hearing aids for people with hearing loss
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Hearing Loss"
Hearing aids are one of the fundamental devices used by
hard of hearing and late deafened people. They work by amplifying sound.
There are many different types of hearing aids, each addressing
particular needs.
If you are interested in a general discussion one of
the hearing aid types, please select the appropriate link below. If you
would like information on a specific hearing aid, please see the Hearing
Aid portion of our Resource Directory.
Want to see what people think about the cost
of hearing aids?
We believe EVERY hearing aid should include a telecoil.
Here's
more on this important technology.
For information on where in your area to buy a hearing
aid, visit our Local Service
Providers section.
Conventional (Acoustic) Hearing
Aids (BTE, ITE, etc.)
Conduction Aids
Implantable Hearing Aids
Inexpensive Hearing Aids
Hearing Aid Tech Talk
Hearing
Aid Industry
Unusual Hearing AIds
back to "New to
Hearing Loss"
Conduction aids work by sending the acoustic energy
through the bones of the skull. These aids are effective for some types
of hearing loss. The functioning of the Hisonic
aid is typical of bone conduction aids.
October 2005 - After
several years with little public visibility, the HiSonic aid is back in
the news!
September 2006 - Bone
Conduction Research
January 2007 - Bone-anchored
hearing aids suitable for young children
January 2007
- Baha
Hearing System is Loud and Clear!
August 2007
- BAHA Treats Single Sided Deafness
December 2007 - The Hugh Hetherington On-line Hearing
Aid Museum
April 2008 -
To CROS, or not to CROS?
May 2008 - Loyola Study Confirms BAHA's
Effectiveness
May 2008 -
Bone Anchored Hearing Aids Work When Others Don't
June 2009 - Consumer Rights and Hearing Aids
July 2009 - Better hearing with bone conducted sound
July 2009 - Cochlear Unveils New Baha BP100
Processor
August 2009 - Australian Receives Cochlear's BP100 Bone
Anchored Hearing Aid
August 2009 - Oticon Receives FDA Clearance for Bone
Anchored Hearing System
October 2009 - Woman Eats Her Hearing Aid!
October 2009 - Cochlear(tm) Baha(r) BP100 and Current
Issues in Bone Anchored Hearing Technology
October 2009 - HLAA
Convention: BAHA: An Overview
October 2009 - Moisture Repellent Coating to Debut for
Hearing Aids
October 2009 - Can Better Hearing
Aids Help You Think Better?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2005
Editor: Several years ago we reported on the HiSonic hearing aid,
which caused quite a stir at the time. It is an ultrasonic, bone
conduction aid that the manufacturers said could assist people with
sensorineural hearing loss who did not benefit from conventional hearing
aids. It was even suggested as a potential alternative to Cochlear
Implants. (See http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/ha/hisonic.htm)
Then the company and product seemed to just disappear, until now. A
company called Misonix has apparently bought Sonic Innovations (HiSonic
developer) and is working to commercialize the HiSonic product.
Here are portions of the press release.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FARMINGDALE, N.Y., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Misonix, Inc. (Nasdaq:
MSON), a developer of ultrasonic medical device technology for the
treatment of cancer and other healthcare purposes, today announced that
it has contracted Ceres Biotechnology, LLC for services to assist in
brining to market its ultrasonic medical devices for those with severe
hearing impairment. These activities are an important element to
Misonix's strategy for preparing for commercialization the products that
had been in development by Hearing Innovations. As announced earlier
this year and following its reorganization under Chapter 11, Hearing
Innovations, a developmental company with patented HiSonic ultrasonic
technology intended to alleviate profound deafness and tinnitus, became
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misonix.
Virginia-based Ceres Biotechnology has been contracted for an
indefinite period expected to last approximately 18 months. Deliverables
under the contract include professional consulting services for the
development of technology, software programming, technical and product
development engineering, selection of commercial partners, and the
creation, testing and development of prototypes. As part of the
contract, Ceres Biotechnology will conduct a clinical trail intended to
prove efficacy. Ceres envisions the development of a multifunctional
unit that will incorporate technologies addressing sensory processes
essential for hearing and interpreting sound. The technology also will
enable improved hearing by those less impaired, thus significantly
expanding the addressable market.
[snip]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September
2006
Dr. Manohar
Bance has been looking for sweet spots in the human skull. What he finds
could lead to a major technological breakthrough for people with certain
hearing impairments and spinoffs that could change how you listen to your
IPod or cellphone and even how soldiers communicate on the battlefield.
Boosted by a $2.6-million grant from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund, the team he leads has embarked on a
five-year project to change the tools used to channel the vibrations of
sound through the skull to nerves in the inner ear, allowing people to
hear even if they lack critical parts of the ear.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
2007
Jan.
5 felt like Christmas to Grace Williams. She was sitting in an exam room
at the ENT Clinic of Iowa in West Des Moines when her doctor handed her
a tan box about the size of a postage stamp. It was a new hearing device
that processes sound through a titanium fixture that had been implanted
in the bones of her head . . . . She tried placing the processor into
the fixture behind her ear. She fumbled a couple of times, and her
physician, Dr. Tim Simplot, stepped forward to help. Suddenly, her
hearing had a clarity she had never known. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2008
Profound sensorineural hearing loss in one ear
only, sometimes called single-sided deafness, has numerous causes,
including idiopathic sudden hearing loss and the removal of an acoustic
tumor. Although single-sided deafness has generally been considered a
minor inconvenience when compared to hearing loss in both ears, the
ability to hear in one ear only presents a number of listening
disadvantages. First, when the speaker is on the side of the non-hearing
ear, the amplitude of high-frequency sounds critical for speech perception
and understanding is reduced by as much as 20 dB SPL as they travel
through and around the head to reach the hearing ear. This obstruction of
sounds by the head, called the head-shadow effect, can also impair sound
localization and distance estimation. Second, the loss of hearing in one
ear prevents the perceived doubling of loudness normally experienced
through the binaural summation of sound energy coming into the two ears
simultaneously. Third, the ability to squelch background noises in favor
of foreground speech is lost or diminished, making listening in noise
especially difficult.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
Bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) have been used
in the United States since receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approval in l996. BAHA is a registered trademark of Entific Medical
Systems, a Swedish manufacturing company owned by Cochlear Limited. The
bone-anchored aid is a surgically implantable system that works through
direct bone stimulation. According to the Maryland Hearing and Balance
Center, "The baha consists of three parts: a titanium implant, an external
abutment, and a sound processor. The system works by enhancing natural
bone transmission as a pathway for sound to travel to the inner ear,
bypassing the external auditory canal and the middle ear. The titanium
implant is placed during a short surgical procedure and over time
naturally integrates with the skull bone. For hearing, the sound processor
transmits sound vibrations through the external abutment to the titanium
implant. The vibrating implant sets up vibrations with the skull and inner
ear that finally stimulate the nerve fibers of the inner ear, allowing
hearing."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2009
On Friday Mr Hughes had tiny titanium screws
drilled into bone behind each ear during a 90-minute operation under
general anaesthetic. Once the wounds heal and the screws have fused with
bone, abutments will be screwed into the implants, and the processors,
about the size of a postage stamp, are clicked into place. Older-style
hearing aids amplify all sounds, making it almost impossible for wearers
to hear conversations in noisy environments. They also interfere with
frequencies used by mobile and fixed phones and often emit high-pitched
whistling sounds. But the newer processors, costing about $6000 each, shut
out background noise, giving users up to 25 per cent better hearing, and
can be attached directly to MP3 music players or wireless headsets for
talking on the phone, Cochlear's territory manager, Katrina Martin, said.
They were useful for people with congenitally blocked middle ears, chronic
infections that had eaten away tiny bones in the middle ear used for sound
conduction, or babies born with closed ear canals, she said.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2009
"As I enjoyed the chocolate and caramel taste, it
appeared that one of my Milk Duds was not as fresh as the others. One was
rather crunchy and I could not get it to soften up, no matter how hard I
tried." The transplanted Texan was puzzled. Finally, she removed the dud
Dud from her mouth. She wanted to see what the problem was. "I found out."
Apparently, as she had shifted into position on the bed, a hearing aid had
fallen out of her ear and dropped right into the little box of candies.
She couldn't have done that on purpose if she had tried. The hearing aid
was now coated with chocolaty goodness.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2009
The traditional indications for a bone anchored
device like the Baha are similar to those for patients who would benefit
from a traditional hearing aid or a traditional bone conduction
transducer. The difference with Baha is that the patient has a condition
that makes him or her unable to use a conventional device. The possible
conditions include: patients with chronic ear infections, atresia of the
ear canal, a patient who developed otitis externa with the use of
traditional earmolds, and even patients who have nasopharyngeal carcinomas
that require extensive radiation which lowers the patient's tolerance of
an earmold within the ear canal. These patients traditionally have a
conductive or mixed hearing loss, with bone conduction thresholds no
greater than 35 to 45 dB HL and speech discrimination scores of 60% or
better.
Full Story
