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http://wcco.com/techcenter/local_story_097231526.html
Computerized Hearing Aid Helps Improve Hearing
Dennis Douda
Reporting
(WCCO) Roughly one in 10 Americans, or 30 million people suffer from hearing loss.
The American Academy of Audiology is holding its national convention this weekend in Minneapolis where experts are sharing the latest ways to help them all.
The new developments are music to the ears of an industry that is poised to serve a generation of aging baby-boomers.
Among the developments are ever smaller hearing aids that are custom tuned by computer to the specific needs of each patient.
Six major hearing aid manufacturers are mixed in with the hundreds of exhibitors gathered for the convention.
Although when it comes to innovative technologies, Twin Cities-based Starkey Labs says it has them all whipped.
"It's truly a computer in your ear," said company president Jerry Ruzicka about Starkey’s Destiny models.
Ruzicka added, "They're so smart. They really allow people to hear your voice and my voice and wind and background noise all differently."
At Starkey's Eden Prairie, Minn. facility, research and development is an ongoing process.
Microscopic nanotechnology and new computer software allow scientists to pack the equivalent of 10,000,000 transistors into the space that once held just a few.
For Suzanne Muller who lost her hearing in childhood, hearing aids have been too weak to sound real, until now.
Cranking up the power often results in screaming feedback said Starkey Labs founder William Austin. However, Austin said, that is eliminated with the new electronics
The fanciest of Starkey’s hearing aids costs about $3,000.
Insurance doesn't generally pay for hearing aids, but the industry is lobbying Congress to give a $500 tax credit to patients to help them out.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Computerized Hearing Aid Helps Improve Hearing
Dennis Douda
Reporting
(WCCO) Roughly one in 10 Americans, or 30 million people suffer from hearing loss.
The American Academy of Audiology is holding its national convention this weekend in Minneapolis where experts are sharing the latest ways to help them all.
The new developments are music to the ears of an industry that is poised to serve a generation of aging baby-boomers.
Among the developments are ever smaller hearing aids that are custom tuned by computer to the specific needs of each patient.
Six major hearing aid manufacturers are mixed in with the hundreds of exhibitors gathered for the convention.
Although when it comes to innovative technologies, Twin Cities-based Starkey Labs says it has them all whipped.
"It's truly a computer in your ear," said company president Jerry Ruzicka about Starkey’s Destiny models.
Ruzicka added, "They're so smart. They really allow people to hear your voice and my voice and wind and background noise all differently."
At Starkey's Eden Prairie, Minn. facility, research and development is an ongoing process.
Microscopic nanotechnology and new computer software allow scientists to pack the equivalent of 10,000,000 transistors into the space that once held just a few.
For Suzanne Muller who lost her hearing in childhood, hearing aids have been too weak to sound real, until now.
Cranking up the power often results in screaming feedback said Starkey Labs founder William Austin. However, Austin said, that is eliminated with the new electronics
The fanciest of Starkey’s hearing aids costs about $3,000.
Insurance doesn't generally pay for hearing aids, but the industry is lobbying Congress to give a $500 tax credit to patients to help them out.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
