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Hearing Aids and Auditory Rehabilitation
Published in R James A England, Eamon Shamil, Rajeev Mathew, Manohar Bance, Pavol Surda, Jemy Jose, Omar Hilmi, Adam J Donne, Scott-Brown's Essential Otorhinolaryngology, 2022
The essential components in hearing aids are a microphone, an amplifier with controllable characteristics, a miniature earphone (called a receiver) to output the amplified signal and a battery to power the amplifier. The amplifiers can be controlled so that they amplify signals at different frequencies by different amounts so that they amplify soft sounds more than they amplify loud sounds. Frequency-dependent amplification is needed because the amount of hearing loss usually changes with frequency and because the high-frequency parts of speech are weaker than the low-frequency parts. Intensity-dependent amplification compensates for the reduced dynamic range of sounds between threshold and discomfort that inevitably accompanies sensorineural hearing loss. The rate at which the degree of amplification varies as the input level varies can be very fast (a few milliseconds) or very slow (a few seconds). Fast and slow compression have both advantages and disadvantages relative to each other. Almost all hearing aids use digital signal processing to amplify as it offers more flexible manipulation of the sound, and it is more easily controlled by the computer used to adjust the hearing aid to an individual patient's needs.
Clinical assessment and management of communication in older adults
Published in Rebecca Allwood, Working with Communication and Swallowing Difficulties in Older Adults, 2022
Here are some strategies to help with processing of spoken information:Reduce background noise or distractions where possible.Have your hearing checked.Wear hearing aids if you need them.Consider that tiredness can affect processing speed. Try to get enough rest and avoid important conversations if you are feeling tired.Know that stress can affect processing speed, as the brain is distracted by competing demands.Ask people to give you one piece of information at a time and give you time to process what they have said.Ask people to speak more slowly if this helps.If you notice any other symptoms, such as not understanding what has been said even when it is processed or having any memory difficulties, please contact your doctor.
The Active Middle Ear Implant Vibrant Soundbridge: Outcomes on Safety, Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Subjective Benefit 1996–2017
Published in Stavros Hatzopoulos, Andrea Ciorba, Mark Krumm, Advances in Audiology and Hearing Science, 2020
Michael Urban, Francesca Scandurra, Anna Truntschnig, Severin Fürhapter, Geoffrey Ball
Unaddressed hearing loss (greater than 35 dB in the better-hearing ear) poses an annual cost in the range of $750–$790 billion globally (WHO, 2017b). These annual global costs were calculated by the WHO (2017b) and include: Health care costs in the range of $67–$107 billion (excluding the cost of providing hearing devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants).Education costs in supporting children (5–14 years) with unad-dressed hearing loss sum up to approximately $3.9 billion.Costs due to loss of productivity (unemployment, premature retirement) were estimated at $105 billion.Societal costs (social isolation, communication difficulties, and stigma posing a psychological burden to the individual concerned) were estimated to cost a further $573 billion. In these costs, the monetary value of avoiding a year living with disability and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributed to hearing loss, was calculated (WHO, 2017b).
A novel design of low-cost hearing aid devices using an efficient lifting filter bank with a modified variable filter
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
N Subbulakshmi, R Manimegalai, G Rajakumar, T Ananth Kumar, Umadevi Kosuri
A hearing aid is defined as a remote electronic system to augment the hearing capability that is placed in and around the human ear. In Chen et al. (2019) [6], an audiometry method is used for fast implementation. Filter bank for bird call analysis has been discussed with various samples [7]. A review of hearing aid devices is discussed. The analytic design of a uniform filter bank is implemented in [8] with circular filters whose prototype is zero phase using specific frequency mappings. A hybrid filter bank structure is introduced as a four-channel realization in [9]. Stochastic computing is used for neural network processing to reduce the hardware elements’ infinite impulse response filter cores [5]. A two-channel QMF filter bank mainly focuses on low-frequency biomedical applications [10]. This sine cosine algorithm is used to optimize the prototype coefficients in the filter bank, and the optimal function is quickly designed by reducing the fitness function. An adjustable filter bank [11] is used for hearing aid application in which a farrow structure is proposed to adjust the controllability of the device. A s16-band filter bank [12] is implemented with multiple band edge shaping filters. Fixed-point representation is used in Tensilica-based processors [13] for hearing aid application. The proposed filter bank has improved performance in power and delay. A survey of various filter bank methods is discussed in [14,15].
Barriers and facilitators to delivery of group audiological rehabilitation programs: a survey based on the COM-B model
Published in International Journal of Audiology, 2022
Rebecca J. Bennett, Robert H. Eikelboom, Cathy M. Sucher, Melanie Ferguson, Gabrielle H. Saunders
Hearing rehabilitation services predominantly follow an acute illness model of care (i.e. offering a single solution of hearing devices), rather than a chronic disease model of care which considers an individual’s lived experience of the disability (Hogan et al. 2020), despite hearing loss is a chronic condition. It is widely recognised that hearing aids improve listening ability, and hearing- and health-related quality of life (Ferguson et al. 2017). However, they do not fully address the communication, social and emotional impacts of hearing loss (Hickson et al. 2007b; Lawrence et al. 2020; Poissant et al. 2008; Weinstein, Sirow, and Moser 2016), nor do they address the third party disability often experienced by communication partners (e.g. spouses, family members) of people with hearing loss (Barker, Leighton, and Ferguson 2017; Scarinci, Worrall, and Hickson 2012; Wallhagen et al. 2004).
Applying market shaping approaches to increase access to assistive technology in low- and middle-income countries
Published in Assistive Technology, 2021
Margaret Savage, Sarah Albala, Frederic Seghers, Rainer Kattel, Cynthia Liao, Mathilde Chaudron, Novia Afdhila
In a healthy market, the price of a product should be low enough to make it accessible and cost-effective to buyers, but also high enough to incentivize suppliers to innovate new products and/or enter and remain in the market. Analysis showed affordability issues across all products investigated. The need for customized products coupled with small volumes, a lack of competition, high shipping costs and high taxes all contribute to high or unaffordable prices of active wheelchairs (up to US$4,000 per unit) and prostheses (up to US$3,000) from most leading global manufacturers. Lower cost options (e.g., US$150 – 350 for active wheelchairs) exist, but uptake is limited by a reliance on donor-funded programs for distribution, lack of revolving capital by suppliers to enter the market and limited visibility for suppliers and buyers. Supply chain analysis indicated that the cost of a hearing aid from leading global suppliers to the service provider may range from US$100 – $150, but the the cost to the user can exceed US$2,000 whereby the device and high service delivery costs are bundled. Additionally, due to tendering practices in most LMIC, suppliers must rely on local distributors to respond to government tenders or register products, which adds additional margin to the final price.