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.

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.

Race To Acquire Siemens Hearing Aids Heats Up As Cochlear Ltd. And Synthes Join Fray

Reuters quotes sources saying Cochlear Ltd., one of three global suppliers of cochlear implant devices as well as a leader in bone-anchored hearing aids, intends to join two private equity firms in making a multi-billion dollar bid for Siemens Hearing Instruments, which is being spun off by its parent company. The report also says Synthes, a global medical equipment manufacturer, also will join the bidding.

This is a huge story for the hearing aid industry, which is going through a wave of consolidation as the leading global players try to simultaneously gain market share by broadening their distribution at the low end of the market while building war chests for a new generation of R&D-led innovation at the high end of the market. Putting the very high end digital technologies required for cochlear implants under the same roof as mainstream digital hearing aids will give a shot of much-needed energy into high-end hearing-aid innovation.

Sonova CEO Valentin Chapero kicked off the industry’s consolidation charge in 2007 with his failed bid to acquire GN Resound and vault to undisputed leader of the global industry. Undaunted, in November 2009 Sonova made a bid to acquire Advanced Bionics (AB), the U.S.-based cochlear implant maker. Then in January 2010 Sonova acquired InSound Medical, developer of an innovative hearing aid implanted deep within the ear canal. Assuming the AB deal passes regulatory approvals, Sonova have a vertically line of hearing assistance products, offering everything from inexpensive entry-level hearing aids all the way up to the most sophisticated cochlear implant technologies available.

Cochlear’s strategy appears to be similar to Phonak’s, but it will enter the market from the opposite direction by leveraging its strong position in high-end cochlear implant technology to move into the mainstream hearing-aid market with the acquisition of Siemens Hearing, one of the world’s seven largest hearing-aid suppliers.

America Hears, Inc. Upgrades Entire Hearing-Aid Line to 32-Channel Digital Signal Processors

With its new Independence Family of hearing aids, America Hears, Inc., has upgraded its entire family of digital hearing aids to 32-channel digital signal processors. And, in line with its stated goal of remaining the price/performance leader among hearing-aid manufacturers, it has set prices ranging from $799 to $1,299 per hearing aid, less than half the price charged by other name-brand manufacturers of comparable-performance hearing aids. Disclosure: I wear a pair of America Hears custom hearing aids and am incredibly happy with them. I also intend to get a pair of the new Independence hearing-aid models to hear for myself the improvements the company has made in its sound-processing system.

The new, high-performance, low-cost hearing aids feature a Voyageur II digital signal processor from Sound Design Technologies, Ltd., that processes 32 independent streams of sound to provide tuned amplification at the broadest range of frequencies available in the industry. And the Advanced Dynamic Range Optimization (ADRO) sound processing software from Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd. features a new, improved enhance speech in noise (ESIN) algorithm that amplifies the high-frequency sounds that comprise 60% of speech, attacking the problem of hearing speech in noisy environments such as crowded restaurants.

The America Hears direct-from-factory-to-consumer Internet sales model enables the company to keep costs to the end user low. At the same time, its user-adjustable programming software enables you to take charge of tuning your own hearing aids after they are programmed to your audiogram at the factory.

The America Hears Independence hearing aids come in a range of styles, from receiver-in-the-canal, to open fit, to behind the ear, to custom models. There are up to four user-selectable four program settings for different listening environments. And it features data logging–the ability to record and track the output of your hearing aids over time to understand how they are being used in different listening environments.

HearUSA Scores Hearing-Aid Distribution Deal With AARP

HearUSA, the U.S. chain of hearing-aid retail outlets, scored a major distribution deal with AARP Services, Inc. to offer discounted hearing aids and extended warranties to the nearly 40 million U.S. members of the world’s largest service organization for adults aged 50 and older. Next to an endorsement by Oprah, a distribution deal with AARP is one of the most coveted marketing prizes for companies selling to middle-aged-and-older consumers. AARP has long offered advice on hearing health but has been short on commercial offers for hearing aids to match the discounts it provides for vision products and general health insurance plans. The HearUSA deal should provide similar incentives for seniors to take care of their hearing needs, although the initial press release held back on details of the discounts and other offers that will initially be offered to customers in New Jersey and Florida and later throughout the United States.

The arrangement is good news for Siemens, which is a major investor in HearUSA and supplies most of the hearing-aid products sold by the company. In addition to providing a financial boost to HearUSA, the AARP deal may enable geographic expansion of its retail chain, which currently sells hearing aids through 180 company-owned hearing care centers in 10 states in the U.S. and its Hearing Care Network comprised of over 1,900 affiliated audiologists in 49 states.

HearUSA this week also announced second-quarter net income of $1.1 million, compared to a half-million-dollar loss in the previous quarter. Like other companies in the hearing-aid industry, HearUSA has seen a falloff in sales due to the recession, but cost-control measures in addition to the sale of its Canadian subsidiary boosted both the bottom line and balance sheet in the second quarter of 2009.

Opinion: Hearing Aid Pricing Should be More Transparent

The recent Consumer Reports survey of hearing-aid pricing and fitting practices highlighted a growing problem for the hearing-aid industry. Increasingly, consumers are starting to wonder why a few small digital components that can be purchased individually from wholesalers for tens of dollars each (digital signal processor, microphone, amplifier and software) end up in a set of hearing aids that can cost thousands of dollars. It’s time for more transparent pricing in the hearing-aid industry. Digital technologies are becoming standardized, and the cost of components continues to decline.

And there are good alternatives to the established brands now for cost-conscious, tech-savvy do-it-yourselfers: America Hears, which builds top-quality digital hearing aids and sells them online, programs them to your audiogram at the factory, sends you the software to make your own adjustments, and has licensed audiologists at the end of the phone to give you as much help as you need. All for under $1,000 a hearing aid. But most other comparable top-quality digital hearing aids still cost two to three times that much. Why? The answer is in the cost of the service required to get a custom fit. If you don’t dare do it yourself, a good audiologist truly is worth his or her weight in gold, especially if your hearing profile is complex. Getting a comfortable fit and programming assistance tuned to your audiogram usually requires multiple tries and is seemingly as much art as science. An audiologist who will stick with you through multiple adjustments is worth a significant mark-up. But it’s fair to question the value of the markup above and beyond the wholesale price of the basic hearing instrument components.

The hearing industry for the most part remains stuck in a very old distribution model which has restricted growth and shut off affordable options for a large segment of potential buyers in need of hearing assistance. Today most hearing aids are sold by audiologists who charge a single price for the hearing instrument and the service they provide. They give you a hearing test and fit you with hearing aids that meet your specific needs. Their invoice most often does not include line items for the cost of the hearing test, for the ear molds, for the hearing instrument, or for follow-up service. If it did, you would see there’s a lot of cost built into the time they put into helping you out. If you don’t need much help, they make a lot of money. If you are a difficult case requiring a lot of adjustments, they make less. This model worked well until recently. But now, digital technologies are making many more options available for people with different kinds of hearing loss. Open-fit designs mean many consumers don’t need an earmold fitting, and good digital amplification is making it possible for many people to get the hearing assistance they need from low-cost manufacturers selling direct, over the counter. One manufacturer, Songbird Hearing, is even offering disposable hearing aids that you can buy direct from their web site to address mild hearing loss, without a hearing test if you sign a medical waiver. Read more

Consumer Reports Survey Finds Resellers Routinely Double Wholesale Prices of Hearing Aids

A Consumer Reports Magazine investigation of hearing-aid sales and fitting practices found that resellers commonly mark up the prices of new hearing aids more than 100 percent over the wholesale prices paid to manufacturers. In a major report published in the magazine’s July issue, Consumer Reports editors followed a dozen hearing-impaired patients for 6 months as they shopped for and used hearing aids, lab-testing the features of 44 hearing aids. The magazine’s National Research Center also conducted a survey of 1,100 Americans who had bought a hearing aid in the last three years.

“Consumer Reports verified the wholesale price of several of the hearing aids tested, finding on average a markup of 117 percent,” the magazine said in a news release. “This means that there is room to bargain,” said Consumer Reports Senior Editor Tobie Stanger, who added that only 15 percent of survey participants negotiated for a lower price.

Consumer Reports also found that most hearing-aid purchasers they tracked got what it called “mediocre” fittings. “Two-thirds of the 48 aids purchased were misfit: They amplified too little or too much,” the news release said. However, even with substandard fittings, the survey indicated that the hearing-aid industry has started to overcome past problems with customer satisfaction by finally delivering hearing assistance that actually helps users hear better: 73 percent of the users who bought hearing aids were highly satisfied.

The prices of the hearing aids in the Consumer Reports investigation ranged from $1,800 to $6,800 per pair. Currently most hearing aids are sold by manufacturers to audiologists, who resell the products while providing essential services such as a hearing test, fitting, programming the amplification settings to match the patient’s unique hearing profile, and providing warranty repair service. Audiologists justify the mark-up over the manufacturers’ wholesale prices by providing service as part of a set price for the hearing aids.

You Can Trade In Old Hearing Aids For $200 Back From America Hears

If you don’t want to grind up your old unused hearing aids in a blender as seen in the funny Blendtec video, and if you have already made your charitable donations for the year and don’t feel you need to donate them for recycling, there is another way to get them out of your drawer: you can trade in two of your old aids for $200 off the price of a pair of new digital hearing aids from America Hears. Read more

Next Page »