Sifting through the background noise is a common and aggravating problem for many people with hearing aids and cochlear implants. Now, a new solution is catching on across the country and right here in the Northland.
Timothy Roufs is an anthropology professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He starting to lose his hearing about fifteen years ago and has used a cochlear implant to hear for several years.
He says without the implant he would not be able to hear at all. "It means whether I can hear or not, whether I can participate, whether I can hear my grandchildren," Roufs said.
His cochlear implant makes a big difference in day to day life for Roufs, but sifting through interference and background noise can really disrupt the process.
"When your in a big auditorium, even with a normal hearing aid, the biggest problem is background noise and echo," Roufs said.
But cutting-edge technology is changing all that. It's called a "hearing loop" and it works like Wi-Fi for people with hearing aids and cochlear implants.
It has already made a big difference in his classroom at UMD, making it possible for Roufs to continue teaches and giving lectures, he said.
Now it is in two auditoriums at Essentia Health - St. Mary's Medical Center. They hope it will make classes and meetings easier and more enjoyable for those with assistive listening devices.
Camie Wheeler is an audiologist at Essentia Health - St. Mary's Medical Center. She says the hearing loop makes a huge difference when people with hearing aids and cochlear implants trying to listen to important information in a big room.
"It's very difficult. Especially if there is a lot of background noise. Papers shuffling in the room, any people chatting in the back, any kind of background noise interferes with that signal," Wheeler said.
The hearing loop can make a huge difference in important situations. Without it, it can be very difficult for those with cochlear implants or hearing aids to sort through the mess of other noises in the room, Wheeler said.
"It allows for hearing impaired individuals to hear the speakers voice directly into the ear, instead of traveling through the whole room. It goes into their ear avoiding the whole background noise," she said.
Here is how it works. A wire is installed in the ceiling around an auditorium sound system. The loop sends out a signal, usually from a microphone, that can be picked up by a tiny receiver called a telecoil, found in most hearing aids and cochlear implants. The result is a clear, customized sound right to a person's assistive listening device.
Roufs says it takes out all of those annoying interferences and lets him focus. He was at an international conference a few years ago and tried out the hearing loop there. He said, thanks to the loop, he could probably understand the speaker better than those folks without hearing loss at the back of the room.
"It's like your sitting with a person visiting with them one to one. There are no background noises," Roufs said.
Hearing loops are widely used in Europe. Roufs said you can find them at train stations and most big spaces. They are catching on across the U.S. in concert halls, churches, and even New York City's subway system.
