A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers such as personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) or other plain sound reinforcing systems cannot be sold as "hearing aids".
Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content even if the ear canal is blocked. Bone conduction transmission occurs constantly as sound waves vibrate bone, specifically the bones in the skull, although it is hard for the average individual to distinguish sound being conveyed through the bone as opposed to the sound being conveyed through the air via the ear canal. Intentional transmission of sound through bone can be used with individuals with normal hearing — as with bone-conduction headphones — or as a treatment option for certain types of hearing impairment. Bones are generally more effective at transmitting lower-frequency sounds compared to higher-frequency sounds.
Audiology is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing various testing strategies, audiologists aim to determine whether someone has normal sensitivity to sounds. If hearing loss is identified, audiologists determine which portions of hearing are affected, to what degree, and where the lesion causing the hearing loss is found. If an audiologist determines that a hearing loss or vestibular abnormality is present, they will provide recommendations for interventions or rehabilitation.
Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) is a type of hearing impairment where there is normal hearing in one ear and impaired hearing in the other ear.
EQT is a Swedish global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, growth equity, and venture capital in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.
Signia can refer to more than one notable item:
Sonova Holding AG is an internationally active Swiss group of companies headquartered in Stäfa that specializes in hearing care. The Sonova group operates through its core business brands Phonak, Unitron, Hansaton, Advanced Bionics, AudioNova and Sennheiser. It is one of the largest providers in the sector worldwide. The group and its brands hold 24% of the global hearing aid market in sales. As of 11 September 2022, Sonova is a component of the Swiss Market Index.
A contralateral routing of signals (CROS) hearing aid is a type of hearing aid that is used to treat a condition in which the patient has no usable hearing in one ear and minimal hearing loss or normal hearing in the other ear. This is referred to as single sided deafness.
Sivantos, Inc. is the United States affiliate of Sivantos Group, which maintains a global headquarters in Singapore. Sivantos Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of hearing aids. They serve hearing care professionals in more than 120 countries, offering hearing aids branded Siemens, Audio Service, Rexton, and A&M. Sivantos, Inc., and is located in Piscataway, NJ, where approximately 500 employees work in manufacturing, research and development, sales, marketing finance, and customer care.
An assistive listening device (ALD) is part of a system used to improve hearing ability for people in a variety of situations where they are unable to distinguish speech in noisy environments. Often, in a noisy or crowded room it is almost impossible for an individual who is hard of hearing to distinguish one voice among many. This is often exacerbated by the effect of room acoustics on the quality of perceived speech. Hearing aids are able to amplify and process these sounds, and improve the speech to noise ratio. However, if the sound is too distorted by the time it reaches the listener, even the best hearing aids will struggle to unscramble the signal. Assistive listening devices offer a more adaptive alternative to hearing aids, but can be more complex and cumbersome.
Widex A/S is the world’s sixth largest hearing aid manufacturer. In close collaboration with international audiological researchers and specialists, the company has developed a wide range of digital hearing aids. They introduced the world's first commercially available 100% digital in-the-ear hearing aid in 1995 based on the research model developed by Oticon that same year.
Beltone is a hearing aid company founded in 1940, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Beltone products are sold in the United States, Canada, and over 40 countries across the globe.
Miracle-Ear, Inc. is a hearing aid and hearing care company consisting of a network of franchised and corporately owned retail locations. The company is a subsidiary of Amplifon, the worldwide leader in hearing care and hearing aid retail based in Milan, Italy. Miracle-Ear's U.S. headquarters are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023 it has more than 1,500 locations in the United States, and it is the best-known hearing aid brand in the U.S.
The first hearing aid was created in the 17th century. The movement toward modern hearing aids began with the creation of the telephone, and the first electric hearing aid was created in 1898. By the late 20th century, the digital hearing aid was distributed to the public commercially. Some of the first hearing aids were external hearing aids. External hearing aids direct sounds in front of the ear and block all other noises. The apparatus would fit behind or in the ear.
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written with a lower case d. It later came to be used in a cultural context to refer to those who primarily communicate through sign language regardless of hearing ability, often capitalized as Deaf and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. The two definitions overlap but are not identical, as hearing loss includes cases that are not severe enough to impact spoken language comprehension, while cultural Deafness includes hearing people who use sign language, such as children of deaf adults.
Starkey Hearing Technologies is an American privately owned company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota that makes hearing aids, and is one of the largest hearing aid manufacturers in the world. As of 2019, the company had more than 5,000 employees in 24 facilities, serving more than 100 markets worldwide, and is the only American-owned global hearing aid manufacturer.
Eargo is an American hearing aid manufacturer based in San Jose, California.
Cartilage conduction is a pathway by which sound signals are transmitted to the inner ear. In 2004, Hiroshi Hosoi discovered this pathway and named “cartilage conduction”. Hearing by cartilage conduction is distinct from conventional sound-conduction pathways, such as air or bone, because it is realized by touching a transducer on the aural cartilage and does not involve the vibration of the skull bone. Therefore, cartilage conduction is referred to as the “third auditory pathway”.
Elaine Saunders is an associate professor at the Swinburne University of Technology and executive director of Blamey Saunders, as well as an inventor, entrepreneur. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science Technology and Engineering in 2019. She is one of only nine women out of 160 to win the Clunies Ross award for entrepreneurship, and has won many other awards, as well as given numerous keynote addresses on the value of entrepreneurship and innovation in STEMM.
The Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 was a law passed by the 115th United States Congress as a rider on the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017. It created a class of hearing aids regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) available directly to consumers without involvement from a licensed professional. Regulations for this new class of hearing aid are expected to be released by the end of 2020.
€2.47 billion (fiscal year 2022-23) [2] 