Oticon Powers Up Sumo DM Hearing Aids For Hardest-Of-Hearing Customers
Designing hearing aids for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss is one of the biggest challenges confronting hearing-aid manufacturers. Read more
Bluetooth Hearing-Aid Products Debut
Starkey Laboratories announced its Bluetooth Eli (Ear-Level Instrument) last week in a news release on the Advance for Audiologists website. Read more
Neckloops For Telecoil-Equipped Hearing Aids Are Cool
When I got my first neckloop two years ago, I marveled at its simplicity and utility. It’s little more than a cord of insulated stereo-speaker wire that I loop around my neck and plug into a microphone or other source. But then, through the miracle of electro-magnetic induction, it transmits pure sound directly into my telecoil-equipped hearing aids. Read more
Postmodern Man: Michael Chorost’s Cochlear-Implant Book, Rebuilt, Is About A Whole Lot More Than Cochlear Implants
You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about cochlear implants, and more, from Michael Chorost’s new book, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human. Read more
California Dreaming About Hearing-Hair Replacement
Let’s talk hair-replacement therapy. No, I’m not talking about premature baldness, Rogaine or Hair Club for Men. I’m talking about the 15,000 hair-like cells we have in each cochlea at birth that are responsible for translating sound waves from the ear drum into electrical signals the brain can decode as speech, music, a baby crying and all other sounds. When these cells die due to natural aging processes, trauma, or exposure to too much noise or otoxic drugs, we experience sensorineurial hearing loss, the most common form of hearing impairment. Read more
If A-Rod Can Carry A Purse, I Can Too!
Remember that Seinfeld episode when Jerry decides to get rid of his over-stuffed wallet and start using a “European Carry-All”? Everyone calls it a purse, and he insists it’s not (“It’s European!”), even though it is. A couple of months ago, I finally got tired the trade-off between stuffing every spare pocket with all my hearing gear (and eventually having to wear a sport coat and overcoat with yet more pockets, even in warm weather) vs. packing it all in my business briefcase that is too big to carry with me everywhere I go. Read more
Hearing Aids And Cellphones: One Step Forward, Half A Step Back
Making a cellphone easy to use with a hearing aid is devilishly hard. Both devices are packed with so many chips and other digital electronics that electromagnetic interference causing feedback, static and distortion is bound to occur in one or both devices. Last week, the cellphone/hearing-aid industry coalition that is racing to meet Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for hearing-aid compatibility issued a good-news, bad-news update. Read more
Bluetooth Bandwagon Builds Momentum, But Where Are The HOH Products?
Every week it seems we hear of another new product for hard-of-hearing (HOH) consumers utilizing the Bluetooth wireless communications standard. In addition to my post last month on Sound ID, I’ve recently discovered that Starkey Laboratories, Micro-Tech Hearing Instruments, Sonomax Hearing Healthcare, and Gennum Corp. are also getting into the act. And I’m sure there are more. My only comment on all these efforts is, “Sounds great, guys, but when will we actually see (and hear) the products?” Read more
Infants With Cochlear Implants Get More Language Sooner
A recent research report published by a team at Indiana University provides more evidence that the younger a hearing-impaired child receives a cochlear implant, the quicker he or she is to acquire spoken language. Read more
Cochlear Implants and Music
I went to my daughter’s piano recital last night and she was phenomenal. Because all music is horribly distorted for me, I couldn’t hear how well she played, but the response from the audience was awesome. My heart swelled. It also reminded me I’ve been meaning to point out a good article in the Bionic Beat newsletter. Read more