THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602100086
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TECH TRACK
GADGETS AND GIZMOS FOR THE NEXT CENTURY
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
IT'S FITTING. Just as the older edge of the Baby Boomer generation starts seriously considering membership appeals from the American Associated of Retired Persons, somebody has come out and invented an all-digital hearing aid.
We pampered, technology-craving Boomers can now reap another benefit from the Computer Age just as our hearing starts wavering from too many years of high-volume rock 'n' roll worship.
In May, Danish hearing-aid manufacturer Oticon Holding A/S plans to introduce its advancement, called DigiFocus. The aid, weighing less than half an ounce, will feature two fingernail-sized microchips with the processing power of a standard 486 personal computer. At ``well over $2,000'' each, according to the company's U.S. president, Peter Hahn, the DigiFocus aid won't come cheap. But Hahn expects sales to explode.
So do others. Several other hearing-aid makers say they'll introduce all-digital amplifying devices in the next year. These new sound-processing devices will be capable of millions of calculations per second, vs. hundreds per second for their analog predecessors.
But so what if we've got some of the world's smallest computers inside our ears? Will these new digital devices actually help the estimated 26 million Americans who suffer from hearing impairments actually hear better?
Mark Ross thinks so, but he doesn't expect dramatic improvements initially. Ross is a Ph.D. professor emeritus of audiology at the University of Connecticut and a vice president of a Rockville, Md.-based group called Self Help for Hard of Hearing People. He writes about hearing-aid technology for trade journals.
Ross says the extra processing power of the new computers for the ear will make it easier for audiologists to adjust aids to individuals' needs. Indeed, Oticon says its DigiFocus will be adjustable for 100 different hearing parameters, vs. a maximum of 10 for analog aids. This will help people whose level of hearing impairment varies widely across different sound frequencies.
But Ross says, ``My reservation is that the technology has advanced far beyond our ability to know what to do with it.'' Audiologists need to employ better testing methods and they need better research on hearing aids, he said. Hopefully, the introduction of digital aids will spur such research, he adds. MEMO: ``Tech Track'' appears every Monday in the Daily Break. Readers with
ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599, or via e-mail at
schultz(AT)infi.net
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DIGIFOCUS
The aids, weighing less than an ounce each, feature two
fingernail-sized microchips with the power of a standard 486 PC.
by CNB