Posted by seahunt on January 22, 2003 at 04:47:46:
Title: Dental Sound Conduction Device For The Scuba Mouthpiece
Abstract: The successful development of a scuba mouthpiece based
oral bone conduction hearing device will revolutionize underwater
hearing. Clear, binaural hearing in an aqueous environment,
without the need for headgear or ear proximity air gap sound
transmission is a tremendous advantage to divers who wish to
voice communicate or to receive audible information from
instrumentation. Current uses of headgear which provide air gap
sound transmission directly to the ear are uncomfortable, require
additional preparation time for the diver and are movement
restrictive. This project will assess the performance of a
unique design scuba mouthpiece construction with state-of-the-art
magnetostrictive transducer technology and orthodontic geometry
which looks and feels similar to current technology mouthpieces.
Assessments of transducer orientation to the bite plate, number
of transducers and tooth location/frequency response optimization
will be done. Concurrently, a bite plate will be developed,
which when interfaced with the transducer will provide an
optimized hearing performance. As an assembly, the mouthpiece
will be adaptable to a conventional second stage breathing air
regulator. The degree of ease of use, comfort, sound volume,
sound clarity and safety will determined.
ANALYTICAL ENGINEERING, INC.
P.O. Box 2603
Columbus, IN 47202
Phone: (812) 376-6472
PI: David F. May