Hearing Aid Technology Has Advanced Significantly in The Past Few Years

Have you utilized your ear trumpet lately? No? You don’t use one? Because that technology is hundreds of years old. Okay, I suppose that seems logical. Ear trumpets are a bit… archaic.

The basic shape of the modern hearing aid was designed in the 1950s. And for some reason, that’s the hearing aid which has become established in our collective consciousness. The trouble is that a hearing aid built in the 1950s is just about as out-dated as an ear trumpet. We need to really expand our thinking if we want to understand how much more advanced modern hearing aids are.

The History of Hearing Aids

So that you can better understand just how advanced hearing aids have become, it’s useful to have some context about where they started. As far back as the 1500s, you can find some type of hearing aid (though, there’s no evidence that these wooden, ear-shaped items were actually effective).

The first moderately helpful hearing assistance device was most likely the ear trumpet. This device appeared to be a long horn. The wide end faced the world and the small end was put into your ear. These, um, devices weren’t really high tech, but they did provide some measurable help.

When electricity was introduced, hearing aids experienced a major revolution. The hearing aid that we are familiar with was essentially developed in the 1950s. They were rather rudimentary, relying on transistors and large, antiquated batteries to effectively work. But these gadgets represent the start of a hearing aid that could be easily worn and concealed. The hearing aids of the 1950s might have appeared similar to modern hearing aids but the technology and capability is worlds apart.

Modern Features of Hearing Aids

Simply put, modern hearing aids are technological masterpieces. And they continue making improvements. In several significant ways, modern hearing aids have been taking advantage of the digital technology of the later twentieth century. Power is the first and most essential way. Earlier models had batteries which had less power in a larger space than their present counterparts.

And with that greater power comes a long list of sophisticated advances:

• Bluetooth connectivity: Contemporary hearing aids are now able to communicate with all of your Bluetooth devices. This can be extremely useful on a daily basis. For example, hearing aids in the past had a hard time with phone calls because users would hear substantial (and sometimes unpleasant) feedback. When you connect to your phone via Bluetooth, the transition is smooth and communicating is effortless. You will also use Bluetooth connectivity to take part in a wide variety of other electronic activities. This means simple, feedback free connection to your music, TV, etc.
• Construction: Modern hearing aids feel more comfortable because they are made of advanced materials. These new materials permit hearing aids to be lighter and more heavy-duty at the same time. It's easy to see how hearing aids have advanced on the outside as well as the inside with the addition of long lasting and rechargeable batteries.
• Selective amplification: Hearing loss normally occurs as loss of specific frequencies and wavelengths of sound. Maybe you have a more difficult time hearing high-frequency sounds (or vice versa). Modern hearing aids can be programmed to boost only those sounds that you are unable to hear very well, resulting in a much more efficient hearing aid.
• Health monitoring: Modern hearing aids are also able to incorporate innovative health monitoring software into their settings. For instance, some hearing aids can recognize when you’ve fallen. Other functions can count your steps or give you exercise encouragement.
• Speech recognition: For countless hearing aid owners, the ultimate objective of these devices is to enable communication. Many hearing aids, then, have built-in speech recognition software developed to separate and boost voices primarily–from a crowded restaurant to an echo-y meeting hall, this feature comes in handy in many situations.

The old style hearing aids no longer exemplify what hearing aids are, in the same way as rotary phones no longer illustrate what long distance communication looks like. Hearing aids aren’t what they once were. And that’s a good thing–because now they’re even better.

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