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Hearing
Aid Styles: Hearing aids come in a wide range
of sizes and styles, including completely in the
canal (CIC),
in the canal (ITC),
in the ear (ITE)
or behind the ear (BTE).
There are two new types of hearing aids:
Open-fitting and the deep Post-auricular-Canal
(PAC).
The Open fitting is used for patients who have
normal or near normal hearing in low frequencies
with complaint of hearing echo and their own voice.
Widex Mind, Inteo, Aikia, and Flash are example of
open fitting. The new type of open fitting is
called Receiver in the Canal (RIC). Widex Passion
and Siemens Pure series are examples of RIC hearing
aids. The type of hearing aid recommended depends
on your individual needs. Hearing
Aid Technology: Today's technology provides
significant advances over older conventional
hearing aids. With the invention of modern computer
software, we now have a vast selection of hearing
aids using digital processing and directional
microphones for better hearing in many listening
situations. CONVENTIONAL
HEARING AIDS may have linear or compression
circuits. Linear
Circuit: A linear circuit is one that is simply
an amplifier, it makes EVERYTHING louder. This type
of circuit is the least sophisticated and gives no
means to filter out unwanted background
noise. Compression
Circuit: A compression circuit also turns
everything up, but with less distortion because of
the way it processes sound. This type of circuit is
also better able to accommodate a patient's range
of hearing. These types of hearing aids along with
their programmable versions are considered outdated
since one can purchase digital hearing aids at the
same cost with significantly better sound
quality. DIGITAL:This
circuit has a superior fine tuning ability to match
the patient's hearing loss and filter out sounds
that it identifies as background noise. Digital
hearing aids analyze the sounds around you and
adjust the signal based on that analysis. Some
hearing aids divide complex sounds into 15
different segments and process the sounds
completely separately. Widex Inteo has 15 channels.
Sonic Innovation velocity 24 can go up to 24
channels. There are very advanced technologies
available in digital hearing aids to minimize
feedback (unwanted whistle most Hearing aids emit
when one opens his/her mouth or when a telephone
receiver gets near the hearing aid). Widex Inteo
and Mind along with several others can eliminate
feedback almost in all situations. Some hearing
aids are able to communicate with each other and
others are able to log all the environments that
patients wear the hearing aids and all the
adjustment that patient made to the hearing aids.
Siemens Pure, Motion, and Widex Mind are such an
example. DIRECTIONAL
HEARING AIDS: A DEFINITE IMPROVEMENT
Directional technology utilizes dual microphones
and is available in programmable or digital models.
It can function in omnidirectional mode (using just
one microphone) or in the directional mode (using
both microphones). This directional mode would be
utilized in a noisy restaurant, for example, to
help you focus in on what the person or people you
are with are saying, while dampening the chatter
around you. Recently, many articles have confirmed
the efficacy of this technology both in the BTE,
Open-fit hearing aids, ITE, Half Shell and even ITC
hearing aids. The newer versions of the directional
microphones are adaptive. These microphones can
discern where the unwanted sound is coming from and
thereby adjust directionality accordingly to
maximize understanding. Sonic Innovation Ion,
Velocity models, and Widex Inteo, Mind, Aikia, and
Siemens Pure and Motion series have this option as
well. |
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