What Do Cochlear Implants And Hearing Aids Sound Like?

Science Friday has a lesson for middle school students about how hearing aids and cochlear implants including sample recordings of: "..what it’s like to hear sound through a hearing aid and a cochlear implant. Unless you wear one of these devices, it is impossible to know exactly what it is like to experience sound through them. In fact, people who have normal hearing in one ear but wear a cochlear implant in the other ear say that these simulations sound very different from how they hear sounds with their implant." The sample sounds are posted here.

Girl Gets Apology from Hearing Aid Thief

Alicia Lyding had her hearing device stolen from her San Francisco-area elementary school. Now the man who stole it has written a letter of apology. KGO-TV has a video report or read the story here.

7-Year-Old Gets Surprise

A San Francisco-area first grader had her hearing aids stolen from her school. But she got a surprise this week. ABC-7 has a video report or read the story here.

CVS Pharmacy is getting out of the hearing aid business

CVS is going to shut down its 49 standalone audiology centers at the end of the month. The move comes ahead of FDA changes to hearing aid regulations. CVS is the largest pharmacy chain in the US but Costco dominates the hearing aid retail market. The website "Hearing & Health Technology Matters" quotes a CVS spokesman as saying, "The FDA is preparing to approve lower-cost, over-the-counter hearing devices in the near future, and new technology is emerging to enable self-serve hearing testing and care." Read more here.

Insurers now must cover hearing aids for Idaho kids

Idaho lawmakers have changed state law so that insurance companies are required to cover hearing aids, speech therapy for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. You can read the official rule here. KTVB-TV has a video report:

How Biotech is Trying to fix Hearing Loss

"At least half a dozen biotechs are working on potential breakthroughs in the way hearing loss is treated. But it’s unclear if the drugs they’re developing will be ready in time to help hearing-impaired boomers, some of whom are in their 70s," the Boston Glove Reports. David Lucchino, chief executive of Frequency, told the paper:

“There’s a fundamental transformation happening in hearing regeneration. We’re figuring out how to hot-wire the hair cells in the inner ear that die off during a lifetime of being exposed to noise.”

Read the full article here.

App Maker: Apple Earbuds can work as low-tech Amplifiers

A free app called Fennex can turn Apple’s AirPods wireless earbuds into audio amplifiers, according to the Switzerland-based company behind the app. It says the app "functions like a 'cheap hearing aid'" which "tests your hearing in each ear and uses those results to act as a personalized, adjustable amplifier." And while a traditional hearing aid will differentiate between sounds and amplify them based on their particular characteristics, Fennex only does this in a rudimentary way. MIT Technology Review has more here and the company's website is here.

Hearing Aids Given to deaf Syrian children

A team of audiologists from the Chicago-based "Deaf Planet Soul” charity are on a two-week mission to help deaf Syrian children in clinics around Lebanon. A spokesman tells the Associated Press, "When people think of refugees, they think of cut-off limbs and brain injuries, and all these visible things. They don’t think about the invisible results of war. They don’t think that this kid who can’t hear really needs help.” Read the full story here.

The Stars Come out for Starkey

Last night celebrities came to St. Paul, Minnesota to support the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Each year the organization holds a Gala to raise money for hearing aids. Millions of dollars are given as a result. Among this year's celebrities were Johnny Depp, Jennifer Garner, Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp, and Jay Leno among others. KARE-TV has this video of celebrities arriving.

Suit: Prison refuses to replace hearing aids

The ACLU is suing Ohio's corrections department for not replacing a deaf inmate's hearing aids. James Handwork was given the hearing aids more than decade ago and the prison audiologist says they are wore out and obsolete. Read the lawsuit details here.

Tensions between the Deaf community and Starkey

A Deaf advocacy group objects to how the Starkey Hearing Foundation operates. The California Association for the Deaf is calling on Starkey to stop exploiting the people who are receiving hearing aids from the group and slogans like “hearing brings joy.”The CAD president told Minnesota's Star Tribune “Their marketing approach is really hurting us. They are pushing the concept that we are OK only if we can hear, that hearing equals joy. Hollywood loves that, but it is just not true.” Starkey won't talk about the controversy. Read the full Star Tribune here.

New York Hearing Aid Scam

Joshua Miller
(image from audibelsyracuse.com )

Upstate New York prosecutors filed charges against Joshua Miller this week. According to Syracuse.com, the state Inspector General's Office said he outfitted hundreds of state employees with $1.6 million in "earbuds and ear plugs meant for video gaming and hunting, then billed state insurance as though those items were hearing aids." And that's not the only charge against the owner of Syracuse Hearing Aid Centers. Read the story here.

Bill to get Hearing Aid Covered by Insurance

A bill working its way through Congress would require require that Medicare pay for hearing exams and hearing aids. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2015 wouldn't directly affect private insurance, it might lead the way for states to address the issue, which is important to many in the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities. You can read the text of the bill here and read a column explaining the importance of the proposed law here.

Hearing aid ad sparks outrage

An advertising campaign for hearing aids outraged the Deaf community in Australia. 7-News in Melbourne explains in this video report the counter campaign launched by activities.

3-D Hearing Aid

image from Colorado State
University 

A Colorado State student has printed a hearing aid with a 3-D printer. Megan Aanstoos is working on her Ph.D in biomedical engineering and is hard of hearing herself. Find out what motivated her to do it and where her project may lead in an article from the school's website here.

Stolen hearing aids get replaced

A San Diego teen and her mom are happy that the 13 year old will get new hearing aids. KGTV has a video report (captions available).

Baby's reaction to hearing aids

A video of a UK baby getting hearing aids turned on has gone viral, with more than 5 million views in less than a week. The parents say the video was recorded when their son, Lachlan, was seven weeks old. That was nearly two years ago.

How A Tiny Fly's Ears Could Help You Hear Better

Researchers are trying to replicate the super hearing of a particular fly. They believe harnessing that knowledge could lead to a break through in hearing aid technology. KTVT-TV in Dallas has a video report below. No captions, but you can read the story here.

Health agency's flaws

A doctor who has worked with Starkey Hearing foundation blames the World Health Organization for making the situation worse for people in Africa. Dr. Robert Dean has a practice in Palm Harbor, Florida and has led to several humanitarian travel missions, writes this in the Tampa Bay Times:

I've been humbled and honored to help to mitigate hearing loss through the Starkey Hearing Foundation. But as we observe World Health Day, we need to ask why the World Health Organization isn't doing more to shrink the demand for missions like the ones that keep Starkey volunteers so busy.

Read the opinion piece here.

Hearing Aid Models

Here is a look at the 5 types of hearing aid models along with their advantages and costs.

 ▪ BTEs "behind the ear" These are the familiar crescent-shaped instruments first developed in the late 1940s. These durable aids include a receiver, microphone and amplifier that fits over the ear. The small plastic case is worn behind the ear and connects to an ear mold inside the ear. It directs sound into the ear canal through a tube and custom-fitted ear mold. The most options and is easiest to handle. Picks up sound and processes it into electrical impulses that are sent through a wire to the speaker. Cost: $500 to $2,900 per ear.

 ▪ "mini" BTEs or OTE (on the ear) These are the newest aids. They dramatically reduces the size of the crescent and replaces the bulky wire and speaker with a clear, thin tube. They cost $700 to $2,350 per ear.ITEs "in-the-ear" Smaller than BTEs, these fit into the outer ear and project slightly into the ear canal. Fairly easy to handle and comes with many features. These can be ordered with or without dual microphones, which provide information to the computer to analyze and reduce background noise. It comes in full shell size and the smaller, less-visible "half shell" size. Cost: $500 to $2,400 per ear. ▪ ITCs "in the canal" This variation on the in-the-ear models protrudes only slightly into the outer ear. They are partially visible though smaller than ITEs. Not for people with severe or profound hearing loss. Fewer features and more difficult to handle. Cost: $650 to $2,350 per ear.

 ▪ CIC "completely in canal" The smallest but most difficult to handle model, these customized hearing aids are tucked so far down that it comes with a plastic thread to pull it out; They are rarely visible. Not for people with severe or profound hearing loss, smaller batteries with short life; will last no more than 7 years. Impressions are taken of the ear canal to fashion the aids. Cost: $500 to $2,900 per ear.

 ▪ IOT "invisible open technology" A one-size-fits-all model, these aids are a variation on CIC aids but are not custom-fitted. Sometimes referred to as "fit-and-go," it can be programmed in in one visit to a hearing aid center. Cost: $1,500 to $1,900 per ear.