| |
Programmable hearing aidsAdvancing technology is affecting all areas of life. Improvement in computer circuitry has allowed miniaturization of many devices. Computer microchips, which are now used in programmable hearing aids, provide more options to better meet the needs of people with hearing loss. Programmable hearing aids contain microchips, which allow the hearing aid's response to be adjusted with a computer. Traditional hearing aids, by comparison, have controls that are set using a screwdriver.
Benefits of programmable hearing aids
Many programmable hearing aids have capabilities that traditional hearing aids do
not. These capabilities result in more flexibility for the hearing-aid user and a more precise fit for their needs. Programmable hearing aid options may include the following:
Advanced Signal processing - Advanced signal processing adjusts the amount of amplification the hearing aid provides according to the loudness of the sound reaching its microphone. Traditional hearing aid circuits provide a set amount of gain regardless of the loudness of the sound reaching the microphone. This can result in softer sounds remaining too soft and louder sounds being uncomfortably loud. Advanced signal processing allows softer sounds to be heard more easily and avoids discomfort from loud sounds. This benefits hearing-aid users who experience loudness discomfort at softer-than-normal levels, known as recruitment.
Multi-channel Capability - The amount of gain a hearing aid provides at each pitch of frequency is called its frequency response. Some programmable hearing aids can divide the frequency response into two or more channels of control. Each channel can be adjusted independently so that different advanced signal processing schemes can be applied to each frequency region. This allows the hearing aid to respond differently for low-pitched sounds than for high-pitched sounds, better accommodating a hearing-aid user with recruitment. Because recruitment may be present only at some pitches, multi-channel capability provides more flexibility to meet this need.
Multi-Memory Capability - Some programmable hearing aids have memory, allowing them to store more than one frequency response or program. Multiple memories allow the user to choose from different frequency responses or signal processing schemes with a remote control or by pressing a button on the hearing aid. This is useful for those who communicate in many different listening situations or have fluctuating hearing loss. The audiologist and the hearing aid wearer together decide which hearing aid response to store in memory based on the wearer's most frequent and demanding listening situations.
Conclusion
Before obtaining hearing aids, an examination by an ear specialist is recommended. Then, an evaluation of hearing and listening needs will be completed. Based on this information, the advantages and limitations of traditional and programmable hearing aids will be discussed. The hearing-aid wearer chooses the style and special features that best suit their needs.
Human Hearing Frequency
The ear is an amazing body part because it enables humans and animals to hear what goes on around them. Hearing is one of the five senses of the body. The ears help the body to pick up sound waves and vibrations. Sound travels in waves through the...
Deaf ministry
On July 24, twenty-two people made their way to Ozark Adventist Academy at Gentry, Arkansas to go to school. This was the second lay training program of Deaf people, Deaf Reach 2005. Adventist Deaf Ministries (ADM) sponsored Deaf Reach 2005, with...
Hearing Impaired:
What is hearing impaired? Hearing impaired applies to those who are acoustically disabled or auditorially deficient for whom the primary receptive channel of communication is, even with deficits, hearing. Deafness means a hearing impairment...
Battery For Hearing Aids
Hearing aids Hearing aid can be defined as any device whose function is to amplify the acoustic signals to a degree that enables a hearing-impaired individual to use his or her remaining hearing in a useful and efficient manner. The first...
Starkey hearing aids
Starkey Laboratories got its start in 1967 when William Austin founded Professional Hearing Aid Service, an all-make hearing instrument repair service in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. After setting new standards for the way repairs were handled, Austin...
|
|
|
|
|
- Hearing