Fixation of a bone conduction floating mass transducer

1. An implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement comprising:

an implantable bone conduction transducer including:

i. a center rotational axis radially surrounded by an outer surface, and

ii. at least one radial projection projecting radially outward from the outer surface;

an implantable transducer receptacle including:

i. a receptacle outer surface configured to fit into a receptacle recess in skull bone of a recipient patient,

ii. a receptacle inner surface configured to fit around the outer surface of the transducer, and

iii. at least one projection bracket projecting radially inward away from the receptacle inner surface;

wherein the at least one radial projection progressively increases in radius in the rotational direction and is configured to interact with the at least one projection bracket so that rotation of the transducer around the center rotational axis creates increased lateral force between the transducer and the skull bone surrounding the receptacle recess so as to securely engage the transducer with the skull bone.

2. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one projection bracket is configured to deform in response to the rotation of the transducer to form a lip of projection bracket material rotationally behind the at least one radial projection that resists counter-rotation of the transducer that would reduce the lateral force.

3. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein an outer surface of the at least one radial projection and an inner surface of the at least one projection bracket have one or more counter-rotation resistance features configured to cooperate to resist counter-rotation of the transducer that would reduce the lateral force.

4. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more counter-rotation resistance features include a plurality of cooperating ratchet teeth configured to resist counter-rotation of the transducer.

5. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more counter-rotation resistance features include surface regions of increased surface roughness configured to resist counter-rotation of the transducer.

6. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more counter-rotation resistance features include surface regions with high friction coating configured to resist counter-rotation of the transducer.

7. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one outer ring surrounding the receptacle outer surface configured to hold together the transducer receptacle.

8. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one outer ring is made of silicone material.

9. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the transducer includes an end surface with a surface treatment for promoting osseointegration of the end surface with adjacent skull bone.

10. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the transducer includes an upper surface with a rotation promotion feature configured to cooperate with a surgical instrument to facilitate the rotation of the transducer around the center rotational axis to create the increased lateral force.

11. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one projection bracket is made of a biocompatible polymer material.

12. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one projection bracket is made of titanium.

13. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the transducer has a plurality of radial projections.

14. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 13 , wherein the radial projections are all equal in size.

15. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 13 , wherein the radial projections have different sizes.

16. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the receptacle inner surface has a plurality of projection brackets.

17. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 16 , wherein the projection brackets are all equal in size.

18. The implantable bone conduction transducer arrangement according to claim 16 , wherein the projection brackets have different sizes.