A California startup company, iHear Medical Inc., is promising to break the $200 price barrier for programmable hearing aids with its new, invisible iHear HD hearing device.
The early-bird $199 price includes not only the new digital hearing aid, but also an iHear Test kit that enables customers to self-administer hearing tests and program the hearing aids to their personal hearing profiles.
With pre-orders now at www.igg.me/at/ihearmedical for online shipments that will start in August, iHear Medical is also promising to donate one of its hearing aids for every hearing aid it sells, “to give the gift of hearing to an economically disadvantaged person.” The company has set a goal to donate 1,000 hearing aids through its Hearing for All Foundation in its first 60 days of shipments.
The incredibly low price point might be cause for skepticism, were it not for the track record of the company’s founder, Adnan Shennib, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Shennib’s previous company, InSound Medical, developed high-end, invisible, extended-wear Lyric hearing aids that cost several thousand dollars each.
In 2010, Shennib sold InSound Medical to Sonova Group for $169 million. He then set to work on his idea for iHear Medical to sell low-cost, high-quality hearing aids to the huge population of consumers who currently can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars for hearing assistance.
Shennib points to the fact that 40 percent of American consumers with hearing loss are economically disadvantaged and simply cannot afford the high price of most digital programmable hearing aids. The company identifies what it says is the cause of this gap—a hearing aid industry that hasn’t innovated in ways enabling more affordable solutions:
The industry is currently dominated by 6 major players who control over 90% of the market. The industry has operated in the “old business” model of high-cost high-margin service which has not served consumers well, as evidenced by the fact only 20% of people with hearing loss have a solution, compared to over 95% of people with vision problems who have corrective solutions. We are about to challenge and lead an industry that refuses to change. The iHear products are expected to create a new paradigm in hearing health care, by removing the major barriers to hearing aid acquisition.
By developing what it says is the “first web-enabled hearing aid system,” iHear Medical plans to upend the current distribution system in which professional audiologists perform the patient testing and sell their services along with high-end hearing aids at premium prices. In other words, selling directly to the consumer over the Internet will dramatically reduce costs.
There have been other high-quality user-programmable hearing aids available on the Internet—we have written about America Hears extensively in the past—but none has featured a user-administered hearing test, and all are priced at least four-to-five times higher than the iHear HD hearing aids.
Key to combining miniaturization with high-quality hearing aid performance will be new technologies, and iHear Medical says it is has already filed for 18 patents on innovations critical to delivering its system. No doubt Shennib and his team are drawing on their previous experience developing the Lyric hearing aid, which sat deep within the ear canal for complete invisibility through new miniaturization and extended wear technologies.
The iHear HD device will integrate a microphone and receiver (speaker) in a bean-sized unit that sits within the ear canal. A compact, easily replaceable custom battery unit sold by iHear Medical provides enough power for about a week of daily use.
In addition to taking the cost out of manufacturing and providing high-quality digital hearing technology at a new, low price threshold, iHear Medical will need to deliver another hearing-industry first—an accurate, self-administered hearing test that will actually enable customers to program their hearing aids at home.
While the company has not yet released technical details on its iHear Test kit, it has laid out a “simple, one-two-three process” by which consumers will acquire and program their iHear HD hearing aids:
1. First, the iHear Test Kit is shipped to the customer, who plugs it into a personal computer, downloads software from iHear Medical, connects to the iHear cloud-based platform, and conducts a personal hearing test online
2. Next, the iHear HD hearing device is shipped to the customer for an individualized fitting, using the Kit to program the device based on the personal hearing test result stored in iHear Medical’s online database.
3. The customer can further tune the programming of the hearing aid, managing the entire fitting process with the personal computer.
In its list of frequently asked questions and answers, iHear Medical explains that users will be able to self-administer two tests for free, with subsequent tests costing $9 each. The user’s test information will be stored in iHear Medical’s online database, and the company will have audiologists and other experts on staff available online and on the phone to help customers use the kit to custom-program their hearing aids.
The company is currently awaiting approval of the 510K application it filed in 2013 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell the iHear Test product. Users will have to sign a waiver form testifying that they have either had their hearing checked by a medical professional or are skipping a medical evaluation while acknowledging they are aware that the FDA strongly recommends that anyone who has trouble hearing and wants to acquire a hearing aid should seek medical advice first. The FDA requires the medical waiver for direct-to-consumer sales of hearing aids bypassing audiologists, licensed hearing aid dispensers, or other medical professionals.
If iHear Medical can meet its cost and performance targets, it has the potential to be a disruptive force in the hearing aid industry. The current wave of digital personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), which are not custom programmed to the user’s hearing profile and which don’t require a medical waiver, have already upset the leading hearing aid manufacturers by providing amplification at much lower prices than custom-programmed hearing aids. And the higher function programmable iHear HD hearing aid is undercutting the prices charged by many of the higher-quality PSAP makers.
To learn more and/or to pre-order at the introductory prices, visit iHear Medical’s IndieGoGo campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/invisible-hearing-device-by-ihear.
Ronnie says
I heard a old comment that a older person said once if it sound to good to be true that it may not be true so be careful they are some of the best con people out there.
Daniel H. says
Hi Gord, this is Daniel, Customer Support Manager for iHear Medical. You may want to check your email settings as well as you IndieGoGo settings, as we sent an email to you back on 7/14/15 to confirm your shipment details. We have been waiting for over a month to hear from you. I’ll re-send the email for your convenience, but please send us an email or give us a call so we can finalize your info and ship your perk as soon as possible!
Thanks for your support, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Best, Daniel
A shennib says
Gord Hankin, we shipped the headphone and iHearTest orders already and also some iHearHDs back in March. We ran into supply issues for the iHearHD which we are working on to resolve. This is a fairly complex product and it takes time to get it fully developed. If you have an order then you should be receiving regular updates from our Indiegogo campaign. Check your Indiegogo settings if you are not receiving the updates. If you have any question about your order you can contact our customer support support@ihearmedical.com
Gord Hankin says
I sent you $200 on March 24 2014 ( Indigogo) and have not received anything.
At this point I am thinking I was taken by a fraudster.
When am I going to get anything for my money?
Jean says
Hello,
Is this thing on the market, we are in 2015!?
Is it shipped to Europe?
The best programmable HA that I came across is an iphone app! http://www.pure-sound.fr
I am curious about the iHear!
Thanks for informing me!
Adnan Shennib says
Hi Ben, we are currently serving our Indiegogo backers until all orders are fulfilled. We expect to take new orders in March 2015. Please check our website to register and for updates. Or you can contact us at orders@ihearmedical.com
Ben Bezko says
At 70 and under Dr care fore severe depression because of hearing loss.When will your device be available .
Thank You.
Ben Becki rowan
845-774-9131
Just hoping says
John Franks, thank you for sharing your story. You should be in 20/20, 60 minutes, CNN, you tube and any media you can get in. To deny millions of people the ability to hear is a crime. Hearing aid companies as you stated have the technology to make hearing aids at affordable cost but has manipulated the sales and market and with their millions probably have great influence in law makers to keep the laws as they are. There is no transparently no way to compare hearing aids and the prices are kept secret. Audiologist have free reign in what they charge.
Please, please share your story is the only way to get hearing aid companies to listen. If you have the connections work on an affordable hearing aid or join with Shennib abnan . You will be helping millions and millions of people. If you are retired you can use the internet and media to tell the story of the hearing aid industry dirty secrets. Thanks again.
Just hoping says
Adnan Shennib, thank you. It is people like you that change the world for the better. You are a hero and will help millions of people. Blessings will come your way in many forms you have already received favor and goodwill. I can’t thank you enough for me and the millions. You will probably become the “Bill Gates” of the hearing aid industry in the world. I wish you the best and can’t wait when you are able to make the behind the ear with the tube in the ear. Presently I do not have hearing aids because I cannot afford to replaced the ones that broke down. Hopefully you will be able to have more hearing aids available for this year. I just recently hear about your idea and I can’t believed is not the biggest news story of the century, since hearing aids companies have kept the hurting public in the dark for probably that long. Thanks again.
Adnan Shennib says
Dear Phil, Thank you for your continued interest. We are quite sold out this year due to more than expected demand from our Indiegogo campaign. So for this year (2014) our supply is very limited and we are committed to serving our Indiegogo contributors on a first-come first-serve basis through December 2014. We should begin general release in early 2015 so please check our website http://www.ihearmedical.com for updates. Thanks again for your interest and we will do our best to expedite our production.
Phil says
Adnan Shennib, I really should have acted on your campaign. I didn’t know it was going to be another 6 months before I would be given the opportunity to buy the hearing aids. I have looked through your website and the indigigo website to see how I might still be able to get in, but to no avail.
If there is any way I could still get in or purchase these, please let me know. plarsen111 at gmail com.
As a school teacher, I have been waiting my whole life for something like this to come along (I was born with a high-pitch hearing loss). I can wait until spring of next year if need be, but any help is greatly appreciated.
Adnan Shennib says
Thank you John and Phil for your comments. I do share you views about an industry that has been reluctant to provide alternatives to the high-price low-perceived-value business model, which explains the primary reason why only 20% of people with hearing loss have hearing solutions- compared to 95%+ in vision correction. My conclusion after serving in the industry for over 24 years, that nothing will change for consumers until the cost of hearing aids becomes in line with the cost of prescription eyeglasses- which is about $200.
Phil says
Wow, this is the sort of thing I have been waiting for! I am not saying it is going to work for me, but I really appreciate what this company is doing.
To think Starkey wants $7000 for their invisible hearing aids, and they are arrogant about it, as are the dispensers that sell them. I left the only Starkey audiologist in our area with a sick feeling in my stomach. Never again will I go back to them.
Thank you hearing mojo for bringing this to light!
John Franks says
During the 1980’s I was put in the inadvertent position of building Starkey Texas having been given two techs from Minneapolis. (When Starkey bought the medical instruments division from Tracoustics – now Acoustic Systems – they insisted I come with it or it was no deal, so I went when they promised to leave us alone; a promise that lasted four months. But I digress.) We could build a then state-of-the art ITE for $39 that we sold at best discount price to dispensers for $149 and that they then sold for $499. We introduced many programs into Starkey-dom so that later I was forced out since Starkey Texas was making money and Tracoustics Medical wasn’t – and it doesn’t exist now.
Anyway, putting the R&D into actually bringing to market a product that many of us thought possible 30 years ago, but not feasible given the technology infrastructure, is laudable. I am happy to be a supporter and I plan to pre-order as well, for my wife who is extremely difficult to fit.
My hearing is still within normal limits – I made a commitment myself to hang on to good hearing for as long as possible when I began in Audiology and later when I shifted my research and outreach activities to hearing loss prevention.
I hope that iHear is the disruptive technology the industry needs. The last set of aids we purchased for my wife cost $2000 for the pair, and that was with a substantial “professional” discount from one of my former graduate students at the University of Texas where I taught the hearing aid course during my Tracoustics/Starkey days who is now in private practice in our area.