Cochlear implants are electronic systems designed to provide useful hearing and improved communication ability to individuals who are profoundly hearing impaired and unable to achieve speech understanding with conventional hearing aids. A typical system includes an implantable stimulator containing electronic circuitry, a coil for power and information transfer, and a stimulation electrode array which is inserted into the inner ear (and perhaps a counter electrode).
In addition to such inner ear applications, there are also concomitant applications to detect and/or measure signals from the stapedius muscle/tendon or other middle ear functions that would be beneficial to the patient and improve the adaptation of cochlear implants. U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,360 (hereby incorporated by reference) describes a middle ear electrode for determining stimulation parameters by detecting the activity of the stapedius muscle. No specific fixation structure is described or suggested for attaching the stapedius monitoring electrode to the stapedius muscle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,768 (hereby incorporated by reference) describes another application of an implantable middle ear device including a microphone system which is used together with cochlear implant devices, and where the implantable sensor (i.e. implantable microphone) includes a stationary component and a movable component. The stationary component is implanted so that at least a portion resides within the middle ear and does not come in contact with the movable component. In contrast, the movable component is implanted within the middle ear and is attached to one of the moving elements such as malleus, incus, stapes, oval window or tympanic membrane. But again, no detailed description is provided for the fixation and/or mounting of such implantable devices in the middle ear.