Hearing Aid Technologies

Feedback and background noise reduction

Feedback is the whistling sound that older-generation hearing aids made when the volume was turned up. With those older-generation devices, users would often turn up their volume in hopes of improving speech intelligibility in background noise, but that only made all sounds louder, sending the device into feedback. For these people, feedback took away from the enjoyment of the hearing experience and often led to embarrassing situations. Today’s newer technology has virtually eliminated feedback of any kind. Advancements have also led to major improvements in situations with a lot of background noise. The new technology can recognize and preserve natural speech while separating speech from background sounds. The device then processes the sound to give you more speech over background noise, called the signal-to-noise ratio. The signal-to-noise ratio provides the user with the proper ratio of speech enhancement to background-noise suppression for every sound situation. This process occurs automatically within the hearing aid without the need to make manual adjustments.

Wireless technology

Today’s hearing aids are wireless. This gives the devices the ability to communicate with each other ear-to-ear. In listening situations, speech that has been separated from background noise is wirelessly sent to the opposite ear. You hear the speech in stereo but actually only as one sound. In the event of a loud, sharp sound, a compression circuit will wirelessly shut down both hearing aids to protect your hearing.

Bluetooth connectivity

Like most of today’s popular electronic devices, the new generation of hearing aids utilizes Bluetooth® technology. Bluetooth technology allows the hearing aids to wirelessly connect with other electronics that have Bluetooth capabilities, such as televisions, smartphones, MP3 players, computers, microphones, loop systems, and much more. Connecting to these other devices wirelessly allows for sound transmission from the electronic device to your hearing aids without the use of gangly wires. Bluetooth technology has also given the user control over various programming functions with the use of a smartphone or computer. Manufacturers now provide downloadable apps that can turn any smart phone or computer into a remote control that makes programming adjustments to your hearing aids. People with very active lifestyles or those who find themselves in unusual sound situations can quickly adjust programming to make the situation more conducive to their circumstances.

Directional microphones

Microphones gather sound for the hearing aid. Directional microphones not only gather sound, but they can automatically change sound directionality to focus more on speech in noisy environments. The technology allows the directional microphones to automatically switch to different settings, giving the user the best speech reception as background noise varies. This functionality dramatically improves the user’s ability to hear speech as sound situations change. Many styles of hearing aids use two directional microphones that further enhance the user’s listening experience.