Technology changes rapidly: in 2006, the typical 40-inch flat screen TV would have cost you over $1,500. Today, 10 years later, you can purchase a 40-inch flat screen TV for about $230.
The same has occurred with hearing aids, although it’s more likely to escape our attention. We take note that TVs become larger, better, and less costly, but we’re blind to the developments in hearing aids because we’re not bombarded with advertising and giant store exhibits.
Nonetheless, hearing aids, together with all other consumer electronics, have progressed dramatically over the past 10 years. If analog hearing aids are like the bulky 15-inch-tube-TVs of the past, today’s digital hearing aids are like the light 65-inch-Ultra-High-Definition TVs of the present.
Here’s what makes modern hearing aids better, starting with the technology that makes it all possible.
Digital Technology
Hearing aids, like all electronics, have reaped the benefits of the digital revolution. Hearing aids have emerged as, in a sense, miniaturized computers, with all of the coding versatility you’d expect from a modern computer.
The consequence is a device that is compact, light-weight, energy efficient, and proficient at manipulating information—information being, in the example of a hearing aid, sound.
So how do contemporary hearing aids manipulate sound? Let’s use an analogy: envision inbound sound as incoming mail and the digital hearing aid as a mailroom.
As mail is received, it’s identified, labeled, stored, and consequently delivered to the correct recipients. In the same way, digital hearing aids can capture incoming sound and can label specific frequencies to be delivered to the amplifier. Speech sounds, for instance, can be identified as important and delivered to the speaker for amplification. Similarly, background noise can be tagged as “undeliverable” and suppressed.
Analog hearing aids didn’t have this “mailroom” feature. Incoming sound is delivered all at one time—like if the mail clerk were to give you everyone’s mail and you had to sort through the clutter yourself to find your own. Speech simply becomes lost in the mix with background noise, and you have to work tirelessly to dig it out.
Hearing Aid Advanced Features
Digital control of information is the magic formula to everything a modern hearing aid can accomplish. Here are a few of the advanced features associated with modern hearing aids that digital technology makes possible:
- Speech recognition – digital hearing aids can distinguish and boost speech with digital processing and directional microphones.
- Background noise suppression – background noise is a lower frequency sound, which the hearing aid can identify and inhibit.
- Clearer phone calls – telecoil technology amplifies the signal from your phone, leading to clear sound without interference.
- Wireless streaming – hearing aids with Bluetooth technology can link to devices wirelessly, so you can stream music, phone calls, and TV programs straight to your hearing aids.
- Wireless control – compatible hearing aids can be operated with smartphones and digital watches, so you can effortlessly and discreetly adjust volume and settings.
Trial Your New Digital Hearing Aids
As you can see, digital hearing aids are robust pieces of modern technology. That’s why virtually all cases of hearing loss can now be efficiently treated, and why the majority of people are satisfied with the performance of their hearing aids.
If you’d like to try out this new technology for yourself, give us a call and inquire about our hearing aid trial period.