The study used a species of mouse, the CBA, that gradually lost its ability to hear higher frequencies over time – like humans. While these mice were good for studying similar effects, they weren’t the best mice for breeding. To increase the yield, researcher Robert Frisina cross-bred them with a more virile sort of mouse, C57 Black 6 – known for their poor hearing.

The results were startling.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Hearing Center in New York were surprised when the hybrid offspring not only bred better than the CBA mice, but retained their hearing better as they got older.

Win-win.

Frisina and his New York hearing loss team had set out to study the effects of hearing loss in the ear, but instead hit on a potential neurological cause. Five percent of people over the age of 50 can hear the full range of frequencies – known colloquially as having a “golden ear.” This study essentially replicated this feat in the mice.

The hybrid mouse outperformed the CBA mice from birth, the researchers found (using essentially the same test as in humans). The difference was significant as the mice aged – good news for older sufferers of hearing loss.

There is still much research to be done, but these mice might be the “golden key” to unlock the connection between genetics and hearing loss.

Common tips include focusing on one person at a time, choosing areas where background noise is minimized, and focusing on face of the person to whom you’re talking. The last tip is especially important for those skilled in reading lips.

The number of skilled lip-readers might soon be growing, thanks to research out of the eighth International Conference on Auditory-Visual Speech Processing. A study presented at the conference found that for the first time ever, computers are able to read lips better than their human counterparts. The computers were able to do so well by exploiting small but simple differences in images lip shapes, rather than the more complex full-video required by human lip-readers.

This technology has been used in a new series of videos to that were able to teach humans to read lips for one-syllable words: no easy task.

The study’s lead author, Sarah Hilder said, “With just four hours of training it helped them improve their lip-reading skills markedly. We hope this research will represent a real technological advance for the deaf community.”

Hopefully, this new lip-reading technology can seamlessly combine with the ever-changing hearing-aid technology to foster better, easier communication for the 36 million Americans suffering from hearing loss.

It’s easy to see why: It’s sleek, functional, and features cutting-edge “touch” technology–scrolling and choosing is as simple as the flick of a finger.

What’s the connection between an iPhone and a hearing aid?


That’s the question Starkley Laboratories sought to answer. Their answer, the S-Series with Sweep ™ technology for behind-the-ear hearing aids, won them the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovations 2010 Award in the Health and Wellness category. This technology does away with the buttons and dials of past hearing aids, and instead uses a touch-sensitive interface that allows the user to adjust volume and settings smoothly and easily.

The advantages over traditional buttons are obvious; tiny buttons can be difficult to adjust, especially for the elderly who constitute the biggest users of BTE hearing aids. Furthermore, the variety of dials and buttons can oxidize and fail over time, or allow moisture and dirt to impact their ability to work properly.

Sweep technology is effective and user-friendly. If you are having issues with your Behind-the-Ear hearing aid, or simply want to upgrade to a more user-friendly model, it might be right for you.

Hearing aids help you connect to the world around you.

So do cell phones.

So why can’t they get along?

Unfortunately, phones emit radiofrequency waves. While it doesn’t happen for all cell phones, when it does it can lead to an irritating and invasive buzzing noise. At best, it’s intrusive; at worst, it renders your cell phone useless.

Quite the issue; many people are reliant on cell phones in their day-to-day lives, just as many people are reliant on hearing aids. What can you do to make sure those two crucial devices work in harmony?

Luckily, cell phone compatibility is improving, and the FCC has regulations in place to help you choose the right phone. These standards require cell phone manufacturers to test their product’s compatibility with hearing aids and clearly state it on the packaging. For microphone hearing aids, this rating is designated with an M. The higher the better — cell phones with a rating of M3 or M4 rate as “good” or “excellent” for usage with microphone hearing aids.

A similar rating system exists for usage with hearing aids with a “T-Coil“. A phone rating of T3 or T4 is most desirable if you have one of these sort of hearing aids.

In addition, hearing aids manufacturers use a similar system. By combining the ratings, you can get a rough estimate of how well the two devices will interact; again, the higher the better. Nonetheless, everybody’s hearing is different — try before you buy!

The name is a little cheesy, but this small RIC (Receiver-In-Canal) hearing aid accommodates the latest in hearing technology, while providing a very comfortable hearing aid for its user. They are super light that you will forget that you’re even wearing it.

The Widex Passion have a program called Zen that plays random, non-repeated and infinite tones and chimes with no sudden changes in tonality or tempo. Great if you go birdwatching or hiking.

At the heart of Passion440 is the Dual Integrated Signal Processing (ISP) technology. Dual ISP doesn’t just analyse and process isolated sounds; it brings the details to life by creating a dynamic listening experience while giving you control of the preferences that suit you best.

I think the coolest feature is the SmartSpeak feature which actually uses recorded speech to inform you of various hearing aid functions, such as low battery power and program modes–SmartSpeak is available in over 20 languages.

If you want to check out Widex’s Passion 440, give us a call to help with your hearing aid questions & needs.

Hearing loss is usually stereotyped as an older person’s issue or disease.

The senior citizen cupping his hand to his ear and yelling “what did you say?” to the toaster is practically a cliché. It’s understandable, in a way – hearing does degenerate as you age.

But over half of the 36 million American hearing-loss sufferers are under the age of 65.

What options does a young hearing-loss sufferer have?

The Nios Micro, the world’s most technologically advanced pediatric hearing aid. This hearing aid comes with SoundRecover (especially helpful because fellow children’s voices tend to be higher pitched),  RealEar Sound, and WhistleBlock technology.

Depending on the model, it can also come with a wide variety of other features, including Voice Zoom, for speech intelligibility, and NoiseBlock processing, which filters out background noise in a way that even healthy ears can’t.

As a bonus, it comes in 13 (!) different styles. Even a picky child can find the right one for themselves.

Hearing loss isn’t just for the old. If you think your child might be suffering from it, do not hesitate to visit an audiologist, or give us a call–we’ll be happy to answer any questions.

With all of the fascinating technology being developed on a near-daily basis, hearing aids seem – and have become – thoroughly modern devices. However, the history of hearing aids stretches back several decades, to a brilliant physicist and author named Harvey Fletcher.

Fletcher’s prototypical hearing aids were worn on the body, and consisted of an ear mold connected to a case about the size of a deck of playing cards. This case was connected to the mold via a loop, and attached to the belt or pocket of the wearer. Because of their great size, they were capable of great feats of amplification; through their bulkiness and unwieldiness they have been replaced  by “behind the ear” hearing aids. Still, for the time, they represented a watershed moment in hearing amplification.

Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids are tubes that wrap, fittingly enough, behind the ear of the hearing loss sufferer. They provide sound through air conduction through this length of tubing. Because they keep the ear open, they allow the user to retain use of whatever hearing they have left, and are therefore appropriate for those with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

Hearing  aid technology progressed further with the development of In-The-Ear (ITE) hearing aids. These devices go directly into the ear canal. Further advancements have created digital hearing aids that are programmable and can come with a number of exciting and helpful accessories.

Even less obtrusive in every-day conversation are implantable hearing aids. These aids can be implanted directly into the bone of people who suffer from hearing loss, in a procedure that can be recovered from in mere hours. Extended-wear hearing aids have also been introduced, allowing hearing loss sufferers to hear clearly on a daily basis without worrying about taking an aid in or out frequently.

The history of hearing aids is fascinating, and ever changing. The sheer amount of accumulated knowledge that has resulted in the modern class of hearing loss technology is astounding.

Can individuals with hearing aids use mobile phones normally?

For those without hearing loss, using mobile phones poses little problem. You simply hold your phone into your ear and let the sound flow naturally. For those with impaired hearing, however, mobile phones can add simply another layer to the hearing difficulty.

Enter Click’nTalk. An easy, convenient accessory from Phonak that clicks directly onto the end of your mobile phone, instant transmitting it into a wireless transmitter. Using the Phonak HiBAN (Hearing instrument Body Area Network) link, the device digitizes the sound and send it to both receivers simultaneously, ensuring rich, full sound. Furthermore, because the sound is now digital, you can reap all the benefits your digital hearing aid provides over an analog one.

No charging. No programming. Click’nTalk is a sleek and innovative solution to cell-phone difficulties.

Hearing loss has a variety of negative impacts for it’s sufferer.

One common one is impairment that results in inability to distinguish high-frequency sounds. Traditionally, the greater the hearing loss, the more gain needs to be applied at that frequency. However, for some people, hearing sensitivity is so poor in the high frequencies that it is not possible to provide sufficient gain and achieve audibility. In many cases, the gain is limited by acoustic feedback or by discomfort, resulting from excessive loudness. Cochlear damage renders these sorts of frequency problems with hearing:

>>An inability to recognize certain speech sounds

>>Difficulty distinguishing high-pitched background sounds–like bird chirps and songs

>>Difficulty in maintaining speech quality

>>Difficulty, especially in children, in developing proper speech

These hearing loss challenges are by no means easy; however, Phonak has developed a revolutionary new technology to help combat it.

It’s known as SoundRecover, and it compresses high-frequency noise into lower frequencies–where a person suffering from hearing loss can better distinguish them.

Because only a selected range of frequencies is targeted (those above a given range), SoundRecover is able to more accurately combat high-frequency hearing loss. Not only is SoundRecover active all the time, the settings are based on the user’s hearing loss, which means better compression, and an overall better hearing aid for the patient.

To learn more about SoundRecover, visit the Phonak’s website.

In some situations, omnidirectional microphones can be preferable; hence, many modern hearing aids feature a toggle that allows the hearing aid wearer to choose between the two types. Thus, the hearing aid provides a greater and more focused benefit.

This hearing aid technology is further sophisticated by what are called “adaptive directional microphones.” These hearing aid devices are better able to distinguish speech from noise and automatically filter out noise from a given angle.

No small feat: not even healthy ears can do that!