Document Detail


Designing of a digital behind-the-ear hearing aid to meet the World Health Organization requirements.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20724354     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Hearing loss is a common health issue that affects nearly 10% of the world population as indicated by many international studies. The hearing impaired typically experience more frustration, anxiety, irritability, depression, and disorientation than those with normal hearing levels. The standard rehabilitation tool for hearing impairment is an electronic hearing aid whose main components are transducers (microphone and receiver) and a digital signal processor. These electronic components are manufactured by supply chain rather than by hearing aid manufacturers. Manufacturers can use custom-designed components or generic off-the-shelf components. These electronic components are available as application-specific or off-the-shelf products, with the former designed for a specific manufacturer and the latter for a generic approach. The choice of custom or generic components will affect the product specifications, pricing, manufacturing, life cycle, and marketing strategies of the product. The World Health Organization is interested in making available to developing countries hearing aids that are inexpensive to purchase and maintain. The hearing aid presented in this article was developed with these specifications in mind together with additional contemporary features such as four channels with wide dynamic range compression, an adjustable compression rate for each channel, four comfort programs, an adaptive feedback manager, and full volume control. This digital hearing aid is fitted using a personal computer with minimal hardware requirements in intuitive three-step fitting software. A trimmer-adjusted version can be developed where human and material resources are scarce.
Authors:
Ricardo Ferreira Bento; Silvio Pires Penteado
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Trends in amplification     Volume:  14     ISSN:  1940-5588     ISO Abbreviation:  Trends Amplif     Publication Date:  2010 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-08-20     Completed Date:  2010-12-13     Revised Date:  2011-05-12    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9709254     Medline TA:  Trends Amplif     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  64-72     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Computer-Aided Design
Equipment Design
Health Care Costs
Health Services Accessibility
Hearing Aids* / economics,  standards
Hearing Impaired Persons / rehabilitation*
Humans
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Rehabilitation of Hearing Impaired* / economics
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*
Software
Transducers
World Health Organization* / economics
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Trends Amplif. 2010 Jun;14(2):63   [PMID:  20724353 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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