Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Nick Fitzgerald has served as HHTM’s Chief Marketing Officer for the past 3 years. He is the President and Owner of AuDSEO, a full service digital marketing agency. With over 15 years of digital marketing experience, Nick is a highly data-driven marketer, with expertise in search engine optimization, digital analytics and forensics, social media, digital advertising, and web development. He has been involved in the construction and optimization of nearly 1,000 web presences, including some of the largest Fortune 500 companies.
Featured image for “US Ear Device Patents for May 2021”
Jun. 29, 2021

US Ear Device Patents for May 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
The feature image above depicts Facebook’s vision for a tragus conduction Hearable (patent #10999668), the idea being to mechanically vibrate the tragus to produce one or more sound waves that travel down an ear canal of the user’s ear toward an eardrum; the purpose being to generate sounds and allow ambient sounds to reach a user while reducing sound leakage. Nature
Featured image for “A Case for More Perception in Fitting Hearing Aids”
Jun. 28, 2021

A Case for More Perception in Fitting Hearing Aids

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
In the beginning was the audiogram. Such a sentence could easily open the unwritten history of hearing aid fitting. And there would be a strong reason for beginning so. The strategy of deriving the prescription from hearing thresholds was a sensible way of adjusting dynamic compression. It ensured audibility, and the mapping of loudness required in the old days only
Jun. 20, 2021

Communication by Ear? New ‘Earswitch’ Technology Offers Hope to People with ALS, Other Neurological Conditions

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
Editor’s Note: A new ear-level device being developed by a UK primary care physician, along with a team of researchers at Bath University, is providing hope for people with neurological conditions that are unable speak or operate a keyboard, with new ways of communicating via a computer. HHTM President and CEO, Kevin Liebe, recently connected with Dr. Nick Gompertz, Director
Featured image for “Response to an Ignorant Argument: The True Value of Hearing Aids”
Jun. 18, 2021

Response to an Ignorant Argument: The True Value of Hearing Aids

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
I have a confession to make.  Many years ago I was having a particularly bad day (perhaps someone took my green Phonak screwdriver) and a patient said to me, “I don’t understand why hearing aids cost so much.  It can’t cost more than $100 to make them.”  I think the first words out of my mouth were, “You are smarter
Featured image for “Implementation and Effectiveness of Decision Aids in Patient Compliance”
Jun. 14, 2021

Implementation and Effectiveness of Decision Aids in Patient Compliance

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Amyn Amlani, PhD Last month, the reader was provided an overview of the application of decision aids in health care. Recall that decisions aids, such as educational booklets, DVDs, and Web-based interactive tools, provide patients with information to guide treatment decisions regarding their health care needs, values, and preferences. In this month’s blog, we look at the implementation and
Featured image for “US Ear Device Patents for April 2021”
Jun. 08, 2021

US Ear Device Patents for April 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
Did We Miss Anything?   Apple’s lengthy patent 10979796, In-ear wireless listening device, has 68 figures to support its comprehensive ambitions. The device form (above) is familiar to all by now, but this one purports to house a host of improvements to address the many aspects of headset design. Specifically it takes on size and weight, comfort, shape, individual fit, appearance/aesthetics,
Featured image for “Read GSI’s Interview with AMTAS Creator Dr. Robert Margolis, Ph. D.”
Jun. 01, 2021

Read GSI’s Interview with AMTAS Creator Dr. Robert Margolis, Ph. D.

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Adam Dawson New technologies are the power source that keeps the well-oiled machine of the medical industry running. As the years march on, new innovations are introduced that help drastically improve practice efficiency and patient care. One of these technologies is the Automated Method for Testing Auditory Sensitivity, more commonly known as AMTAS. Created by Dr. Robert Margolis, PH.
Featured image for “US Ear Device Patents for March 2021”
May. 14, 2021

US Ear Device Patents for March 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
A Better Mouse Trap, Revisited   Included in this month’s list is patent #10950211, by Kah. Entitled External ear insert for hearing comprehension enhancement, it appears to be a Helmhotz-type resonating device placed somewhere in the ear to shift natural pinna and canal resonances. Compare this to Goode’s patent #4556122, Ear acoustical hearing aid, which aimed in the same direction
Featured image for “Application of Decision Aids to Enhance Patient Values and Preferences for Care”
May. 06, 2021

Application of Decision Aids to Enhance Patient Values and Preferences for Care

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Amyn Amlani, PhD Shared-decision making is a core component of evidence-based health care, allowing for evidence to guide decisions about the treatment intervention of that individual patient while considering their needs, values, and preferences. In hearing care, providers are skilled at diagnosing hearing sensitivity but are less effectively in assessing whether the treatment they recommend aligns with the values
Featured image for “Why You Should Consider Getting into Hearing Aid Verification”
May. 04, 2021

Why You Should Consider Getting into Hearing Aid Verification

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Adam Dawson Time is money. It may be a cliché saying, but there is a lot of truth to it. The more time you spend with one patient, the less time you have to see others. And less patients means less money. Of course, this field isn’t all about money. Exceptional patient care should always be first priority. However,