Robert Traynor

Robert M. Traynor, Ed.D., is a hearing industry consultant, trainer, professor, conference speaker, practice manager and author. He is a founding member of HHTM and had previously written a regular weekly column for the site for many years. He has decades of experience teaching courses and training clinicians within the field of audiology with specific emphasis in hearing and tinnitus rehabilitation. He serves as Adjunct Faculty in Audiology at the University of Florida, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado and The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

The Deaf Hearing Again? With a Middle Ear Implant? Is it Possible?

The Video Over the past few days a video that has gone viral has caught the attention of those of the HHTM Blogs. You will recall that we had a story at Hearing International a couple of weeks ago about “Why does all the Good Stuff go to Europe First?” This was a two-part series that discussed the reasons for good products

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The Formula One Race Track: Possibly the Noisiest Place on Earth!

Formula One (F1) Racing is an electrifying sport that ignites passion and stirs emotions among international fans. Attending a live Formula One Grand Prix is a breathtaking experience. The vivid colors of the racing cars, the ear-piercing sound of the engines, the audacious maneuvers executed by the world’s best drivers, and the reactions of tens of thousands of dedicated F1

New Product Approvals…..Why does all the good stuff go to Europe First? – Part III

So far we have indicated that it is easier for medical device manufacturers to obtain approval to sell their products in Europe first, then, apply to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clearance or approval in the United States. This blog addresses why that is so. Although none of the approval processes are inexpensive, at least if the

New Product Approvals…..Why does all the good stuff go to Europe First? – Part II

Merz (2010) indicates that with nearly 1 million physicians and 6,000 hospitals treating 310 million consumers, the US healthcare market is the largest in the world, making up 43% of world market for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. This, coupled with the fact that the United States spends more of its GDP on healthcare than any other country, leads to some of

New Product Approvals…..Why does all the good stuff go to Europe First? – Part I

Over the years, it has been amazing to see how Europeans seem to get all the really cool new hearing products first. One product after another has been approved for CE marking (approval for sale in the European Union) long before they were available in the United States. For example, the Envoy was CE Marked in August of 2006 and

Are You Paying More Dollars for Hearing Aids These Days?

In international sales departments around the world, for all types of products, there are some countries (or some economies) that pay more for products than others. The more robust economies often pay more for international products than a heavily indebted, fragile economies. It is thought that the sale of a heavily discounted product in another country at a lower price is usually

Are Baby Boomer Patients a World-Wide Phenomenon?

Over the past 10 years, audiologists in the USA have heard a lot about the Baby Boomer generation and what these patients will mean to their practices and the field of Audiology. We are told that this next generation of hearing impaired individuals are the largest ever and that we need to “be prepared” to be overwhelmed by waves of patients knocking down

A couple of interesting things…From ZipAud.com

Pretty much everyone uses circles and crosses, after that the variation begins. Some use open and closed triangles, some open triangles and square brackets, but at the end of the day we are all aiming to achieve the same thing… to accurately describe our clients hearing levels. Of course, I’m talking about the variation in how audiograms are recorded in

International and Computer Connections in Psychoacoustics – Part II

In Part I last week, we left this discussion of the internationial connections in Experimental Psychology and Psychacoustics as an Englishman Edward Tichener (1867-1927) (pictured right) became interested in the writings of Wundt (pictured left) and later went to study with him in Leipzig, Germany. After his study with Wundt, he began his distinguished career by teaching his version of Wundt’s ideas as a professor of

International and Computer Connections in Psychacoustics – Part I

One of my first professorial assignments was to teach a Hearing Science Course at the University of Northern Colorado. As most new professors will agree, first course preparations are among the most difficult of their career and this particular assignment required a huge amount Psychology by S.S. Stevens (Pictured on the left). Dr. Stevens (known as Smitty to his friends)