A rising IntriCon will provide hearing aids to the UK’s National Health Service
By David H. Kirkwood ARDEN HILLS, MN—Hearing care providers are familiar with the world’s “Big Six” hearing aid manufacturers, or at least their flagship brands. That’s only natural, as together Sonova, William Demant, GN Store Nord, Siemens, Starkey, and Widex account for over 90% of the devices sold in the U.S. and Western Europe. However,…
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As hearing industry seeks a new wireless standard for hearing aids, t-coil advocates say not so fast
Since this post was originally published on April 30, it has drawn a number of thoughtful and provocative comments, which follow the main text. This revised post also contains a response from Jan Topholm, a prominent EHIMA member, to a query that I sent him in writing the original post. By David H. Kirkwood…
Read MoreWhile Castro’s hearing loss is hidden, “Japanese Beethoven’s” deafness is feigned
HAVANA & TOKYO—It appears from two widely reported news stories that Fidel Castro and Mamoru Samuragochi are on the opposite ends of the scale between denying hearing loss and accepting, even embracing, the condition. Castro, or more likely the government office that manages the public image of Cuba’s frail 88-year-old former president, seems not…
Read MoreAfter the return of the BTE, can an eyeglass hearing aid renaissance be far behind?
By David H. Kirkwood BLACKSBURG, VA—The answer to that question is decidedly yes, very far behind. To be sure, behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids, which were the dominant style in the U.S. in the 1960s and then dwindled to less than 20% of the market in the early 1990s, did launch a dramatic comeback over…
Read MoreFDA okays hearing aid with technology designed to reverse sensorineural hearing loss
By David H. Kirkwood LOS ANGELES–Last month, The Good Ear introduced the Better Hearing iPhone app. The app, which costs $4.99, contains Threshold Sound Conditioning (TSC), a proprietary technology that the company says can actually reverse users’ hearing loss. (For more, see my earlier post on Hearing News Watch.) Just a few weeks later, the…
Read MoreNew from the Netherlands: the MaRiC
AMSTERDAM—In case there weren’t enough acronyms in the hearing aid industry, ExSilent , a Dutch company, has introduced a new style of BTE it calls the MaRiC™. The Ytango, which made its U.S. debut last week at the American Academy of Audiology Convention in Chicago, is described as the world’s first BTE that has both…
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