Ear insert, e.g. hearing aid or miniature loudspeaker, adapted to individual outer ear contours, is obtained using digitalized geometry of hardened molding of outer ear region in impression material

摘要

Production of an ear insert (1), individually adapted to the outer ear contours, involves molding the outer ear region in a plastically kneadable, non-flowable, hardenable impression material; hardening; evaluating the geometry of the obtained shaped piece (2) using a scanner; designing a digital ear insert geometry based on the evaluated geometry; and producing the insert based on the digital geometry, using a 3-dimensional, computer-controlled method. Production of an ear insert (1), individually adapted to the contours of the outer ear region bordering the exterior of the auditory channel, involves: (A) providing a plastically kneadable, non-flowable (or only slightly flowable), hardenable impression material (A); (B) molding the outer ear region with (A), without allowing (A) to pass via the entrance region into the auditory channel; (C) hardening (A) to a shaped piece (2); (D) extracting the shaped piece; (E) evaluating the geometry of the piece using a scanning device (preferably a 3-dimensional scanner); (F) designing a digital ear insert geometry based on the evaluated geometry; and (G) producing the insert based on the digital geometry, using a 3-dimensional, computer-controlled method. Independent claims are included for: (1) an ear insert (1) obtained by the process; (2) an ear insert arrangement (3), comprising an insert (1) as above plus an adapter chamber permanently bonded to an adapter piece, where the insert and adapter piece have complementary surfaces and the adapter piece has a connecting region for coupling an acoustic signal transfer device (5); (3) a variant of the ear insert arrangement (3), comprising an insert (not necessarily as above) with a connecting region for coupling an acoustic signal transfer device, where an ear-side sound opening is included, having dimensions corresponding to a corresponding sound opening in the signal transfer device; and (4) the use of either form of the ear insert, where the cavity of the insert is completely filled in or filled with sound insulating material, for hearing protection.