Smart Hearing Aids: Are You Pickin Up Good Vibrations?

Hearing aids arent smart! Theyre clunky, unattractive and, frankly, a pain in the ear, right? Wrong! Todays hearing aids are smarter, more functional, intuitive and more adaptive to ambient sound than any of their predecessors.

Problems that wearers had with previous generations of hearing aids have been automated or eliminated entirely. Todays modern, digital hearing device is much more than a sound amplifier. Its a powerful computer packed into one tiny package.

Good Vibrations

Sound is nothing more than vibrations moving through the air, reaching the ear drum and being translated so the sound waves can be interpreted by the brain. As we age, the ability to pick up sounds diminishes, especially when those sounds are in the upper frequency ranges. Its just a natural function of aging, along with baldness, wrinkles and those morning aches. The fact is, one out of two people over the age of 50 has some measurable hearing loss.

As more and more people move into their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond, consumer demand for hearing aids will increase accordingly. But these are the baby boomers and you bet theyll want hearing to be as natural as it was when they were at Woodstock back in 69. The boomer generation wont settle for anything less. Its natural or nothing when it comes to good vibrations.

It also better be convenient to use. Nobody wants to hassle with a hearing aid.

Hello? Can You Speak Up?

One of the biggest problems hearing aid users face is the simple act of talking on the telephone. The problem? Wearers have to adjust the devices volume, or remove their hearing aids altogether whenever the telephone rings. It certainly doesnt simplify things, making old-fashioned hearing aids anything but a must-have.

Todays user wants convenience convenience brought about through the use of automation. Let the machine worry about it so the wearer doesnt have to. Just pick up the phone and talk while the hearing aid adapts to the new, telephonic sound.

How does it do this? Its a little something called an electro-magnetic field.

The Electro-Magnetic Field and You

The telephone relies on an electro-magnetic field to receive sound from one end of the line and produce sound at the other end. It starts with good vibrations.

Thats what sounds are vibrations. When the speaker at one end of the telephone says Hello the sound waves or vibrations, are picked up, converted to electrical energy and converted back to sound waves at the listeners end. Converting sound waves to electrical energy and back to sound waves requires an electro-magnetic field created using a magnet and electrical wire. Every telephone produces an electro-magnetic field when it converts speech to electrical energy and back to audible speech what you hear.

Hearing Aids Get Smart

Dr. Michael Block, the spokesperson for Micro-Tech a leader in the development of leading edge hearing aids explained how the companys latest, digital advances have made daily life more convenient with smart hearing aid technology. Today, more than ever, people rely on the telephone, Dr. Block explained, but the sound amplifiers that were once used in hearing aids simply don't work well when it comes to talking on the telephone. So, we had to develop a smarter hearing aid, one that automated the usual functions of a hearing aid.

The Micro-Tech spokesperson further explained, When a hearing aid user put the telephone receiver up to his ear, the result was often feedback, making the device useless. It also caused a lot of hearing aid wearers to stop answering the phone.

Micro-Tech has developed solutions to the telephone dilemma with the creation of its Touchless Telephone Response and Touchless Telecoil technology. It automates sound levels and focuses on mid-range sound produced by a telephone receiver, Dr. Block explained.

Micro-Techs Telecoil technology detects the electromagnetic field produced by a telephone and automatically switches the hearing aid to telephone mode. No more fumbling with volume controls on the hearing aid or telephone receiver. The Telecoil technology delivers a natural hearing experience for the user. Just pick up the phone and talk, Dr. Block stated. This technology is available in all but the smallest of Micro-Techs devices devices that fit directly into the ear canal.

Touchless Telephone Response

Hearing aids that fit into the ear canal are too small to accommodate telecoil technology, but for those devices, Micro-Tech developed something called Touchless Telephone Response. In this case, the tiny, smart hearing aid recognizes the compressed sound that comes through any telephone and adjusts the hearing aid accordingly.

So whether you opt for a behind the ear model or an aid that fits into the ear canal itself, the telephone problem has been eliminated through the use of Telecoil technology and Touchless Telephone Response. No more adjusting volume. Let the hardware do it for you. Thats smart technology.

Feedback? Not With Todays Smart Hearing Aid

Talking on the phone often produces feedback that makes it impossible for hearing aid users to even answer the telephone.

Another Micro-Tech innovation is Active Feedback Intercept or AFI. Once again, this technology is designed to automate standard hearing aid functions and eliminate common problems. The digital circuitry inside each Micro-Tech hearing aid detects feedback and cancels it. In turn, this creates a more natural hearing experience by eliminating feedback before the user even hears it.

Smart. Very smart.

The Smart Hearing Aid

Thats what hearing aid designers are going for today automation, so the user doesnt have to think about the hearing device in or behind the ear. All adjustments to ambient noise are handled automatically so the user doesnt have to think about it.

Micro-Tech, and other leaders in the hearing aid industry, are using digital technology to make these devices smaller, smarter and self-adjusting.

So, if youve been wondering how youll be able to use the telephone if you need a hearing device, you can opt for one that takes care of itself so you don't have to.

Take advantage of todays smart hearing aid technology.