The advent of digital technology has arguably been one of, if not the, greatest revolutions in human history! Greater than the taming of fire, the printing press or the internal combustion engine. It has changed or affected every aspect of life-from science & education to business/manufacturing, travel/leisure/entertainment, sports, art, religion and, of course, health care. Now, a valid argument can be made that many of these changes/effects haven’t always been positive. Relative to health care, however, the change has unquestionably been a dramatic overall improvement. We are able to live longer, healthier and more productive lives than ever before. This has been no less true than in the field of Audiology & hearing health care.
I have been an audiologist for 22 years now. In that time, I have been witness to amazing advances in hearing aid & assistive listening technology! When I began practicing, digital hearing aid technology was in its infancy (the first fully digital hearing aid was introduced in 1996). The vast majority of circuits were strictly analog, and the way we adjusted the response was by using a screwdriver! If I was lucky, I might have 3 potentiometers (“pots”), that would allow me to make rudimentary changes to the response of the aid. We chose circuits relative to the degree and configuration of our patient’s hearing loss, like buying a suit off the rack.
If your hearing changed, that hearing aid no longer ‘fit’ your hearing loss. Users would have to frequently adjust their volume controls because the hearing aids weren’t ‘smart’ enough to do it on their own. And forget about noise reduction, adaptive directionality, digital feedback suppression, remote controls and a host of other capabilities now available. They were certainly better than nothing, and helpful in (quieter) situations, but they really weren’t up to the challenge of helping people function well in our noisy world. Thankfully, digital technology has dramatically improved the comfort & capabilities and (therefore) benefits hearing aids can provide, even in very challenging listening situations. Next month, I will write about some of the more amazing advances…
