Medical Sensor Applications of Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR)



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Koronis Biomedical Technologies (KBT) proposes to develop a novel omnidirectional, low power, miniaturized hearing aid telecoil replacement module (TCRM) based on tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) technology. It has been reported that 31.5 million Americans have hearing loss: Hearing loss affects 1 in 10 Americans and 1 in 4 households. Modern telecoils assist the hearing-impaired with telephone handsets as well as increasingly ubiquitous public address systems (hearing loops) by receiving magnetic audio signals using large, expensive wound-coils in the hearing aid. While the received magnetic audio is often superior to audio generated by acoustic microphones, wound-coils are bulky, highly directional, and subject to noise. TMR technology delivers improvements in magnetic sensor size, sensitivity, and noise rejection that represent an opportunity to significantly enhance the performance of hearing aid telecoils. KBT will design, fabricate, and test an optimized TMR sensor, adapting this technology for this use. A TMR-based omnidirectional hearing aid TCRM will be developed, tested, and integrated within a commercially available hearing aid enclosure.