Introduction
Hearing aids are prosthetic devices that act to amplify sounds for the benefit of individuals suffering from hearing impairment. Hearing aids are small devices inserted in the ear canal or worn behind the ear which make sound easier to hear by raising volumes, filtering background noise, or using other methods to make sounds clearer. They come in various shapes and sizes that can help to fit any ear size or shape comfortably.
The device is inserted into the ear canal and is held firmly in place by a soft band, which typically has a metal fitting at either end. A microphone, battery pack, sound amplifier, and electrical circuitry are also typically included in many modern hearing aids. Within the box that the hearing aid itself is provided in, there are a few small items (usually with a none-too-friendly warning label) to be handled with care and respect.
How Hearing Aids Work?
There are two ways in which hearing aids work: amplifying sounds and filtering them. Filtering and amplification work together to enable people with hearing problems to clearly hear sounds. While using your hearing aid, you will be able to understand conversations better, even when the conversations take place in noisy surroundings such as parties, concerts, or sports events. Filtered noise is usually much louder than ambient sound; thus it is desirable for hearing aids to amplify sounds so you can clearly hear them.
How Hearing Aids Work?
1. Reducing Noise
One function of hearing aids is to reduce noise. If you have a hearing loss, there will be too much noise for you to hear with your normal hearing. Amplifying sounds can enable you to hear better and make them easier to understand. Almost all modern hailing aids provide automatic gain control (AGC), which automatically controls the gain level of amplified sounds and turns off the amplifier when ambient sound is loud enough for individuals with normal hearing. This can help prevent users from being overwhelmed by background noise. Some high-end devices offer sound masking, which reduces the amount of background noise that can reach the user’s ears so that it is no longer overwhelming.
2. Compressing and Decompressing the Sound
Another function of hearing aids is to compress or decompress sounds. The process of compressing and decompressing sound allows the user with hearing loss to better understand sounds than he or she could before using hearing aids. Compressed sound makes a sound louder, while decompressed sounds are quieter. In some cases, compressed sound is slightly distorted as well, which can make a problem word stand out through the slight distortion.
3. Introducing Noise
The final function of most modern hailing aids is to introduce noise into the user’s ear canal. This helps individuals with normal hearing hear even the quietest speech. Hearing care providers can adjust the noise level to meet the needs of the individual and suggest that users gradually introduce noise into their ears.
4. Introducing Ambient Sound
Hearing aids also enable users to hear ambient sound, which is sound that is not contained in a headset or other device. Generally, hearing aids can pick up sounds from 20 Hz to 8000 Hz, which means they should be able to pick up most ambient sounds. With advances in technology, hearing aids can even pick up some very quiet sounds.
Hearing Aids Benefits
1. Acoustic Compensation
One of the benefits of hearing aids is acoustic compensation for people with hearing loss. The sound amplification process helps a person with hearing loss to distinguish between sounds that are close together and sounds that are far apart. We experience this ability when we listen to music, which uses the same pitch for both high-pitched instruments and low-pitched instruments (such as a bass guitar and soprano saxophone). The same case applies to speech – both high-pitched sounds like “h” and “a” and low-pitched sounds like “l” or “r”.
2. Noise Compression
Another benefit of hearing aids is noise compression. Background noise is reduced so that users can hear clearly even in loud places. Without this function, users would have trouble hearing the conversations of others at parties and other noisy events.
3. Signal Processing
The signal processing of hearing aids allows users to hear more clearly in a variety of situations. For example, they help you understand speech more clearly when there is a lot of background noise or when you are in a different environment from where the sound originated (like when your friend speaks from another room).
4. Improved Speech Understanding
The signal processing of hearing aids also helps you understand speech more clearly. For example, when you are wearing hearing aids, background noise will typically be reduced by about 25 to 50 dB, which is an amazing change in the sound level. The reduction in background noise means that you can understand speech from others much better when there is a lot of ambient noise.
5. Use of Volume Control
The signal processing of hearing aids also enables users to control their volume levels much better through the use of volume control on their devices. Some devices permit users to adjust the gain level on the signal processing itself rather than using other methods such as manually using a remote control or pushing a microphone button.
6. Wireless Technology
The use of wireless technology means that a user can listen to ambient sound through his or her device while still being able to communicate with others. For example, the user can be listening to music or watching TV while wearing a hearing aid and still be able to talk on a cell phone or engage in other conversations.
7. Increased Privacy
The signal processing of hearing aids also helps users control the amount of background noise they hear while still being able to understand speech from others. This enables individuals with hearing loss who are trying to converse with others without their family members knowing what they are saying (for example, when at dinner or out with friends) .
Conclusion
Hearing aids work by turning sound into electronic signals that can be amplified, changed, and transmitted to the ear. They provide a wide variety of functions to help users hear speech better when there is background noise or when they are in different environments from where the sound originated. Hearing aids also enable users to adjust their volume and amplify or change sounds so that they can understand speech better.