Noise attenuating headset

Abstract

systems and techniques are disclosed for a headset that may be used in an audio system used in a magnetic field. In one aspect, the system includes an inner set portion adapted to fit into an ear canal. A pneumatic port is disposed in the hole to couple audible sounds to the ear canal. The system may include a non-magnetic transducer coupled to the pneumatic port. The system also may include a fiber-optic microphone to couple sound from a user of the headset. Other techniques provide a stethoscope-type yoke to couple the pneumatic port and the fiber-optic antenna to the non-magnetic transducer.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/723,774, filed on Nov. 26, 2003 In some implementations, the headset is arranged to provide at least approximately 35 decibels of acoustic attenuation. As described above, ear inserts 102 are inserted into the ear canal. The stethoscope-type assembly, through pneumatic tubing 404, couples output sounds from an audio transducer (not shown) to the pneumatic ports 106. A stethoscope tubing support 402 may hold the pneumatic tubes 404 together and may be made of a semi-rigid material that can provide a spring pressure to urge the ear inserts 102 into the ear canal. Ear inserts 102 have a through-hole and are adapted to fit into an ear canal. The headset is arranged to provide a near-hermetic seal between the ear insert 102 and an ear canal wall. The pneumatic port 106 is disposed in the through-hole. The pneumatic port 106 is configured to be positioned inside of the ear canal during operation of the headset. Adapters 506 may be used to guide the pneumatic ports 106 into the pneumatic tubes 404. The stethoscope assembly may protrude from the user's head less than a headset using an ear cup. This type of assembly may be appropriate for users having a large head or ears that do not fit in available ear cups.

FIG. 5 is a detail view of the attachment of the pneumatic tube 404 to the pneumatic port 106. The adapter 506 may be used to couple the pneumatic port 106 to the pneumatic tube 404. In an implementation, the adapter may have a conical opening on a first end 508 to help guide and support the pneumatic port 106 into a yoke connector 502. The adapter may comprise a gasket 510 such as an O-ring disposed in the adapter to support, retain or help seal the pneumatic port 106 in the adapter 506. A second end of the adapter 506 is sized to fit snugly into a first end of the yoke connector 502 so as to reduce sound losses in the connection. Other connection arrangements may be used. The yoke connector 502 has a right-angle bend so as to reduce the distance that the stethoscope-type headset protrudes from the user's head. The pneumatic tube 404 is coupled into a second end of the yoke connector 502 such that sounds carried by the pneumatic tube 404 are coupled to the pneumatic port 106. Yoke clamps 504 may be used to secure the pneumatic tube 404 in the yoke connector 502.

The ear inserts 102 with the pneumatic ports 106 are inserted into the ear canals of the user. The adapter 506 may be inserted into the first end of the yoke connector 502 and the pneumatic tube 404 connected to the second end of the yoke connector and secured by the yoke clamps 504. The adapter/yoke connector assembly may then be positioned onto the pneumatic port 106.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A magnetically inert headset comprising:

an ear insert having a through-hole and adapted to fit into an ear canal;

a pneumatic port disposed in the hole in the ear insert to receive audible sound waves and couple the sound waves to the ear canal;

a non-magnetic microphone coupled to the headset; and

a stethoscope-type yoke, wherein the yoke includes pneumatic tubing acoustically coupled to both the pneumatic port and a non-magnetic transducer to couple the audible sound waves from the non-magnetic transducer.

2. The headset of claim 1 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an audio transducer disposed in a magnet room of a magnetic resonance imaging system.

3. The headset of claim 1 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises a piezoelectric transducer.

4. The headset of claim 1 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an electrostatic transducer.

5. A magnetically inert headset comprising:

an ear insert having a through-hole and adapted to fit into an ear canal;

a pneumatic port disposed in the hole in the ear insert to receive audible sound waves and couple the sound waves to the ear canal; and

a stethoscope-type yoke, wherein the yoke includes pneumatic tubing acoustically coupled to both the pneumatic port and a non-magnetic transducer to couple the audible sound waves from the non-magnetic transducer.

6. The headset of claim 5 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an audio transducer disposed in a magnet room of a magnetic resonance imaging system.

7. The headset of claim 5 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises a piezoelectric transducer.

8. The headset of claim 5 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an electrostatic transducer.

9. A magnetically inert, noise-attenuating headset comprising:

an ear insert having a through-hole and adapted to fit into an ear canal;

a pneumatic port disposed in the hole in the ear insert to receive audible sound waves and couple the sound waves to the ear canal,

wherein the ear insert substantially conforms to the shape of the ear canal and is sized and composed of a material to attenuate noise created by a magnetic resonance imaging system by a sufficient extent as to enable a user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port;

a non-magnetic microphone coupled to the headset; and

a headset assembly, wherein the assembly includes pneumatic tubing acoustically coupled to both the pneumatic port and a non-magnetic transducer to couple the audible sound waves from the non-magnetic transducer.

10. A magnetically inert, noise-attenuating headset comprising:

an ear insert having a through-hole and adapted to fit into an ear canal;

a pneumatic port disposed in the hole in the ear insert to receive audible sound waves and couple the sound waves to the ear canal,

wherein the ear insert substantially conforms to the shape of the ear canal and is sized and composed of a material to attenuate noise created by a magnetic resonance imaging system by a sufficient extent as to enable a user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port; and

a headset assembly, wherein the assembly includes pneumatic tubing acoustically coupled to both the pneumatic port and a non-magnetic transducer to couple the audible sound waves from the non-magnetic transducer.

11. A magnetically inert, noise-attenuating headset comprising:

an ear insert having a through-hole and adapted to fit into an ear canal;

a pneumatic port disposed in the hole in the ear insert to receive audible sound waves and couple the sound waves to the ear canal,

wherein the pneumatic port and ear insert are arranged in combination to attenuate noise created by a magnetic resonance imaging system during operation of the system by a sufficient extent as to enable a user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port; and

a headset assembly, wherein the assembly includes pneumatic tubing acoustically coupled to both the pneumatic port and a non-magnetic transducer to couple the audible sound waves from the non-magnetic transducer.

12. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the headset assembly is a bi-aural headset assembly.

13. The headset of claim 9 or 10 wherein the pneumatic port and ear insert are arranged in combination to attenuate the noise produced by the magnetic resonance imaging system during operation of the magnetic resonance imaging system to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.

14. The headset of claim 13 wherein the pneumatic port and ear insert are arranged in combination to attenuate noise produced by gradient coils of the magnetic resonance imaging system during operation of the magnetic resonance imaging system to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.

15. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the ear insert is designed to be inserted into the ear canal to attenuate noise created by gradient coils of the magnetic resonance imaging system so as to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.

16. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein a substantial portion of the ear insert is designed to be inserted into the ear canal to attenuate noise created by gradient coils of the magnetic resonance imaging system so as to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.

17. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the ear insert is designed to be fully inserted into the ear canal when the headset is in use.

18. The headset of claim 9 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an audio transducer disposed in a magnet room of a magnetic resonance imaging system.

19. The headset of claim 9 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises a piezoelectric transducer.

20. The headset of claim 9 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an electrostatic transducer.

21. The headset of claim 10 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an audio transducer disposed in a magnet room of a magnetic resonance imaging system.

22. The headset of claim 10 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises a piezoelectric transducer.

23. The headset of claim 10 wherein the non-magnetic transducer comprises an electrostatic transducer.

24. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the ear insert is sized and shaped to be substantially fully fit within the ear canal.

25. The headset of claim 24 wherein the ear insert is sized and shaped to be fully fit within the ear canal.

26. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein a portion of the ear insert to be placed within the ear canal is substantially cylindrical.

27. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein an exterior shape of the surface of the ear insert configured to touch an inner surface of the ear canal, when the ear insert is in position for headset use, is approximately cylindrical or approximately tubular before insertion into the ear canal.

28. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein an exterior shape of the surface of the ear insert configured to touch an inner surface of the ear canal, when the ear insert is in position for headset use, is cylindrical or tubular before insertion into the ear canal.

29. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the pneumatic port is configured to be positioned inside of the ear canal during operation of the headset.

30. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the pneumatic port extends through substantially the entire through-hole.

31. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the pneumatic port extends through substantially the entire ear insert.

32. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 further comprising an adapter to support the pneumatic port and to couple the pneumatic port to the pneumatic tubing.

33. The headset of claim 32 wherein the pneumatic port is retained or sealed in the adapter.

34. The headset of claim 32 wherein the adapter includes a gasket to retain or seal the pneumatic port in the adapter.

35. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 further comprising:

an adapter coupled to the pneumatic port; and

a connector coupled both to the adapter and to the pneumatic tube.

36. The headset of claim 35 wherein an end of the adapter fits into a first end of the connector, and a second end of the connector is coupled to the pneumatic tube.

37. The headset of claim 35 wherein the connector includes a right-angle bend.

38. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the headset is arranged to provide at least approximately 35 decibels of acoustic attenuation.

39. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the headset is arranged to provide a near-hermetic seal between the ear insert and an ear canal wall.

40. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the ear insert is an ear canal insert.

41. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the pneumatic port includes a hollow tube.

42. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the ear insert is made of compressible foam.

43. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the ear insert is made of compressible foam that fits fully within the ear canal.

44. The headset of claim 35 wherein the adapter includes a conical opening.

45. The headset of claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the headset assembly comprises a stethoscope-type yoke.

46. The headset of claim 9 or 10 wherein the ear insert is sized and composed of a material to attenuate noise created by gradient coils of the magnetic resonance imaging system by a sufficient extent as to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.

47. The headset of claim 11, wherein the pneumatic port and ear insert are arranged in combination to attenuate noise created by gradient coils of the magnetic resonance imaging system by a sufficient extent as to enable the user undergoing examination by the system to hear sound waves through the pneumatic port.