Patent ID: 8295523

Claim:
A hearing aid device for placement in an ear of a user, the ear having an ear canal opening, an eardrum, a skin of a canal and an ossicle, the device comprising: an elongate support having a proximal portion for placement at a location near the ear canal opening and a distal end for placement near the eardrum; an energy delivery transducer attached to the elongate support near the distal end, wherein the energy delivery transducer is adapted to transmit electromagnetic energy across a distance to a vibratory transducer connected to one or more of the eardrum or the ossicle; and a positioner attached to the elongate support near the transducer, the positioner adapted to contact the skin of the canal near the transducer in order to support the transducer; wherein the support is adapted to position the energy delivery transducer near the eardrum and separated from the vibratory transducer to transmit the electromagnetic energy across the distance while the proximal portion is placed at the location near the ear canal opening and wherein an intermediate portion of the elongate support has a cross-sectional size less than a cross-sectional size of the positioned.