Phonak Uses World Cup Vuvuzela Noise As Design Laboratory For New Hearing Protection Products

Phonak’s Hear the World initiative got so much attention from its announcement that vuvuzela horns were damaging World Cup attendees’ hearing that the hearing aid company’s product designers sprung into action to adapt Phonak’s popular Serenity industrial hearing-protection products with a new line of consumer devices for fans who need to protect their hearing at stadium events such as major league sports events and rock and roll concerts. Hear the World announced that Phonak customized a new version of its Serenity state-of-the-art hearing protection systems–typically used by helicopter pilots, fire-fighters, industrial staff and security professionals–and sent it to World Cup journalists in Johannesburg, South Africa, to see how well it would filter out the endless drone of the vuvuzela. The noise makers emit sound at an ear-splitting 127 decibels (dB), louder than a lawnmower (90 dB) and chain saw (100 dB). Continuous exposure to noise at more than 85 dB will cause permanent hearing damage, so virtually all fans in a stadium enduring an extended chorus of vuvuzela noise are at serious risk of hearing loss. Read more

VitaSound Neuro-Compensator Applies Brain Science To A Unique And Potentially Revolutionary New Sound Processing System For Hearing Aids

VitaSound Audio, Inc., a young hearing-aid company in Canada, has come up with an entirely new approach to sound-processing software for hearing aids that could fundamentally change the way we think about compensating for damaged hearing. I got a demo of VitaSound’s Neuro-Compensator technology several months ago and have been struggling ever since to come up with appropriate words to describe it. “Unique,” “new,” “unprecedented” and “potentially revolutionary” are the best I can do for starters.

The Neuro-Compensator sound processing system is based on nearly two decades of research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, into how the human brain comprehends the signals processed by the auditory system, from the middle ear through the auditory nerve. The researchers mapped the signals produced by hundreds of auditory inputs processed by people with healthy hearing, coming up with a hugely complex model of “normal” hearing response to sounds ranging from human speech to music to pure tones to rush-hour traffic to cocktail-party noise. Then they developed the Neuro-Compensator software to compare the norm to that of a person with damaged hearing, and to produce a hearing-aid amplification program that not only amplifies the frequencies where hearing has been lost, but also filters out sounds that a healthy auditory processing system would normally suppress. The benefit is better comprehension because the system constantly adjusts amplification at multiple frequencies in response to different sounds to match the auditory profile of a normal, healthy auditory system responding to various listening environments. Read more

‘Invisible Hearing Aid’ Pioneer Lyric Hearing Is Fast Out Of The Gates In A Market That Is Sure To Draw Plenty Of Competition

Lyric Hearing is only a few years old, but the “invisible hearing aid” pioneer is first out of the gate in a market that is sure to attract plenty of competition. Lyric Hearing Aids are tiny devices placed so deep within the ear canal that it is truly impossible to see them. Because they are so small and located so close to the ear drum, they claim to deliver auditory benefits that normal hearing aids can’t provide. And, once they are inserted, they remain in place 24 hours a day for up to four months, so the user doesn’t have to worry about replacing batteries or keeping track of them when not being worn. Lyric Hearing also has an unusual business model, selling the hearing aids on an annual subscription basis, with old hearing aids removed and replaced with new ones every few months by your audiologist. Just as the transition to soft, extended-wear contact lenses expanded the share of contacts versus regular glasses and changed the dynamics of the vision correction market in substantial ways, Lyric Hearing’s innovation has the potential to dramatically alter the hearing-aid market. How big an impact will Lyric Hearing and other “invisible” hearing aids like it have on the market? It depends largely on the tradeoffs between the many benefits and several significant drawbacks. Read more

Widex Goes Wireless With New High-End Clear 440 Hearing Aid Family

Widex has introduced the new high-end Clear 44o hearing aid family, featuring binaural wireless communication between each hearing aid to provide richer and more realistic sound for users. The new hearing system also provides an external transmitter to send TV audio signals directly into the hearing aids; a small remote controller to switch program settings, control volume and manage other functions of the hearing aids; and a Bluetooth-compatible handset that transmits your cellular phone signal directly into your hearing aids. Other hearing aid manufacturers have introduced their own wireless communication schemes between hearing aids and external devices to enable rapid adjustments to changes in environmental sound, better synching of the sound processing between the two hearing aids. Users report better sound location and comprehension because they are getting more realistic replication of the sounds in their environment, in stereo. Widex is promoting its new C-ISP platform powered by three custom chips as the industry’s best way to synchronize the sound processing in the hearing aids, enable remote control of selected features, and port high-definition audio streamed from external sources.

The three new accessories are a big step forward in assistive listening, because they eliminate the need for a neck loop that provides a direct link through the hearing-aids’ telecoils. Instead the devices transmit digital signals directly into the hearing aids, enabling better audio performance in addition to increased convenience. The TV-DEX system consists of a base and recharger unit that plugs into the TV and transmits to a handheld unit that re-transmits the signal to the user’s hearing aids; the handheld also provides volume control and also has a button to turn off the external microphones on the hearing aids so the user only hears the TV audio signal. The M-DEX device has a Bluetooth link to your mobile phone and acts as a handset that lets you listen and talk, transmitting the phone signal directly into your hearing aids. It also has a volume control plus a button to turn off the external microphone on your hearing aids to make it easier to hear the cell phone signal without the distraction of external environmental noise. Finally, the RC-DEX is a small controller that you can keep in your pocket or purse to control the program settings on your hearing aids as well as raise or lower the volume.

The Clear 440 also includes the Widex SmartSpeak feature — a human voice piped into the hearing aid informing you about what program mode you are in and alerting you when the battery is running low — as well as the innovative Widex Zen relaxation program, which plays random and harmonic tones when you feel like relaxing. IE Zen works as an effective tinnitus masking program, overriding the annoying tinnitus sounds within your ears with more tolerable background noise.

With FDA’s Blessing, New Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids And Personal Sound Amplifiers Promise To Disrupt Global Hearing Industry

Improvements in technology and performance have enabled a new class of over-the-counter hearing aids and personal sound amplifiers to gather momentum in the global hearing-aid market. A new breed of manufacturers is bypassing traditional distribution channels with products that have the potential to dramatically change the price/performance equation and disrupt the traditional ways hearing-aid manufacturers have done business around the world.

In the U.S., the powerful Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates hearing aids, has given this new class of of devices its blessing with a new name–Personal Sound Amplifier Products (PSAPs)–and a new set of guidelines for consumers who may want to buy and use them. It has also opened the door for a new class of over-the-counter hearing aids, sold directly to the consumer without the assistance of an audiologist.

The new products cost hundreds of dollars, versus the thousands of dollars that most name-brand hearing aids cost today. They are easy to acquire over the internet or through the mail. And they have the potential to start meeting the entry-level requirements of the largest market of consumers who need hearing assistance–the swelling ranks of fifty- and sixty-something baby boomers who are gradually losing some hearing and in need of mild-to-moderate hearing assistance. Read more

Sonic Innovations’ Super-Power Endura Hearing Aid Has All The Bells And Whistles Patients With Severe Hearing Loss Need

With the first shipments of its new super-power Endura behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids this month, Sonic Innovations is providing a satisfying high-end bookend to its line of hearing aids spanning the needs of all users.

The market for hearing aids for patients with severe-to-profound hearing loss is smaller than the markets for patients with mild-to-moderate hearing impairments, and sometimes manufacturers’ high-end product lines lack the bells and whistles available to their mainstream customers. But features such as adaptive directional microphones, Bluetooth capability, multiple programs for different listening environments and the latest and greatest feedback cancellation and noise-reduction algorithms are just as if not more important to people with severe hearing impairments as they are to those with more moderate hearing loss.

Sonic Innovations Endura hearing aids provide a maximum gain of 140 decibels, enough power to fit even the most profound hearing loss. They provide adaptive and automatic directional microphones and utilizes the company’s latest “Sonic Sound” digital sound processing software. They also feature integrated Direct Audio Input (DAI) for external personal sound amplifiers, cell phones, MP3 players and other devices. Because DAI provides a hard-wired connection rather than the wireless connection through a telecoil favored by many mainstream hearing aid systems, it can provide a more reliable signal that provides a welcome improvement in comprehension to severely impaired users who need as clear and undistorted audio as possible.

“With the addition of Endura to our family of products, we offer high quality, cutting-edge products for people with all levels of hearing loss,” said Sonic Innovations CEO Sam Westover. Read more

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. Read more

Rock & Roll Icon Stephen Stills Talks About How Hearing Aids Alleviate His Lifelong Hearing Loss

Oticon USA has used the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock concert to do a nice PR piece on Crosby, Stills & Nash player Stephen Stills, who uses Oticon Dual hearing aids. The group’s performance at Woodstock was a centerpiece of the film made about the event and kept their music at the top of the charts for years.

Unlike many rock musicians whose first deafness was a direct result of constant exposure to too-loud music, Stills was diagnosed at nine years old with a slight hearing loss in one ear. In the interview published on the Oticon web site, he shares some good insights on what it’s like to gradually accept your hearing loss and do something about it. He’s also a good example of someone who’s managed to cope with his hearing loss and continue doing what he loves:

“Now when I perform, I am able to hear the top end of the music and get back in tune….Now I can hear the subtleties of the music. This has improved my playing and my singing.”

Back in Business, After a Long Break

I’ve been letting people know I’m re-booting my Hearing Mojo hearing-loss blog after having taken a long break from posting new entries. In the past year I’ve let this blog lie dormant as I’ve gone completely “mainstream” with my communications consulting business, Aquarius Advisers. We have been successful, with a number of happy high-technology clients, but it’s been an education in coping with hearing loss in the business world. During my blogging hiatus, I’ve stayed current with the new developments in the world of hearing loss and hearing aids, including time spent consulting with America Hears, Inc., the leading online manufacturer and marketer of premium digital hearing aids. However, I’ve sorely missed writing about this industry and all the issues involved with it, so I intend to start doing so again. I’m still managing a transition to a new blogging platform (the new look and feel are enabled by the WordPress open-source content management system, as opposed to the Moveable Type platform I used in the past). So it might take me a while to get the new platform exposed to the search engines. But I’m starting to write again as of now. A lot has happened in my absence, and I intend to catch people up with all I’ve seen and heard, starting with my visit earlier this month to the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) AudiologyNow 2009 conference.

What Do I Have In Common With New York State Governor David Paterson?

In the past few months my day job has picked up to the point where I haven’t had a lot of time do write about hearing loss. In fact, I haven’t had much time even to think about my hearing loss. Read more

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