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Hearing Aids

A hearing aid is a small device that amplifies sound to a level that can be heard by people who have hearing damage. There are many different designs, the most common designs fit around or in the ear, but there are some that clip to a belt or are worn in a pocket. Aids have even been integrated into glasses, which was popular in the 1970’s when thick rimmed glasses were in style, but since they were connected, both had to be used together.

Hearing aids all have similar features, such as the ability to control the volume of the signal and in some it is even possible to control the direction of the signal that should be amplified. This is useful in environments where there is a lot of background noise, the signal can be focused so that sounds in front of a person are amplified more, while sounds coming from the side or back are cut. Other features include noise reduction filters on better digital models that silence background noises so volume adjustments are not required when going from indoors to out.

Hearing aids can also be hooked up to other assisted listening devices through the use of a telecoil. This allows for phones and other devices to transmit directly to the hearing aid, instead of taking an already synthesized sound and re-synthesizing it and then amplifying it again which results in a big loss of signal clarity. A telecoil works by detecting electromagnetic signals then converting them to electrical signals that are sent and decoded by the aid. Anything that generates a magnetic field, such as computers, cell phones and electrical cables, can affect the efficiency of the coil

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