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| 12th May 2009 |
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HEARING AID TECHNOLOGY A Hearing aid receives sounds through the microphone. It helps to hear speech and other sounds, its helps the hearing impaired to improve their communication skills and also help them to be an active members of their families and their communities. How do hearing aids work? When sounds goes into the hearing aids through the microphone, noise and distortion are been added to the sound, this is because microphones make noise. The microphones gather sounds in the air and convert them from acoustic energy into electrical energy. The sound is then sent to the amplifier to increase the strength of the electrical energy. After it has been amplified, the sound is been sent to the receiver and is then clean up again before its being sent to the ear. Analog Hearing Aid Analog hearing aid is the oldest and simplest type of hearing aid. It is also the least expensive type of hearing aid technology. Analog hearing instrument amplify the continuous sound wave by simply making it larger and amplifying all sounds equally. Loud or soft sounds may require you to adjust manually the volume of your hearing, also ability to distinguishing between sounds can be difficult. Programmable Analog Programmable analog allows you to adjust the aid to amplify sounds for different situations, it has an analog circuit that can be adjusted or programmed by your dispenser on a computer. This type of hearing aid can be programmed so that loud sounds are amplified less and soft sounds are amplified more. Although this is an advancement over analog technology, you may still need to manually adjust your hearing aid, or switch settings, under certain circumstances Digital Hearing Aid Digital hearing aids are the newest innovation in hearing instrument, it is also the most sold hearing instrument today. Digital hearing aids provide more accuracy and higher quality sound than any other form of hearing aid. It takes the continuous sound and breaks it up into small, discrete bits of information, this is called digitizing the signal. The more sophisticated digital hearing instrument is able to amplify the softest sounds of speech while at the same time subtracting certain unwanted noises, this is due to the wide array of circuitry inside them that control the comfort of the sound and make speech easier to hear even in noisy areas. Digital hearing aids are connected to the computer and are programmed according to a person’s hearing loss. Its can be customized to suit personal needs and hearing loss requirements. Digital hearing aids are also available in extremely small models making it less noticeable for others to see. Overall, digital hearing aids provide advanced features and improved sound conditions for individuals suffering from hearing loss, providing an exact sound duplicate which makes listening more relaxing and convenient for the user. Nanotechnology This type of hearing aid is beyond digital hearing
aid. It is the latest evolution in hearing aid technology. This technology
virtually eliminates several of the most common complaints among hearing
aid users – feedback, artifacts and white noise. It also improves
speech intelligibility, transitions is easy from one acoustic environment
to the next. |
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