Patent ID: 8848939

Claim:
A system to occlude an ear canal comprising: an expandable device; a reservoir for storing a medium; a channel operatively coupled between the expandable device and the reservoir; and a pump operatively coupled to the reservoir; where the pump is configured to expand the expandable device to a predetermined internal pressure and to increase a stress of a surface of the expandable device to a predetermined stress via transfer of the medium from the reservoir to the expandable device, such that at least a majority portion of the surface of the expandable device contacts a bony region or a cartilaginous region of an ear canal wall and imparts a force along a substantial surface of the ear canal wall to a majority of the depth of the bony region or of the cartilaginous region of the ear canal to achieve the predetermined internal pressure and seal against the canal wall to reduce an occlusion effect, and where the predetermined stress and the predetermined internal pressure are selected according to a predetermined relationship to produce a predetermined attenuation of bodily- propagated sound such that the bodily-propagated sound is attenuated more below a predetermined frequency than above the predetermined frequency, to reduce the occlusion effect by the bodily-propagated sound.