History of Hearing Aids

Take a look at the colorful history of hearing aids, ear trumpets of the first electronic hearing aid (too bulky to be portable) to the invention of transistors into the digital age. You will also learn about some of the latest innovations, including the use of ADRO (adaptive dynamic range optimization) technology into new lines of hearing aids.

The history of hearing aids: A look at the technology of hearing aids

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From its size with its way of operating that way, the hearing aid technology that is used today is very different from what hearing aids used 100, 50 or even five years ago. The history of hearing aids is far reaching and colors - the first hearing aids worked without electricity, while the first electric models were simply too big to be portable. Today, digital hearing aids are discrete, lightweight, and have the ability to be adjusted for different environments and to amplify the sound without distortion. And the future has many improvements in hearing aid technology as a whole. But it is important to review the history of hearing aids to understand that only the industry is headed.

The early history of hearing aids

We began our look at the history of hearing aids two hundred years ago, when aid arrived in the form of ear trumpets - large horn in the form of devices used to direct sound into the ear of a hearing impaired person and provide very basic sound amplification without electricity. These trumpets were large and difficult, although some models can be worn on the head with a harness. There is a basic function - sound amplification - and could also improve the signal to noise ratio in a noisy environment, but were unable to do much more. In fact, Cupping his hand behind his ear gives a similar (but smaller) amplification. Hearing aid technology has come a long way from now.

The advent of electric hearing aids

Hearing aid technology began to change rapidly with two important milestones in the history of hearing aids - the advent of electricity and Alexander Graham Bell's work on the phone, which was essentially an electronic machine that could amplify the sound through a microphone carbon in combination with a battery. Modern technology is still Headset uses the concept of a receiver, a telephone, to describe the small speaker inside the hearing aid.

In the early 1920s, hearing aid technology incorporated the use of vacuum tubes, allowing a much more efficient method to amplify the sound. However, the first electric hearing aids are still too unwieldy to be carried around easily - many of them as big as the table radios, and just as heavy. Fortunately, an important event in the history of hearing aids is just around the corner.

Smaller batteries, smaller hearing aids

One of the first major changes in the history of hearing aids that led to a decrease in size was the miniaturization of batteries. Previously, batteries were large, heavy, and could not hold a charge for a long time, which makes them impractical for use by hearing aid. Battery packs must be used in the hearing-impaired person's body. In the 1930s, hearing aid technology has progressed so that aids could be portable.

The transistor changes everything

However, the most important event in the history of hearing aids had not yet arrived. It is the invention of the transistor in the 1950s that changed hearing aid technology completely. A transistor is simply a switch that has no moving parts and that has only two options: On or Off. Place several transistors together, however, and you can get increasingly larger combinations of on / off switches - the basic binary code, and, essentially, a computer in its simplest form. In addition, the conductivity of a transistor can be manipulated on the basis of the purity of silicon with which the transistor is, providing an infinite number of possibilities for the transistor can be used. Silicon transistors allowed hearing aids to shrink in size so that they can become "body aids," eventually leading to hearing aid technology available in a size that we are familiar today - with the aid that can be used discreetly behind the ear or even within the ear canal.

The Digital Age

In the mid-1990s, digital hearing aid technology is commonly used. Digital hearing aids allow for more precise configuration of sound in the ear of the user. With digital circuits, the sound could be expanded or decreased as needed. Programs could be created that could be used, depending on the user's location or needs - more amplification for quiet settings, for example, or specific amplification of certain frequencies in loud situations so that the user can clearly hear the voices of speech, even when surrounded by other noises. Digital products also took advantage of compression technology, the elimination of a annoying side effect that has plagued users throughout the history of hearing aids - the distortion of the sounds very strong.

Today the technology of hearing aid

Today, we are still shaping the history of hearing aids, hearing aids and technology is constantly being updated. For example, new technologies are being introduced that allow the user to be directly involved with the installation of your headset. Instead of using basic prescriptions based on a user's audiogram, testing can be performed, analogous to the optical test was conducted in an ophthalmologist's office, to fine-tune the hearing aid settings for specific user. Listening to a narrow band of sounds and the sound of sentences to fill out a questionnaire with specific information, end users are able to modify their hearing aid settings to suit their needs.

Rules that utilize "fuzzy logic" (a system of computer instructions that allow the team to face ambiguities1) are based on some of the hearing aids. This allows the use of these customized settings to make sure that the hearing aid output is constantly optimized to listen to the needs of each sound in every environment. Clinical studies show that this new generation of hearing aid technology can provide constantly improving the intelligibility of speech and in quiet noisy environments, more comfort for the user to the presence of loud sounds, greater audibility of soft sounds And improving the quality of sound in the conventional amplification schemes.

This hearing aid technology is not offered by all manufacturers, but worth it because search can greatly improve a user's view when you use the help. Newer hearing aids are also offered with limited ear occlusion, making them almost invisible to the user and allowing the audience to continue to improve.

In addition, a new hearing aid technology known as ADRO (adaptive dynamic range optimization) is starting to be available from some manufacturers. This is one of the most significant changes in the recent history of hearing aids, as it is a major upgrade of the traditional compression circuits that are most often used with digital hearing aids.

ADRO allows the audience to help make constant adjustments to its algorithms using fuzzy logic, delivering the user a higher level of sound quality and eliminating the inconvenience stronger sounds more easily. Echoes are also eliminated. The latest generation of ADRO, which goes a step beyond what was originally offered, is presented by some companies in an ultra low delay product that delivers up to 32 channels, a large increase from products that were previously only offer seven or eight. Some products in this new generation of hearing aids also incorporate a new, adaptive directional microphone. This exciting new hearing aid technology gives us a glimpse of what the future holds.

The future of the technology of hearing aid

As well as the history of hearing aids has seen many events, the future of hearing aids will bring extremely exciting new options for all users, just in time for the aging of the baby boom generation. Transducers are getting smaller and at the same time, circuitry is shrinking rapidly. This means that ever smaller, ever more powerful hearing aids will be capable of being produced. And consumers will find themselves in control of their own hearing again, as they become even more involved with the installation and adjustment of their hearing aids. We've come a long way from ear trumpets, but hearing aid technology continues to evolve with time, and we still have a long way to go.

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