Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

 

Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

Signia announces the general availability of its latest hearing aid, Signia Active X, that “enhances human performance by delivering breakthrough signal processing technology for optimised hearing in noise.” Its earbud form factor helps allow wearers to “pop them in and out as needed for those with normal hearing but who may have difficulty hearing in certain environments,” according to the company. It can also be worn all day for individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

Signia Active’s earbud design helps ensure “better hearing without the stigma, while its portable rechargeability and Bluetooth connectivity enable wearers to remain connected and perform their best all day long.”

“Signia Active isn’t just a new product. It’s an entirely new category of hearing device that allows our hearing care professionals to reach a new, untapped, and unserved category of wearer,” said Dr Tish Ramirez, vice president of professional relations and product management. “Consumers want hearing aids that are disguised as earbuds – that improve their hearing without the stigma. Signia Active delivers on this need by providing users with a device that looks as good as it performs.”

Dr Tish Ramirez, vice president of professional relations and product management, Signia

Signia Active: A new era in hearing technology

Research studies show that between 12% and 20% of adults with normal audiogram thresholds self-report hearing difficulties, suggesting that these individuals could benefit from a boost in their hearing performance.[1-4] Signia Active features “customised technology with advanced hearing support in the functional design of an earbud to attract individuals who might not otherwise wear hearing aids.”

Whether walking in a crowded street, working in an open-plan office, or dining in a busy restaurant, high-levels of ambient noise make holding conversations a significant challenge – even for those with mild hearing loss. Signia Active addresses these challenges with the “true-to-life sound of Signia Xperience technology and its Dynamic Soundscape Processing, which helps deliver enhanced sound and speech clarity in every situation, even when moving,” according to the company.

Signia Active also features a lithium-ion rechargeable battery; a portable charging case; Qi charging technology; and Bluetooth connectivity. Furthermore, its ClickSleeves 2.0 technology helps enable “a quick fit while ensuring the hearing aids remain firmly and comfortably in place.”

The new hearing aids from Signia are available in two models: Signia Active and Signia Active Pro. Signia Active is a starter option, designed for occasional use by those in need of a hearing edge in noisy situations, while Signia Active Pro is for those with mild to moderate hearing loss. Both models are available in the colour combinations of White and Rose Gold, Black and Silver, or All-Black.

“Signia has established a reputation for developing breakthrough products that deliver best-in-class performance yet also tap into new, unaddressed patient markets,” said Signia President Mike O’Neil. “Signia Active is yet another example of a market-expanding product from Signia, and we look forward to working with our hearing care professional partners to grow their businesses through our pioneering hearing devices.”

The Signia app: Modern care around the clock at the tap of a finger

Through the Signia app (iOS and Android), wearers have access to hearing aid controls, streaming capabilities with multiple devices, tinnitus therapy, Signia Telecare for remote care support, the new Face Mask Mode for better speech understanding through masks, and much more.

The app also includes the Signia Assistant, which “leverages artificial intelligence to continuously optimise the performance of the device by learning in real time the wearer’s individual preferences, for the most personalised hearing experience possible.”

“The most powerful products in history are those that meet a specific, unaddressed consumer need. Rather than fight over an existing share, they create entirely new categories of consumers that grow the overall size of the market,” said Ramirez.

“Signia Active is a solution for those who have long fought the adoption of hearing aids, but know that they need them. Signia Active is a breakthrough device that shatters the traditional definition of a hearing aid to create a new category of device that enables increased patient conversion and attracts entirely new demographics of wearers.”

For more information, visit: www.signia-pro.com/en-us/local/en-us/active-resource-center/.

[1] Gates GA, Cooper JC, Kannel WB, Miller NJ. Hearing in the elderly: The Framingham cohort, 1983-1985. Part I. Basic audiometric test results. Ear Hear. 1990;11(4):247–256.

[2] Garstecki D. Self-perceived hearing difficulty in aging adults with acquired hearing loss. J Acad Rehabilitative Audiol. 1987;20:49–60.

[3] Taylor B, Manchaiah V, Clutterbuck S. Using the personal assessment of communication abilities (PACA) tool. Hearing Review. 2016;23(3):20.

[4] Tremblay KL, Pinto A, Fischer ME, et al. Self-reported hearing difficulties among adults with normal audiograms: The Beaver Dam Offspring Study. Ear Hear. 2015;36(6):e290–e299.

Source: Signia

Images: Signia

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Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

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Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

Artem Brazhnikov, a master student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Transport of Samara Polytech, a Russian technical university, attempted to help restore hearing function with the help of a vibrating glove he designed. A press release announcing the invention appears on the EurekAlert website.

Initially, Artem designed a joystick glove to be able to play computer games one-handed. He then improved the device, turning it into an unusual hearing aid. To make the joystick glove into the vibro-glove, he removed the finger-position sensors, provided the glove with tactile feedback modules (vibration motors), and converted the electronic control unit from a game controller into an audio signal spectrum analyzer.

“When a person loses his hearing, his other senses become more acute. The sensory substitution occurs: the brain compensates the lack of information from one sense organ at the expense of others,” said Artem. “A vibrating glove is a re-translator that converts sounds into tactile sensations.”

A glove microphone amplifies the audio signal and transmits it to a spectrum analyzer that splits the audio range into separate frequency bands. Each tactile module corresponds to one sound strip. The strength of a tactile stimulation is proportional to the amplitude of sound vibrations in the corresponding frequency band. This process is somewhat similar to playing a keyboard.

“For example, a piano has many keys, pressing which (tactile stimulation) generates a certain note, that is, a sound vibration of a certain frequency,” Artem explained. “Now imagine that there is an instrument that performs the opposite operation, that is, catches notes (sound vibrations) and converts them into keystrokes (tactile stimulation). A person playing such an instrument does not hear the sounds it makes, but feels how the piano itself presses the keys. So a vibrating glove is a piano, but only working vice versa.”

Source: EurekAlert!, Samara Polytech

Image: EurekAlert!, Samara Polytech

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Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

   

Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

Phonak, a global provider of hearing solutions, announced Naída Paradise, the power hearing aid that “gives people with severe-to- profound hearing loss the power, sound quality, and wireless connectivity they need to connect with everything around them.” Now in its seventh generation, Naída Paradise is said to be “14% smaller, 27% lighter1, and further improves upon the hearing performance that wearers expect from Phonak.” This includes “powerful sound, industry-leading connectivity, and soon a new custom program memory feature with the new myPhonak 5.0 app.”

Phonak Naida Paradise and Roger On

Naída Paradise features a powerful double receiver that delivers up to 141 dB of peak gain in the UP model and up to 130 dB in the rechargeable model, according to Phonak. It’s powered by the new PRISM sound processing chip and features AutoSense OS 4.0 for “a host of premium features that work together seamlessly.” For example, the hearing aids can “automatically enhance soft speech in quiet places or reduce noise in loud environments.” A built-in accelerometer detects movement and automatically steers the microphones to improve listening on-the-go.2

Phonak Naida Paradise

Naída Paradise helps eliminate connectivity barriers that previously existed for consumers who needed more power. With Phonak universal connectivity, wearers can wirelessly stream audio directly into both hearing aids from virtually any smartphone, TV, laptop, tablet, eBook, and more. Phonak Paradise technology helps allow two active Bluetooth connections at the same time, so wearers can stay connected to their smartphone and their video chat without having to manually switch back and forth.

In addition to universal Bluetooth connectivity, Naída Paradise hearing aids are also equipped with RogerDirect. This means wearers can also receive the Roger remote microphone signal with no additional accessory required. Launched in 2013, Roger™ technology is “proven to boost hearing performance in loud noise and over distance.” In fact, hearing aid wearers who receive the Roger signal have better speech understanding in noise and over distance than people with normal hearing.3 Some Roger microphones and receivers have also been shown to help users understand up to 61% more speech in a group conversation in 75dBA of noise than using hearing aids alone.4

Universal Bluetooth connectivity coupled with on-board microphones means Naída Paradise wearers can use their hearing aids as wireless headsets for hands-free calls. A new Tap Control2 feature allows users to double tap on their ear to accept or end a call, or pause or resume streaming. A tap on the other ear gives access to smartphone voice-assistants like Siri or Google Assistant.

“Naída has a long-lasting history of delivering power without sacrificing sound quality, so we knew that we needed to deliver an outstanding product to our wearers who depend so heavily on their devices,” said Jon Billings, Vice-President Phonak Marketing. “With Naída Paradise, we’re making history again by giving those with severe forms of hearing loss access to next-level, powerful sound with industry-leading connectivity.”

In late spring, the myPhonak app’s 5.0 update will include the myPhonak Memory feature. It helps allow consumers to save a custom program from the app to the hearing aids, access the last-used custom program using the hearing aid’s multi-function button, or access other custom programs via the app.

Phonak is also preparing for the newest member of the Roger family with the debut of Roger On. The new Roger On remote microphone will feature MultiBeam 2.0 technology and an “improved pointing mode that allows the user to zoom into a speaker by simply pointing.” Roger On will be compatible with most hearing aids and cochlear implants and will be able to stream a variety of audio content.

The new Phonak Naída Paradise is available for pre-order by licensed hearing care professionals in the US and other select markets and will begin shipping in late February. The myPhonak 5.0 app featuring myPhonak Memory feature as well as the new Roger On microphone will be introduced in the US and other select markets in late spring.

Source/Reference

1 Naída P UP with RogerDirect compared to Naída B UP + external Roger receiver.

2 In the Phonak power BTE portfolio, only Naída P-PR comes with motion sensor technology, including Tap Control.

3 Thibodeau L. Comparison of speech recognition with adaptive digital and fm remote microphone hearing assistance technology by listeners who use hearing aids. American Journal of Audiology. 2014;23(2):201-210.

4 Thibodeau LM. Benefits in speech recognition in noise with remote wireless microphones in group settings. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. 2020;31(6):404–411.

Bluetooth® word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such mark by Sonova AG is under license.

Siri® is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Google Assistant™ is a trademark of Google LLC.

Source: Phonak

Images: Phonak

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Five things you should know about earwax

Five things you should know about earwax

When you hear the word “earwax”, you might immediately think YUCK! But, did you know that earwax actually plays an important role in the health of your ear? I’d like to share some facts about earwax and the part it plays in a healthy ear.

1. Earwax is not YUCK at all

In fact, earwax is a requirement of a healthy ear canal. It is a product of two glands that are in the ear canal: sweat glands (known as “apocrine sweat glands”) and cerumen glands (known as “sebaceous glands”). Without earwax, ear canals would be dry and itchy. As a result, the ear canals would be more susceptible to scrapes and cuts from scratching.

2. The ear is designed to naturally rid itself of earwax

The skin cells in the ear canal are “migratory” skin cells. New skin cells in the ear canal are formed near the ear drum and then tend to work their way outward over time, carrying earwax and debris with them. These are called “migratory cells” because they migrate their way from inside the ear canal to outside the ear canal.

3. Earwax problems are less common than you think

Thanks to the migratory process of the ear canal, a true “earwax problem” is not as common as you might think. In fact, those who are most at risk for impacted earwax are (1) older adults (2) hearing aid users (3) those who use cotton swabs. Rarely will a person who doesn’t fall into one of these categories experience ear canal blockage due to excess earwax.

4. Cotton swabs should NOT be used to clean your ears

Speaking of cotton swabs, PLEASE DON’T USE THEM FOR EARWAX REMOVAL! What you are actually doing — instead of removing earwax — is wiping away wax in the outer 1/3 of the ear canal and pushing any remaining wax deeper into the ear canal. The most safe, effective way to remove problem cerumen is to visit a physician or hearing healthcare professional who can see into your ear canal then determine the best way to remove the earwax, if needed. Otherwise, simple hygiene practices, such as wiping the surface of the ear canal with a cloth while showering, should be sufficient to keep earwax from causing a problem.

5. Excessive earwax can be mistaken for hearing loss

Hearing loss is often blamed on earwax, but the actual problem is with the inner ear. Thousands of people who think they are experiencing hearing loss due to wax build-up are seen annually by hearing healthcare professionals when the true problem is hearing loss.

If you have ANY questions or concerns about the health of your ear or your hearing, the best course of action is to consult a physician and/or a hearing healthcare professional.

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1 in 6 UK adults suffer hearing loss

BIHIMA Survey Finds 1 in 6 UK Adults Have Hearing Loss

1 in 6 UK adults suffer hearing loss and, on average, they believe they should have their hearing tested every 2-3 years, yet most of us only have our hearing tested once a decade!

In a recent survey of 2,000 UK adults, commissioned by the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) and announced on its website, 16% of respondents self-reported suffering from hearing loss, with men being nearly twice as likely to suffer as women: 1 in 5 men reported suffering from hearing loss compared to 1 in 10 women.

These UK figures are significantly higher than the 1 in 9 Europeans with self-reported hearing loss, according to the latest Eurotrak report.

Eleven percent of 16-24 year olds surveyed say they too suffer hearing loss. This figure doubles to 22% in the over 55 age group. This revelation comes as no surprise as we are familiar with the concept that hearing can deteriorate with age.

Hearing loss compounds feelings of isolation and loneliness which can affect the lives of sufferers. As with loss of vision, identifying and treating hearing loss can improve an individual’s quality of life.

Nearly half of those who say they have a hearing loss claim to wear hearing instruments according to BIHIMA’s UK 2018 Eurotrak study, leaving over 50% not taking advantage of available technology. This problem could be managed with regular visits to an audiologist, according to BIHIMA.

BIHIMA Chairman, Paul Surridge comments on the survey’s findings: “Not everyone notices a decline in their hearing. It’s often a relative or family friend that raises the subject. We know hearing loss can have a detrimental effect on people’s mental health and the way they live their lives. As a society, we need to encourage everyone to have regular hearing tests and, when appropriate, be fitted with life changing hearing instruments to prevent unnecessary suffering.”

BIHIMA advises people to get their hearing tested every three years, and annually after the age of 55.  Just as we visit the optician and dentist regularly, our hearing should also be valued and protected.

Research and Methodology:

The research was conducted by Censuswide across 2,000 UK adults. It was completed in February 2020, but publication was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. www.censuswide.com

Source: BIHIMA

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How coronavirus lockdown hits deaf people harder than most

Keynsham hearing centre

How coronavirus lockdown hits deaf people harder than most

 

News article from the London Evening Standard

 

Coronavirus lockdown has been hard for everyone. People are worried about safety, stuck inside or going out to work in a pandemic – and cut off from family and friends.

Most people have the option of speaking to friends on the phone or with a video call at a moment’s notice. But for the 12 million people in the UK who are deaf or who have some kind of hearing loss, this option is much less viable.

Clara O’Shea, a trainee dentist with hearing loss, said the restrictions had left her feeling isolated.

She told the Standard: “Obviously we’re all in lockdown but it can probably be even lonelier for people with hearing loss. We can’t necessarily just pick up the phone and speak to our friends.

“When you struggle to hear, it makes you physically exhausted,” she added.

Conversations at a distance can be a challenge for people with hearing loss (AP)

Some of the social ties that help the deaf community combat loneliness in normal times have also been severed by the lockdown.

Liam O’Dell, a deaf activist and journalist, said: “Deaf social clubs, which are a big part of the community… have had to shut things down completely or move things online, which has had a really detrimental impact on people.”

But he added that another isolating factor for people with hearing loss was the lack of accessible information.

The BBC uses a British Sign Language interpreter overlaid on its broadcast of the daily coronavirus briefing and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has one, but the Downing Street briefings were criticised for doing the same. Activists had claimed it breached an equalities law, and launched legal proceedings last month.

The Government has said it is committed to getting health information to everyone in the UK, regardless of disability.

“I think for a lot of people they probably don’t want to talk about the dreaded… coronavirus but we also have to talk about it.

“When other people…. have the privilege of getting the latest information, deaf people are probably still falling behind because they don’t have that access.”

Roger Wicks, policy and campaigns director for charity Action on Hearing Loss, agreed.

People with hearing loss may be feeling especially isolated during coronavirus lockdown(Getty Images)

He said: “Briefings have to be accessible – it’s very important that there’s a British Sign Language interpreter.”

“We have to make health services accessible to all.”

And a recent development may worsen the situation for the UK’s deaf people.

The UK has been slower than many other countries in asking people to wear face masks and coverings. But the Government recently advised people to cover their faces when in busy places, including public transport, and masks are becoming more and more visible on the street.

The usefulness of face masks remains unclear – but for many deaf people and those with hearing loss who rely on lipreading to hold a conversation, they present a new challenge.

Louise Goldsmith, a profoundly deaf blogger, told the Standard that the growing use of face masks – and the need to keep two metres away from other people – was limiting her independence.

She said: “I was waiting in the queue for the checkout at the supermarket and the person behind the till told me to come forward.

“But because they were wearing a mask, I couldn’t understand them and I was just standing there for ages. It was pretty embarrassing.”

Action on Hearing Loss is pushing the Government to clarify what kind of face coverings people can wear that will have less of an effect on people with hearing loss – including masks with clear panels over the mouth.

These clear masks are not appropriate for medical use and are not available in the UK at the moment, Action on Hearing loss said.

And Ms Goldsmith said that she doubted that the clear masks would be much use.

“I’ve heard that when people speak and breathe the masks can fog up and it gets much harder to read their lips,” she said.

She added: “But it’s a good start and hopefully something to build on in future.”

Deafness is sometimes called “the hidden disability” and the impact of coronavirus lockdown on people with hearing loss seems to have gone largely unnoticed.

But neither Action on Hearing Loss nor other deaf activists are demanding an end to the lockdown or for people to stop wearing face masks. They just want the Government and everyone else in the UK to speak more clearly.

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Starkey Launches Livio Edge AI

Bath hearing aids, Bristol hearing aids, Frome hearing aids

Starkey Launches Livio Edge AI and Several Firsts at Hearing Innovations Expo

 

Starkey Launches Livio Edge AI and Several Firsts at Hearing Innovations Expo

Starkey Hearing Technologies unveiled its latest hearing aid, the Livio Edge AI, on Thursday, the opening day of the company’s Hearing Innovation Expo, held in Las Vegas and attended by a reported 3400 hearing care professionals from 60 countries. The new hearing aid—which features a 2.4 GHz custom hearing aid with rechargeability option and hands-free connectivity to new popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S10—will be available in North American in February 2020.

Livio AI, featured as one of TIME magazine’s Top-100 best inventions of 2019, is designed to provide exceptional sound quality and hearing in noise in addition to: serving as a fitness app by tracking the number of steps you take each day; offering a “brain health score” based on daily social engagement and active listening; using inertial sensors for fall detection and alerting caregivers; receiving voice commands so Siri can act as your mobile personal assistant; utilizing pre-set timely reminders from you to take your medications; translating and transcribing 27 languages; and streaming audio from music and TV shows.

The new Livio Edge AI has been engineered to “go beyond” these features. According to presentations by Starkey CTO and EVP of Engineering Achin Bhowmik, PhD, Chief Audiology Officer Sara Burdak, AuD, and Chief Innovation Officer David Fabry, PhD, the new Livio Edge AI also includes:

• Edge Mode applies artificial intelligence (AI) for patient-driven, on-demand fine-tuning of the sound environment. The hearing aid user can double-tap on the hearing aid to initiate Edge Mode, which through an environmental analysis of the sound can provide an “extra boost” when in challenging listening situations. A demonstration was provided of a conversation in a noisy stadium where the crowd noise was dampened so a nearby person’s comments could be heard.

• 2.4 GHz custom hearing aids with Li-ion rechargeability, reportedly an industry first. Livio Edge AI is expected to provide 23 hours of hearing and 4 hours of streaming on a 3.5 hours charge.

• Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy (including S10) phones are added to the connectivity options of smart-phones with direct streaming to the new Livio Edge AI Premium.

• Voice-activated and tap-activated commands can directly control the hearing aid by tapping and talking (ie, for increasing volume or changing listening modes). It can also provide access to Siri, the “intelligent assistant” for iPhone users. Using the Thrive Assistant feature in the Thrive app, patients have instant access to a world of information at their fingertips, getting in-ear and on-screen notifications for tasks like taking medications or a reminder to pick up milk on the way home from work.

Self-Check Baseline: Patient-centered care is becoming patient-driven care. With Self-Check, the patient can perform a diagnostic test of the hearing aid system anytime, on their own.

Sara Burdak and David Fabry explain the key features of Starkey’s new Table Mic.

Additionally, Starkey introduced its Table Mic, a handy remote microphone that can be placed on a table and either set to automatic mode or a manual mode where the user can direct the beamformer in up to two directions. As with other remote mics, the Table Mic is capable of improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by 12-15 dB, compared to 3-4 dB by the industry’s best digital noise reduction hearing aid algorithms.

Starkey also introduced three apps or app modifications:

• Thrive, the current user-control app for Livio AI hearing aids, has undergone a makeover designed to give it a cleaner look and feel. The new streamlined user interface is intended to make the Livio experience more transparent and easier for the hearing aid wearer.

• ThriveCare is an app for the caregivers of the hearing aid user so they can stay informed in real-time about the user’s hearing and safety status; it is designed to provide peace of mind for care providers and to help the hearing aid wearer live independently and safely. For example, it can monitor and report on the hearing aid wearer’s number of steps, use of the hearing aids, and time spent in social interaction. Dr Fabry also pointed out that ThriveCare data can be shared with friends and colleagues who also have Livio hearing aids in order to compete in the various metrics monitored by the hearing aid.

• Balance Builder is a new app intended to help improve patients’ balance and reduce risks of falls through a series of at-home interactive exercises. The user is guided through balance exercises and workouts, based on head movements detected from sensors in Livio Edge AI hearing aids. As a “trainer” app for balance, it is designed to strengthen the user’s balance, stability, and gait, and help prevent falls and improve user confidence.

Dr Bhowmik stressed that Livio AI is—first and foremost—a hearing aid dedicated to providing the best sound experience in the hearing industry. In an interview with Hearing Review, he was careful to emphasize what shouldn’t be lost in all the new (and upcoming) features is the sound processing and the advancements made in helping people to understand spoken language. With Edge Mode, for example, the device uses AI and multiple parameters in the hearing aid that are unique to the acoustic snapshot of the current listening environment.

Looking to the Future of Healthables

“The ear is the new wrist—except better,” says Bhowmik, noting that having sensors within the ear canal opens up a wealth of possibilities for monitoring body and health-related functions, even beyond the current activity tracker and sensors found in Livio hearing aids.

Starkey CTO and EVP of Engineering Achin Bhowmik, PhD, explains Edge AI during the Starkey Hearing Innovation Expo.

Dr Bhowmik explained that several of the world’s largest companies—including Apple, Intel, IBM, Google, and Microsoft—are working on the “edge of AI.” Intelligence is moving towards edge devices with increased computing power which combine sensor data and AI algorithms that drive machine learning. “Edge AI, simply put, is an implementation of artificial intelligence that builds on distributed computing,” said Bhowmik. “We have a processor in the hearing aid itself, and we connect to the power of an iPhone or Android phone, which is connected to the Cloud [which has enormous computing power]. We connect smart devices to the smart Cloud; unlike traditional AI, where the cloud is smart, but the device not so much. To do Edge AI, we have to work with the best in the field to re-architect the AI engine—the machine infrastructure [that brings] the technology to the edge.” Bhowmik says we are seeing only the beginnings of this technology emerge today. He believes that, while other companies in the hearing industry will also start to employ this type of machine learning, Starkey will already be moving to the next level at that point.

He also offered some glimpses of “cutting-edge AI” development in the near-future, extending Livio Edge AI’s sensor-based “healthable” technology for monitoring:

• Cardiovascular health. The current Livio AI contains a heart-rate sensor; however, due to problems associated with impression-taking/earmolds and the sensor contacts, it has not been implemented yet. Starkey expects to be able to add this soon to Thrive as part of its fitness tracking. Other areas being looked into are oxygen (O2) saturation in the blood and blood pressure.

• Body temperature. A built-in sensor to monitor core body temperature.

• Visual assistance. With the help of some kind of camera or optical device, the hearing aid can identify and describe what the hearing aid wearer is seeing;

• Emotion sensing. A capability to detect if the wearer is happy, sad, depressed, relaxed, etc, and offer possible options, if needed.

• Voice analysis. The capability for the hearing aid to “sense” if you’re feeling stressed or in need of help, and ask you discreetly if you’re in need of assistance.

Look for the upcoming report on the Starkey Innovations Expo and Hearing Review’s interview with Dr Bhowmik in a future edition of HR online news.

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Depression and Hearing loss

Keynsham hearing centre, Bath hearing centre, Bristol hearing centre

Depression and Hearing loss

 

Depression and Hearing loss –

Keynsham hearing centre, Bath hearing centre, Bristol hearing centre

Depression and hearing loss

 Keynsham hearing centre knows that Depression and hearing can be linked.

Depression and hearing loss link found by researchers.

 

New report into depression and hearing has been published. We at the Keynsham hearing centre are well aware of this link and can help with making your hearing a little better.

 

Bristol hearing and Ear wax removal centre is at the Keynsham hearing centre the independent hearing and ear wax specialist covering Bath, Bristol, & Somerset.  If you are having issues with hearing in general we can conduct a hearing test at Keynsham. The comprehensive hearing test will take around an hour of your time, but the results will be know there and then putting you in control of your hearing. We can then discuss what hearing instrument (hearing aid) you may need if required.  There could be other issues at play if you are not hearing as well as you think you should be. We can before the test look to see if you have any ear wax present. Ear wax isn’t usually an issue, we all need a little for good ear health. However in some cases excessive ear wax build up can become an issue and if you have excessive ear wax we will clear this before any test is conducted.

Depression and Hearing link, Bristol

Ear wax removal is very easy and painless. We use the Microsuction ear wax removal method as this really is the gold standard of ear wax removal. We also can use the older method of ear wax removal called irrigation or some may know this as ear syringing. This method uses warm water to gently irrigate the ear to help release the ear wax out from the ear.

You can watch our ear wax removal here

 

So if you are having some hearing issues and would like afamily run professional ear wax removal service then book an appointment. We can discuss at the appointment any of the issues at length. After all we are all ears!

 

Ear wax removal Bath and Bristol

 

Keynsham Hearing News:

Bringing world wide news on hearing to our local area.

 

Study Shows Older Adults with Hearing Loss at Higher Risk for Depression

 

Hearing loss is linked to depression

Keynsham hearing centre

The results of a study investigating the connection between hearing loss and depression found that older adults with some form of hearing loss were 47% more likely to also have depression symptoms, according to an article in Reuters. 

Bristol Hearing centre

Originally published in The Gerontologist, the research reviewlooked at 35 previous studies encompassing 147, 148 participants, who were at least 60 years old.

“We know that older adults with hearing loss often withdraw from social occasions, like family events because they have trouble understanding others in noisy situations, which can lead to emotional and social loneliness,” lead study author Blake Lawrence of the Ear Science Institute Australia, in Subiaco, and the University of Western Australia in Crawley, was quoted as saying in Reuters. 

Additionally, the article goes on to add that the brain may work harder to interpret sound from a weaker auditory signal, draining resources needed to maintain working memory or other cognitive functions. A weaker signal may also cause the “reorganization” of neural pathways, potentially changing the way depression is regulated in the brain.

Ear syringing Bath

In a new white paper produced by The Hearing Review and sponsored by Hamilton CapTel, “Depression, Hearing Loss, and Treatment with Hearing Aids,” audiologist and educator Victor Bray, PhD, reviews previous landmark studies as well as more recent research into the complex relationship between hearing loss and depression. The paper helps identify patient populations who might benefit most from hearing devices. Additionally, Dr Bray’s webinar “Depression, Hearing Loss, and Treatment with Hearing Aids,” discusses the risk factors for depression among people with hearing loss as well as why hearing care providers should screen for depression when risk factors are present.

Original Paper: Lawrence BJ, Jayakody DMP, Bennett RJ, Eikelboom RH, Gasson N, Friedland PL. Hearing loss and depression in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Gerontologist. 2019:1-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz009

Source: Reuters, The Hearing Review, The Gerontologist

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