What are Hearing Aids?
Hearing aids are small battery-powered electronic devices that – as the name suggests – are designed to improve the hearing and speech comprehension of those who experience hearing loss. Unfortunately, only 1 in every 5 people exposed to hearing damage can benefit from hearing aids. The majority of patients who respond positively to hearing aids are those that have sensorineural hearing loss—or in more precise terms, damage to the inner ear hair cells. Typically, sensorineural hearing loss can result from various factors: poor nutrition, disease, aging, trauma to the head or ear, and exposure to extremely loud noises, among many others.
Basic Parts of a Hearing Aid:
Small enough to wear behind or inside a patient's ear, the three basic parts of hearing aids include a microphone, amplifier, and speaker. The microphone is the preliminary element that simply picks up on sound vibrations, converts them into electrical signals, and sends them through the ear. Typically, surviving hair cells can detect large vibrations (which have already transitioned into electrical signals) and convert them into neural signals that can pass along the brain. However, the power of these signals may have to vary depending on the damage strength of a patient's hair cells, which is where the amplifier comes in. Thus, the worse damage there is on hair cells, the more the amplifiers have to increase the signal power. The speaker is the final point where the neural signals are sent through.
Differences Between Hearing Aids:
There is a large variety of hearing aids, which depend on the electronics that are used; however, the two most common types are analog and digital. Analog hearing aids are custom-built standard aids that convert vibrations into electrical signals. These types of hearing aids have several types of programs that are adjustable based on the volume of the environment a patient is in. Audiologists however must program hearing aids using a computer. On the other hand, digital hearing aids convert sound vibrations into numerical codes (similar to a computer's binary code) rather than electrical signals. This allows for a deeper analysis and understanding of the signals being transmitted (pitch, volume). Though more costly than analog hearing aids, digital aids are very flexible in terms of the adjustments an audiologist must make with every patient.
Overall, hearing aids have been a huge step towards success regarding the help society can bring to those with hearing loss. The intricacy of such devices allows the world to bridge the gap between sound and those who rely on it, with the future promising further advancements, reaffirming the extensive impact that hearing aids have had on many.
References
Contributors, WebMD Editorial. “Hearing Aid Basics.” WebMD, 25 Oct. 2023, www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/hearing-aids#:~:text=Not%20everyone%20with%20hearing%20loss. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. “Hearing Aids.” NIDCD, 14 Dec. 2015, www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-aids#:~:text=A%20hearing%20aid%20has%20three. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
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