Autonomous positioning system for implantable hearing aids using piezo motors

Implantable hearing aids recently found their way into application and show promising properties regarding amplification and sound quality. Their adjustment during surgery turns out to be quite difficult. Therefore a prototypical positioning system for implantable hearing aids using piezo motors has been developed. For evaluation a test rig representing the mechanical properties of the human middle ear has both been realized and characterized. Experiments of the positioning system on the rig show that the chosen configuration is able to meet the premlinarily established requirements. For the design of an implantable integrated device future developments need to miniaturize the components and increase the system's reliability.