appropriate housing for the mechanical and electrical elements that meets the requirements for HA applications. Compared to the existing electret condenser microphone (ECM) based technology that has dominated the field for many years, the new microphone will: be more robust to the external environment, stable over time, ease hearing aid assembly, and deliver superior acoustic performance at a smaller size. Because the MEMS fabrication applied to create this device is based on the same processes used in the semiconductor industry, once the design of these devices is perfected they can be made at low cost and easily integrated with processing electronics. Our ultimate goal is to develop a microphone that provides better acoustic performance than present HAs at a cost comparable to microphones used for cell phones. The availability of robust, stable, and miniature microphones will improve existing and facilitate the development of new HA systems that utilize multiple microphones for directional sensing and noise cancellation. The goal of this NIH SBIR is to build these microphone prototypes, which will serve as the basis for improved microphones for the hearing aid industry.

描述(由申请人提供)：大约3000万美国人患有听力损失，并将从某种形式的听力增强中受益。然而，助听器(HA)的采用率很低，不到25%[Kochkin，(2009)]，那些确实收养了助听器的人要等10年以上才能这样做[Donahue，(2010)]。HAS使用率低、延迟时间长的原因是多方面的，包括有效性、价格、舒适性、尺寸和美容问题。显然，有必要改进HAS，以便通过更好的治疗，更有效地帮助听力受损的人改善他们的生活质量和生产力。在这项建议中，当局寻求为医管局应用开发新的传声器，作为改善医管局成效和提高使用率的途径之一。特别是，将开发满足助听器行业严格声学要求的第一个压电式微电子机械系统(MEMS)麦克风。赠款的三个具体目标是：(1)设计和制造MEMS压电换能器元件，(2)设计和制造用于读出换能器电信号的放大电子设备，以及(3)设计符合HA应用要求的机械和电气元件的适当外壳。与主导该领域多年的基于驻极体电容式麦克风(ECM)的现有技术相比，新麦克风将：对外部环境更坚固、随时间稳定、易于安装助听器，并以更小的尺寸提供卓越的声学性能。由于用于制造这种器件的MEMS制造基于半导体行业中使用的相同工艺，一旦这些器件的设计得到完善，它们就可以以低成本制造，并易于与加工电子设备集成。我们的最终目标是开发一种能提供比目前更好的声学性能的麦克风，其成本与用于手机的麦克风相当。坚固、稳定和微型麦克风的供应将改善现有的HA系统，并促进利用多个麦克风进行定向传感和噪声消除的新HA系统的开发。NIH SBIR的目标是建造这些麦克风原型，作为助听器行业改进麦克风的基础。