| New Hearing Aids Technology and Research |
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| Phillips Hearing Center spends a lot of time researching hearing aid technology. We will only work with hearing aid manufactures that are HIMSA members and whose software contains the features required and governed by hearing care industry standards.
Our testing and evaluations are up-to-date with industry governed guidelines. We use state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that the greatest attention to detail is given to accurately test your hearing to match it with your best solution. We perform each of the following: • Puretone threshold testing • Puretone bone conduction testing • Most comfortable listening levels • Uncomfortable listening levels • Speech discrimination Due to our emphasis on technology we largely promote Starkey brand hearing aids. Starkey spends over $50 million a year on research and development. Their research is focused on two primary tracks: auditory perceptual science and signal processing technology. For more information on this technology you can visit their website www.starkeyresearch.com. Our main area of expertise is with Starkey hearing aids, although we are capable of programming and adjusting all major brands of hearing aids. We have taken the approach of specializing in one brand. This focus allows us to give you the best performance possible. We chose Starkey because of their devotion to research and their commitment to cutting-edge technology. Here are some answers to some common questions on hearing aid technology. How do hearing aids work? Hearing aids receive and amplify sounds. There are many different types of hearing aid technology but there are four main components common to them all: (A) a microphone, which receives the sound and translates it into electronic impulses (B) An amplifer, which makes those electronic impulses louder (C)A receiver which translates those now larger impulses into louder sounds and (D) A battery, which serves as the power source for the whole system. What is feedback? Feedback is noise caught in a loop. The noise leaks out of the hearing aid while the sound is being amplified, the sound is picked up again by the microphone. It is called feedback because it is the noise created by the hearing aid being fed back into the microphone that produces the whistle or squeal. It was the most common complaint in hearing aid users in the past. Today’s hearing aid should not produce feedback. If you find that it is giving you feedback, there is a reason for it. The most common reason is wax in your ears and that can be easily fixed. What is the difference between and band and a channel? A band is what is used to control volume in different frequencies. This allows us to adjust more volume in a specific area of your hearing loss without effecting other areas where you might need less volume The more bands the hearing aid offers the more room we have to fit the aid to your hearing loss. Channels break up the frequency range into individual channels. This allows the hearing aid to differentiate noise from speech. The more channels the hearing aid has the more fine tuned it can be. For instance the sound of keys falling on a table, or water running in the sink may be overwhelming. When your hearing aid offers many channels we can adjust each frequency that is too loud without sacrificing the things you want to hear, like your spouse or boss. What is BluWave SP? Today's digital hearing aids manage multiple programs. These systems can eliminate whistling (feedback), provide management in noisy environments (bands /channels), manage power (compression), enhance telephone performance and log pertinent data. Similar to an operating system that runs a computer, BluWave provides the foundation to run multiple applications at once. This is necessary to eliminate feedback while simultaneously determining the difference between speech and noise, and telling your hearing aid to do what it’s supposed to do! |
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