Hearing News

Can Hearing Aids Make You Smarter? Research On Cognitive Hearing and Listening Fatigue Says They Can — Is The Industry Finally Listening?

Hearing aid manufacturers have finally started listening to ten years of academic research into concepts known as “cognitive hearing,” “listening fatigue” and “cognitive fatigue.” It took them long enough, but I’m not complaining, because at least they are finally claiming to attack the problem of hearing loss at its roots.

In recent announcements of their next-generation hearing aids, industry leaders Starkey Laboratories and Oticon both claimed their new products would ameliorate “cognitive fatigue” and therefore improve not only hearing but also the ability to listen and understand. Since the invention of the hearing aid, the industry has focused mostly on simple amplification that makes noise louder and therefore easier to hear. Too often, hearing aids amplify the noises uses don’t want to hear and actually make it more difficult to comprehend the sounds — speech — they do want to hear. Now the industry is finally trying to address the critical issue of better cognition.

While neither Starkey nor Oticon went so far as to say their hearing aids would make you smarter, that’s really the value proposition the industry should start trying to deliver. No, hearing aids can’t make you smarter all by themselves. But hearing well can enable you to listen well, and listening well can enable you to better understand what you hear, better understanding makes it easier for you to communicate in real time with other people, and intelligent communication lets your brain be as smart as it naturally wants to be. Now think of the same scenario in reverse: no hearing assistance means less listening means less understanding means less intelligent communication. In other words, failure to get a good pair of hearing aids can make you appear to be a whole lot stupider than you really are.

The catch is what constitutes a “good pair of hearing aids.” Dr. Brent Edwards at the Starkey Hearing Research Center in Berkeley, California has been looking at the issue of “cognitive hearing” for years, and his work is finally working its way into the products Starkey is delivering to the marketplace. Instead of looking at the problem from the outside in with the mechanics of replacing lost hearing with amplified sound, Edwards and other researchers have looked at it from the inside out by studying how the brain interprets sounds and uses them to create understanding and intelligence. Critical, previously ignored issues —  such as how the brain processes and then ignores background noise, how it picks up nuances in timbre and tone to make fine distinctions between similar-sounding consonants in speech, and how the mental overhead required to compensate for hearing loss affects overall cognitive performance — are now providing guideposts for product developers deciding on how to use the new wealth of digital technology and software to process sound in helpful ways.

A four-year old presentation Edwards gave at the American Academy of Audiology conference is available here. It’s a good starting point for anyone who wants to understand issues surrounding cognitive hearing and hearing-aid product development better. It also points to the research of others in the field, especially Robert Sweetow, who did pioneering studies on how therapeutic training in hearing and listening can dramatically improve comprehension, a concept embodied in Neurtone’s LACE training software.

Will the new hearing aids from Starkey and Oticon prove to be revolutionary, game-changing breakthroughs in delivering on the promise not just of better hearing but of better cognition? More likely, they will be incremental but important advances in today’s hearing-aid technologies. But I’m more optimistic now that with a new awareness of and focus on the core issue of better hearing — better performance in life through better cognition and understanding — the industry will eventually find ways to deliver on the promise.

Able Planet’s Noise-Canceling Headphones Introduce True Hearing-Aid Technology To Consumer Electronics Industry

Able Planet has been around a long time developing assistive listening products for the hearing-assistance industry based on its Linx Audio sound processing technology. But recently it has taken on a new look with a high-profile branding campaign and a new, broad line of high-end noise-canceling headphones, earphones and accessories attacking the heart of the consumer electronics market. At the AudiologyNOW! conference they stood out with a booth promoting “I Am Able” professional athletes who endorse their products, and they were showing new headphones and headsets that are successfully competing head-to-head with Bose and other popular high-end brands.

I caught up with Able Planet’s CEO Kevin Semcken and Chief Audiology Officer Dr. Christoper Schweitzer. Both have vast experience in the health care, medical device and hearing-aid industries. But what stood out for me is their commitment and savvy about what high-end audio consumers are looking for, and how previously arcane hearing-aid technologies such as digital signal processing will play an essential role in consumer electronics. By integrating Linx Audio into all its headphones and headsets, and promoting the technology as its critical advantage, Able Planet is distinguishing itself as one of the very few companies driving high-end hearing technology into mainstream products.

Able Planet’s noise-canceling headphones are head-to-head competitive with Bose, the gold-standard in noise-canceling headphones. Don’t ask me, ask CNET, which did a review of one of Able Planet’s earliest noise-canceling headphones as long ago as 2007 and said that it provided better noise suppression than Bose and an equally rich if not superior listening experience. The only negative in the review is that Able Planet wasn’t a known consumer brand and therefore would have a difficult time overtaking Bose, even with a better product.

Able Planet will continue to differentiate its products by providing value-added features that enable users to customize their listening experience — with what Dr. Schweitzer calls “chameleon-like” digital platforms that are easily modified based on the user’s unique hearing profile. Things as simple as plug-replaceable cords that can provide volume control, left-right balance and equalization adjustments can make all the difference for a boomer suffering unequal levels of hearing loss in one or both ears. Able Planet is also looking at ear-cup sizes that can accommodate behind-the-ear hearing aids on certain models. And it is working on wireless technologies that will enhance the chameleon capabilities of its products even more in the future.

I’ve used headphones from Sony, Sennheiser, Bose and others. Each has its advantages and all provide pretty good sound. But none of the brands has ever made me feel they are focused enough on people with mild or severe hearing impairments to give me any comfort that they are developing products that will continue to meet my needs better and better as new hearing-enhancement technologies become available.

The traditional hearing-industry leaders are no better, by and large choosing to focus on a narrow market of hearing-impaired patients served by audiologists rather than aggressively pushing new products into consumer channels. There is no doubt that within the hearing-aid industry there is enough mind-blowing new technology which, if packaged and promoted properly, could change the landscape of consumer electronics. It continues to amaze me that, as the baby boomer generation continues to lose its hearing at predictable rates, so few manufacturers are positioning themselves to meet the needs of high-end consumers of electronic products who need better and more intelligible sound. By showing up at AudiologyNOW! positioning itself to serve that broad space between high-tech hearing aids and high-end consumer electronics, Able Planet is showing that it “gets it.” Let’s see how many others in the industry follow their lead.

Starkey’s S Series iQ Hearing-Aid Family Attacks Hearing-In-Noise Problem

Anyone who has gone to dinner in a noisy restaurant only to discover their hearing aids were amplifying the cacophony to unbearable levels without enabling them to understand their companions at all will bear witness to the fact that better comprehension of speech in noise is the Holy Grail of the hearing-aid industry. The new S Series IQ hearing-aid family from Starkey Laboratories is a big step in the right direction.

It’s been known for years that constant improvements in the speed and processing power of digital signal processors should logically enable better algorithms for comprehending speech in noise. But solutions that work well have been a long time coming. That’s because digital sound processing technology enabling hearing-aid users to better understand speech-in-noise is a game of milliseconds. It’s excruciatingly difficult to come up with algorithms fast enough to sample the speech and background noise inputs in real time and separate the wheat from the chaff: the processing system must separate the useful speech from the harmful background noise, and then actively amplify the good and suppress the bad.

Starkey says its new Voice IQ technology is fast enough to diminish background noise in the milliseconds-long gap between the syllables of spoken speech, eliminating one of the most critical source of noise that severely impairs understanding of speech in noise. The system, developed over three years at the Starkey Hearing Research Center in Berkeley California, classifies inputs every six milliseconds and adapts every 20 milliseconds — processing speeds that were nearly unimaginable just a few years ago.

Starkey claims that the better comprehension delivered by the new system enables measurable reductions in listening effort. “During clinical trials, experienced users found significant improvement in their ability to communicate with greatly reduced cognitive fatigue compared to their own hearing aids,” the company said in its announcement. The concept of cognitive fatigue due to poor speech recognition has become increasingly important in recent years as researchers have uncovered direct links between poor speech cognition and poor job performance, higher stress levels, and stress- and fatigue-related illnesses.

The S Series IQ family comes in a range of styles including behind-the-ear (BTE) and in-ear receiver in the canal (RIC) and open-fit mini BTE form factors. Integrating Starkey’s InVision directional microphone system, it is a new flagship family to lead the company’s broad line of hearing aids.

As The Economy Turns: Audiology NOW! Exhibitors Promise To Feed Hearing-Aid Market Turnaround With New Products And Technology

I just arrived in beautiful San Diego to attend the American Academy of Audiology’s annual conference, Audiology NOW!, which has become the premier North American showcase for new products and technologies from large and small hearing-aid manufacturers. There seems to be a little more excitement from an industry that has been pummeled by the recession and held to low-to-no-digit sales growth in the past couple of years. This year, the big players have come locked and loaded. Everywhere one turns there seems to be a promotion for Oticon’s new Agil flagship product line. Panasonic will be making its formal U.S. market debut Thursday evening where Panasonic hearing’s US chief Delain Wright will share more of the company’s plans. Siemens has a huge booth in what will surely be a show of commitment to its hearing-aid business following its recent apparent decision not to spin off Siemens Hearing Instruments to private equity investors. Starkey is promising a slew of announcements Friday night in a function on the deck of the USS Midway aircraft carrier. And that’s just scratching the surface. I’ll be posting more news on everything that seems to be either interesting or important, or both.

Let’s Hope Siemens’ Decision To Stay In The Hearing-Aid Business Signals A Commitment To Innovation And New Products

It’s pretty certain now that Siemens will not divest its multi-billion-dollar hearing-aid business after all, having tried and failed to get its nearly $3-billion asking price from the private equity firms and other industry players that were in the bidding. It’s too bad none of the serious industry bidders would step up to the plate, because new management and an infusion of new capital might have revitalized a global hearing-aid industry leader that, given the vast potential in its aweseome R&D resources and market clout, sometimes looks too much like a sleeping giant. Let’s hope Siemens’ decision not to spin out the unit signals a re-commitment to a true leadership of the hearing-aid industry, which will require an investment in innovation and new products that have the potential to jump-start industry growth and deliver a new generation of customer benefits.

How Big A Splash Will Panasonic Make In The U.S. Hearing-Aid Market?

Panasonic’s announcement this week that it will start selling its line of hearing aids in the U.S. is huge for three reasons.

Distribution: If Panasonic makes a serious investment in getting its products out to audiologists and consumers, it could dramatically realign the competitive landscape in the hearing-aid industry. North America is the world’s largest market for hearing aids but is currently dominated by a small handful of major manufacturers. Panasonic has an extremely strong brand name, a massive distribution channel, and credibility in consumer electronics. In terms of market presence alone, it could be an overnight 800-pound gorilla that will force the other competitors to sit up, take notice, and respond by accelerating development of their own new, competitive products and looking hard at pricing and better value propositions for their customers.

Product: Panasonic has the R&D resources to lead the long-awaited move to more user-friendly hearing-assistance products that further blur the line between complex, high-end hearing aids requiring customers to make large investments in time and money vs. more accessible multi-function consumer products that expand the overall market by enhancing and protecting hearing and communication at lower price thresholds. A lot has been done by the current hearing-aid manufacturers about easier-to-wear form factors, a broader variety of solutions for different levels of hearing loss, integration of Bluetooth and other wireless technologies, and attractive design. But it remains to be seen what kinds of exciting technical innovations and new products a heavyweight consumer electronics leader will deliver to this market. Yoshi Yuasa, Corporate Senior Vice President of Panasonic North America, noted that with its combination of global consumer electronics experience and long history providing hearing products to the Japanese market, “Panasonic is well positioned to participate in the convergence of audio products and hearing aids.”

People: Panasonic made the smart move of hiring Delain Wright to lead the charge into the U.S. market. Wright, who previously led Siemens Hearing Instruments in the U.S. and held senior management positions with Siemens Hearing in Europe, started his career fitting patients with hearing aids in his own private practice and knows the business from top to bottom. He is a bona fide hearing-aid industry leader who knows exactly who he needs on his team and what Panasonic needs to do to hit the ground running the the U.S. market. “With the recent development of its own proprietary digital sound processing devices and algorithms and sleekly styled products coupled with the powerful consumer brand’s strength, I think Panasconic is in a strong position as we launch local operations in this country,” said Wright, whose title is Director of Sales for Panasonic Corporation of North America’s Healthcare Group.

Panasonic will hold a kick-off event Thursday at the American Academy of Audiologists AudiologyNOW industry conference in San Diego.

Oticon To Double The Processing Power Of Its Hearing Aids With New Flagship ‘Agil’ Family

William Demant Holding Group’s Oticon hearing-aid brand is getting ready to introduce a new line of hearing aids with twice the processing power of its current flagship family and a new set of sound processing algorithms that the Denmark company claims will substantially improve users’ comprehension of speech in noise. Oticon’s new Agil family will be formally launched in March and be shown for the first time at the American Academy of Audiology convention in San Diego in April. The Agil family will serve a broad range of hearing needs from moderate to severe hearing loss and will come in form factors ranging from behind-the-ear (BTE) to receiver in the ear (RITE). Oticon is promoting two innovations enabled by the more powerful processing platform: Speech Guard and Spatial Sound 2.0.

Oticon says Speech Guard is based on a new wireless platform with twice the calculation power of its current flagship Oticon Epoq family. It includes a new processing kernel that it says will preserve signal fidelity–quality of sound, especially human voices–far more effectively than in the past. At the same time, Spatial Sound 2.0, a “spatial noise management system” that “maintains natural acoustic cues.” The platform integrates seamlessly with the Oticon ConnectLine wireless listening system.

“With Oticon Agil,we have virtually improved all the advanced features already available in Oticon Epoq,” William Demant Holding President and CEO Niels Jacobsen said in a statement to investors. “Our almost three years of everyday experience with wireless audiology and connectivity has given us valuable insights enabling us to bring forward a significantly better hearing solution.” Among those insights is the fact that better comprehension of speech based on more natural processing of spatial sound reduces the cognitive “overhead” required to understand speech, enabling hearing-aid users to better understand speech with less stress, Oticon said. The company said it is focused on new research showing that struggles to comprehend speech can significantly increase fatigue and impair performance of everyday activities in ways that lead directly to loss of income.

Every few years the major global hearing-aid manufacturers release their new processing platforms, promising to deliver breakthroughs in comprehension of speech in noise. It’s gratifying to see a major manufacturer linking its new product platform so tightly to new research on how hearing loss directly effects people’s health and incomes.

Hearing Aid Technology Is Finally Going To Work In Hearing Protection Market

For a long time, the standard in hearing protection for the military, police and workers in noisy industrial environments was little more than a set of ill-fitting ear plugs. But blocking your hearing is often more dangerous than potentially losing it in noisy environments where inability to hear your colleague’s voices or failure to hear warnings of an imminent threat can put you in harm’s way. It’s no surprise, then, that hearing loss among soldiers who don’t wear their earplugs because they don’t feel safe not being able to hear what’s going on around them has become one of the biggest problems for veterans of the Irag war and other conflicts. That’s why it’s gratifying to see hearing-aid manufacturers have finally start applying advanced hearing enhancement and hearing protection technology to the problem of environmental noise. Phonak is the latest manufacturer to come up with an advanced hearing system for people trying to get their jobs done in noisy and dangerous environments, and it integrates some impressive technology.

The new Phonak primero DPC boomless radio headset features “dynamic hearing protection.” Custom ear molds that sit in the user’s ears integrate wireless technology which measures and dampens environmental noise while enhancing speech tones. The sound-dampening completely protects users from load blasts or noise from heavy machinery while enabling them to continue speaking with others over a wireless link. A tiny microphone integrated within the ear jack and an innovative signal processing algorithm pick up the user’s voice from inside the ear canal. This allows the user to be heard by others over the wireless link more clearly than with previous technologies. Designed with teams such as rapid intervention, SWAT, police, emergency and homeland security professionals in mind, the primero DPC system raises the bar of safe radio communications by enabling conversation in noise of up to 115dB with hearing protection guaranteed even when loud ‘impulse’ noises such as shots or crashes occur.

By integrating both hearing enhancement AND protection, Phonak’s new system is leading the charge for a new class of products that put sophisticated hearing aid technology to work in a market for hearing-protection systems that is potentially even larger than the global market for hearing aids.

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