Some soothsayers are predicting 2015 will be the Year of Wearable Electronics, with one research firm forecasting double-digit global market growth to $8 billion by 2018. But in the cascade of new wearable products -- smart wristwatches with built-in sensors, web-connected glasses with tiny online cameras, wrist-bands that monitor your every move, "e-textile" outerwear with … [Read more...] about Why Aren’t Hearing Aids Leading The Wearable Electronics Market?
Components & Technology
On Semiconductor’s New Digital Signal Processors Drive Hearing Aid Cost Reduction
With the introduction of two new digital signal processors (DSPs) integrating advanced sound processing functions, On Semiconductor is taking another step in the march to lower-cost manufacturing of both high-end and entry-level hearing aids. The new members of the company's Rhythm family of preconfigured DSP systems for hearing aids integrate 16-channel sound processing … [Read more...] about On Semiconductor’s New Digital Signal Processors Drive Hearing Aid Cost Reduction
Life At The Cutting Edge: FDA Weighed Tradeoffs In Approving Hybrid Cochlear Implant
In approving Cochlear Ltd.'s Nucleus Hybrid L24 Implant System for use in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to balance some serious demonstrable risks against many obvious benefits of the new implant system. The biggest problem some early users experienced -- complete loss of their low-frequency hearing in the implanted ear -- might seem to … [Read more...] about Life At The Cutting Edge: FDA Weighed Tradeoffs In Approving Hybrid Cochlear Implant