The University of Pittsburgh announced that Pitt innovators were issued 9 U.S. patents in June 2021.
Featured Patent: 11,020,593 “Method to Enhance the Binaural Representation for Hearing-Impaired Users”
Bilateral cochlear implant (BCI) users have been shown to have reduced binaural abilities as compared to listeners with normal hearing. Although BCI users have been shown to be sensitive to interaural differences of level, their sensitivity to interaural time differences is poorer, and they also have limited spatial release from masking.
Christopher Brown, associate professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, has developed a software that would compute interaural time differences and convert them into interaural level differences. This would then improve the signal-to-noise ratio of a talker in the presence of another, spatially separated, talker, and improve speech intelligibility.
For more information on this innovation, including licensing, contact Rob Racunas at rracunas@innovation.pitt.edu.
Below is a list of patents issued to Pitt innovators in June 2021. You can also search the complete database of all Pitt innovations available for licensing.
Patent Number |
Title | Inventor(s) | Licensing Manager | Status | |||
11,020,593 | Method to Enhance the Binaural Representation for Hearing-Impaired Users | Christopher Brown | Rob Racunas | Available for Licensing | |||
11,022,601 | Use of Eomesodermin to Determine Risk of Allograft Rejection | Mohamed Ezzelarab; Angus Thomson | Andrew Remes | Available for Licensing | |||
11,035,007 | IGF2BP3 Functional Alterations and Overexpressions as a Marker for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapeutic Response of IGF1R Inhibitors | Yuri Nikiforov; Marina Nikiforova | Maria Vanegas | Licensed | |||
11,040,935 | Small Molecule AMPK Activators | Rama Mallampali; Yuan Li; Beibei Chen | Jeff Depp | Licensed | |||
11,045,597 | Extracorporeal Ambulatory Assist Lung | Shalv Madhani; Brian Frankowski; William Federspiel; Gregory Burgreen; James Antaki | Maria Vanegas | Licensed | |||
11,045,218 | Transatrial Access for Intracardiac Therapy | Antonio D’Amore; William Wagner; Vinay Badhwar | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
11,046,958 | Antisense Oligonucleotides That Inhibit Influenza Virus Replication and Uses Thereof | Seema Lakdawala; Nara Lee | Andrew Remes | Available for Licensing | |||
11,045,745 | Reactive Extraction of Water | Eric Beckman; Ioannis Bourmpakis; Nathan Tavenor | George Coulston | Not Available for Licensing | |||
11,050,031 | Nanoscale Light Emitting Diode, and Method of Making Same | Daud Emon; Hong Koo Kim | George Coulston | Available for Licensing | |||