Yes…it really is! What time is it that I’m talking about? It’s the time when you no longer have to fill your client’s ear with “goop”, wait for it to harden, gently remove it from the ear and hope that your perfect impression makes it to the lab unscathed.
Impressions have been with us since the beginning of hearing instruments. Most properly fit instruments require an earmold that closely follows the contours of your patient’s ear canal. A number of years ago a wonderful man, Dan Bifano, worked for me. He was a Dispenser who was a 100% disabled veteran. He opened his own optical and hearing aid office in Detroit soon after THE War. He related to me his experiences taking impressions with Plaster of Paris; and you think you had it hard? Try having to break a plaster mold into pieces with a chisel to get it out of your patient’s ear and then glue it back together before sending it to the lab.
Any way…I had the opportunity just a few days ago at the Starkey Labs. Hearing Innovation Expo in Las Vegas, my hometown, to witness a laser 3-D impression modeling method that works, and does not cause discomfort (pain). It is being developed by a company named Lantos Technologies. The company expects to have a soft opening at AAA the end of March with full production by the 4th quarter of 2012.
A digital model of the ear is created in less than a minute and can then be transmitted via the Internet to your lab for reconstruction as a normal shell. The company says that it has not had any problem taking impressions of twisting, collapsed, or mastoid canals and can take an impression down close to the TM. Since the system incorporates a video-otoscope, you can see exactly how you are placing the impression probe. Then, during the modeling process you can see dynamic changes take place in the ear canal in the digital three dimension real-time images. This can allow you to take accurate open/closed jaw impressions. The present system is not however, designed for pediatric patients.
The company estimates the cost of the unit, including the hardware, software, computer, etc, will be in the same range as the retail cost of a pair of high–end instruments. The cost of the disposable material/cartridge used to enable the laser to actually see the canal shape will cost about the same as it presently costs to take and ship a set of silicone impressions. Expensive? Possibly. But I can see a number of unique marketing opportunities that a forward thinking office might take advantage of to justify the cost. And, I don’t doubt there will be some manufacturers who will be willing to provide financial assistance, although I have not talked with any of them about this.
Are you planning to go to AAA? Try to make time in your schedule to see a demo of this system. If you were one of the few professionals in the country who did not attend the Starkey Hearing Innovation Expo, which I thought was an interesting and forward looking event, I plan to talk more about it in my next blog.
Announced at the Expo – Starkey’s wireless technology is now available in all sizes of their custom models.
