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Hearing Aid
Aka: Hearing Aid
- See Also
- Hearing Loss
- Sensorineural Heaing Loss
- Presbycusis
- Home Adaptations for the Elderly
- Types: Location
- Hearing Aid behind the ear
- Classic Hearing Aid with the electronics in a small case behind the ear
- Sound tube exits the Hearing Aid and is placed inside the ear
- Hearing Aid receiver in canal
- Receiver moved from within case, to within the ear
- Receiver connects to Hearing Aid via thin wire
- Hearing Aid completely In the ear
- Custom made Hearing Aid that completely sits within the ear canal
- Types: Conventional analog Hearing Aids
- Cost: ~$900 per ear
- Components
- Battery
- Microphone transduces sound into electrical energy
- Receiver changes electrical energy into sound
- Most Hearing Aids can adjust volume
- May be a problem with background noise
- Sub-Types
- Linear (Simple Hearing Aid)
- Amplifies loud and soft sounds equally
- Non-Linear
- Varied amplification for loud and soft sounds
- Decreased recruitment (increased loudness)
- Types: Programmable Hearing Aids
- Programmable by audiologist
- Sound levels adjustable for audibility and comfort
- Volume per frequency
- Intensity
- Microphone power output
- Compression Ratios
- Some available with multiple programs
- (e.g. telephone, music)
- Types: Digital Hearing Aids
- Cost: ~$2900 per ear
- Digital signal processor samples incoming signals
- Adjusts in different sound environs
- Can reduce background noise from non-speech source
- Enhances speech understanding
- Programmable by audiologist
- See Above
- References
- Michels (2019) Am Fam Physician 100(2): 98-108 [PubMed]