How Do Modern Hearing Aids Work?

A company in Chicago manufactured the first recorded, wearable hearing aid almost a century ago in 1938. The device consisted of an earpiece, a wire and a battery pack. The wire connected the earpiece to a battery pack that attached to the wearer’s clothing or body. Back then, many hearing aids were clunky and awkward. They were often impractical to wear every day and barely improved the quality of hearing when worn.

Needless to say, hearing devices have progressed substantially since then. Modern hearing aids can vastly improve the quality of life, and are also discreet and comfortable enough for wearers. While technology is still improving to increase performance and quality, hearing aids now are aesthetically pleasing as well. Therefore, there are several different brands and styles of hearing aids one can choose from, but most follow a similar model for improving an individual’s hearing.

However, before someone can understand how hearing assistive devices work, they need to understand how ears pick up and interpret sounds.

How Hearing Works?

The sound is produced through vibrations and energy. When sounds travel through the air and into your ear, there are a number of structures that work together to turn those vibrations and energy into sounds that we then interpret. In general terms, vibrations travel through the ear canal to the eardrum, followed by the small bones and then to the cochlea inside the ear. Inside the ear, tiny hair cells transform these vibrations into electric signals which the brain then recognizes as a certain sound.

When one or several parts of the auditory system do not work properly, the sound can not be interpreted by the brain. For instance, many people lose hair cells in the ear during the aging process, which contributes to the age-related hearing loss.

How Do Hearing Aids Improve Hearing?

Most hearing aids consist of three main parts: the earpiece, the microphone, and the speaker. The devices usually hook behind or in an individual’s ear. Moreover, there are two main types of hearing aids: analog and digital. When turned on, the microphone in analog devices detects sounds in the atmosphere and transmits it through the device. Then, the speaker or amplifier converts those sounds into signals the brain can understand and boosts the decibel levels so that the wearer can easily hear.

Digital devices, on the other hand, are usually more sophisticated. They have the same general layout. But, instead of simply boosting every sound around, they selectively choose certain noises to convert. They are also often more customizable and produce clearer sounds for users than analog hearing aids. Digital hearing aids tend to be more expensive than their analog counterparts too, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the digital hearing aids are the best choice for individuals.

Recent advances in hearing technologies have significantly improved the lives of those suffering from hearing loss or deafness. But it is important to remember that those who have lost their hearing, will not be able to restore it to where it was before with a device. Regardless to say, researchers and hearing aid manufacturers are continuously working to further improve assistive technologies and expand their performance capabilities for hearing loss sufferers.