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As a general rule, hearing aids can provide hearing that is short of normal acuity but more satisfactory than the uncompensated impairment. The prime function of a hearing aid is to amplify frequencies of sound selectively, so that the auditory nerve can transmit them more effectively. |
Hearing aids are commonly prescribed for people with a mild to severe hearing loss. While some sounds of speech can be heard and understood with greater ease, some hearing aid users who have sensorineural loss continue to experience difficulty in understanding speech. If you have hearing loss in both ears, you can maximize the ability to understand speech and the direction of the sound source by wearing a hearing aid in each ear.
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Adjusting to background noise may be a major issue for new hearing aid users. Advances in circuitry of hearing aids, specially designed ear molds, and adjustable features all have helped to ease the initial learning process for many patients. There are three main types of hearing aids: analog, programmable and digital. Analog is the traditional technology for hearing aids. Programmable hearing aids give users greater flexibility than standard analog aids by allowing for computerized adjustments and remote control. They also can contain multiple response programs for use in different listening environments.
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Digital hearing aids are the most technologically sophisticated type of hearing aid and the most expensive. They also are programmable and provide advantages of greater adjustment precision and more complex sound processing. Volume adjustments are automatic. Many of these newer hearing aids have multiple microphones for better directional hearing and background noise reduction. |
Today hearing aids come in a variety of styles, including ones that fit behind the ear (BTE), in the ear (ITE), in the canal (ITC) and completely in the canal (CIC). The styles are designed for specific types of hearing loss as well as lifestyle and cosmetic considerations, and an audiologist or hearing aid specialist can help choose which style may be best for you. | |||||||
BAHA - Bone Anchored Hearing Aid |
BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Appliance)
People with single-sided deafness may benefit from the CROS (Contralateral Routing of Sound) hearing device or the recently developed BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Appliance). Both the CROS device and BAHA contain a microphone that transmits sound from the deafened ear to the hearing ear. |
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| Cochlear Implants Designed for people with a profound hearing loss who cannot benefit from hearing aids, the cochlear implant (CI) is an electronic device that stimulates the auditory nerve with electrical signals that the brain can interpret as sound. The device is comprised of two main components: 1) the external processor, microphone and battery and 2) the surgically-implanted internal receiver with electrodes in the cochlea.
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Components of an Auditory Brainstem Implant |
Other Sensory Devices
The auditory brainstem implant (ABI) and the more advanced penetrating auditory brainstem implant (PABI) are additional hearing devices that the House Ear Institute has been instrumental in developing. Both devices are intended to restore a sense of hearing in people afflicted by neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a rare genetic disorder that can result in treatments that require bilateral removal or severance of the hearing nerves. |
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| As a non-profit research facility, House Ear Institute continues to partner with a variety of hearing device manufacturers and organizations in efforts to develop next- generation products that can deliver amplification and technology improvements. | ||||||||
