iHEAR Medical announced the launch of the Free @Home iHEARtest campaign, offering consumers the ability to test their hearing for free at home with the “only FDA approved home hearing screener.” The iHEARtest is said to “rapidly profile hearing ability based on guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO).”

Keynsham Hearing centre

“The Free @Home test addresses compromised hearing care during the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic,” said Adnan Shennib, Founder and CEO of iHEAR Medical.

The iHEARtest kit includes “factory calibrated earphones” to ensure accuracy of test results, according to the company. The Free @Home iHEARtest can be ordered online or by phone (1-844-443-2744, Toll-Free) for delivery directly to the customer’s home. Customers pay $9 to cover the cost of two-way shipping and handling, and have 30 days to take the iHEARtest and return it using the provided pre-paid return label and packaging.

Bristol hearing shop

According to iHEAR Medical, the iHEARtest was approved by the FDA following years of clinical research demonstrating safety and accuracy. Additionally, clinical studies under the oversight of an independent Institutional Review Board (IRB) have shown the iHEARtest’s “ease of self-use, accuracy and 96.4% agreement with standard practice audiometry for the assessment of normal versus disabling hearing impairment.”

Source: iHEAR Medical

ChatableApps announced the launch of “the world’s first universal hearing aid, using neuroscience-led artificial intelligence to enable those suffering from hearing loss to hear one-to-one conversations clearly, using an everyday smartphone and a standard pair of earbuds.”

Hearing loss affects 37.5 million adults in the US* and the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that 466 million** people globally have ‘disabling hearing loss,’ with this expected to reach 900 million by 2050. However, due to the high cost of traditional hearing aids and lack of inclusion in medical insurance, many of those suffering are currently going untreated.

Serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who provided early investment in the technology, said: “Chatable is using AI to address growing health care inequality by providing an affordable hearing aid app that helps with conversation.”

Founder and chief scientist at ChatableApps, Dr Andrew Simpson (PhD) has devised a “brand-new way of thinking about AI which reverse engineers the neural processes of the hearing brain and implements them as AI,” according to the company’s announcement.

“Putting an auditory cortex on a smartphone has been a dream for a long time. As far as I know, this is the most advanced real-time AI that has ever gone on a phone,” said Simpson. “It’s been a long road, but our preclinical trials reveal something of a medical breakthrough: A hearing aid that doesn’t need hearing tests and going straight into the hands of people who can’t afford a hearing aid.”

The performance levels Simpson’s approach achieves reportedly “surpass those of a traditional hearing aid when it comes to one-to-one conversation.” The company says this was confirmed in pre-clinical trials where “86% reported that the ChatableApps universal hearing aid was better for conversation than their traditional hearing aid.”

Despite the complex science and AI at work in the app, the company describes its user interface as “simple.”  Once downloaded, the user moves two sliders up and down to find their desired balance. The volume boost slider helps enable “clear and loud voice, while the background noise slider removes background noise, allowing users to hear conversations no matter where they are.”

“Our unique ground-up AI makes our universal hearing aid the first app capable of addressing the global hearing epidemic,” said Giles Tongue, ChatableApps CEO. “Following successful preclinical trials, we have decided to launch immediately due to urgent demand from audiologists to help people struggling because of coronavirus. With many unable to lip-read due to face masks or unable to visit a hearing clinic in an emergency, our app provides a lifeline that will help people communicate.”

The ChatableApps Universal Hearing Aid app is available to download now on iOS and Android. The app is free to access, with the option to subscribe to unlock maximum voice amplification and reduction of background noise. The full version is available for $12.99 /monthly, $79.99 /annual.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/chatable-hearing-aid/id1494968908 
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hearingaid.volumebooster&hl=en_GB

*Figures taken from – https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing 
**Taken from the World Health Organization’s ‘Global estimates on prevalence of hearing loss’ (2018)

In pre-clinical trials:

● 76% said conversation was easier because of our background noise slider, 15% in a life changing way;

● 80% said conversation was easier because of our volume boost (and that was before we beefed it up), 15% in a life-changing way;

● 86% reported app was better for conversation than their hearing aid.

Source: ChatableApps

Images: ChatableApps, Business Wire

Unitron, a Canadian hearing aid manufacturer, announced that it has won the “Red Dot: Product Design 2020” award for its Moxi Jump R hearing aids. The Moxi Jump R helps provide hearing aid wearers with “easy-to-use technology that automatically adapts to a user’s listening environment.”

The Red Dot Award, which dates to 1955, celebrates “excellence in product design.” This marks the sixth time Unitron has received the Red Dot Award for its inventive hearing instruments.

“To be recognized with this award from a pool of incredible designs is a tremendous honor,” says Sandra Fulton, Unitron Vice President of Global Marketing. “It clearly demonstrates our global leadership in hearing instrument design from the engineering and optimization of features and performance to the final product.”

Launched in 2019, the sound processing system in the Moxi Jump R uses machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, to “automatically recognize, classify, and adjust sounds based on the user’s listening environments.” This includes seven different listening environments that span quiet, conversation in quiet, conversation in noise, and music.

The Moxi Jump R also helps allow users to connect to Apple and Android devices and participate in hands-free phone calls, video calls, and media streaming to both ears. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides 24 hours of amplification, or 16 hours of amplification with 8 hours of media streaming.

“Our user-centric design philosophy is based on the premise that our technology should be easy-to-use and provide optimal sound performance to allow people overcoming hearing loss to reconnect with their lives, their loved ones, and everything in between,” said Banham. “The Moxi Jump R makes this possible, combining aesthetics, comfort, and intuitive functionality into one cutting-edge device.”

The Moxi Jump R can be controlled through the Remote Plus app, which allows hearing aid wearers to control volume, adjust balance, and share real-time impressions of their hearing instruments using their smartphones, according to the company. The app also helps enable clients to connect with their hearing care professionals via cloud technology. The Coach feature on the Remote Plus app sends users notifications for when to charge their batteries, clean their devices, usage details, and much more.

“As we shift to a more technologically-savvy consumer base, our products have to provide users with a range of functionality while optimizing sound performance and user experience. The Red Dot award is further recognition that Unitron is leading the way in the hearing health space,” said Banham.

The international Red Dot jury is made up of 40 independent design experts, educators, and industry journalists who review thousands of submissions annually from manufacturers and product designers around the world. Products are evaluated based on quality, performance, degree of innovation, and ecological compatibility.

Award winners will be celebrated at the annual Red Dot award gala, which takes place in the Aalto Theater in Essen, Germany.

Source: Unitron

In response to the ongoing challenges facing hearing care providers and their patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Starkey announced that it has made telehealth technology available to “even more hearing aid users.” Effective immediately, ‘Hearing Care Anywhere’ remote programming is now enabled across all technology tiers of Starkey’s Livio, Livio AI, and Livio Edge AI hearing aids. The change is said to allow more patients to receive care from their homes and gives hearing professionals the ability to conduct appointments despite social distancing.

“This is a very difficult time for the majority of us in the hearing industry,” said Starkey President Brandon Sawalich. “When we developed the Hearing Care Anywhere remote programming feature, we knew it would provide hearing healthcare providers with added convenience and efficiency, but we never imagined the important role it would play in such an unprecedented situation. We are so proud that our relentless dedication to staying on the cutting-edge of hearing technology is helping patients hear better at a time when clear communication is so critical.”

Through this latest update, even patients whose devices were not originally configured for remote programming are now able to access this feature. Using the Thrive app, patients can send requests to their hearing providers, who are then able to make fine-tuning adjustments to optimize hearing aid performance remotely. This new measure enhances patient safety by reducing the need for an in-office visit.

“For many clinics, up to 30% of appointments are for minor adjustments,” said Starkey’s Chief Innovation Officer Dave Fabry, PhD. “In the past, clinicians needed to initiate remote programming via the Inspire software during face-to-face visits. Today, those adjustments can be handled remotely through Hearing Care Anywhere.”

“Since early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had to balance the dilemma of protecting our patients while ensuring their hearing devices are performing optimally,” said Terence Limb, AuD, of Kirkland, Wash. “In the past, we didn’t always enable Hearing Care Anywhere in Inspire. This update enables me to continue to engage with patients during this difficult time. Moreover, it will change the way that we can better serve patient needs in the future.”

For more information on these new updates to Hearing Care Anywhere remote programming, please click here.

Source: Starkey