Hearing Economics

Featured image for “Diffusion of Innovations and its Application to Hearing Care: Part 2”
Oct. 24, 2021

Diffusion of Innovations and its Application to Hearing Care: Part 2

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Amyn Amlani, PhD In Part 1 of this series, the reader was introduced to the theory, Diffusion of Innovations (DOI; Rogers, 1962). DOI attempts to explain (i) how an idea or product or service gains momentum and diffuses (i.e., spreads) through a specific population or social system, and (ii) how categories of people (i.e., Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority,
Featured image for “US Ear Device Patents for August 2021”
Oct. 06, 2021

US Ear Device Patents for August 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
The device in Figure 1 looks like a BTE with a p-trap attached to a flanged, pre-molded insertable earplug. It could happen, but not as it happens to improve or protect hearing. The device in Figure 1 is one of several systems proposed in Nocira LLC’s patent 11090194 to mitigate Migraine headache. The idea is to create a barrier between
Featured image for “Diffusion of Innovations and its Application to Hearing Care: Part 1”
Sep. 14, 2021

Diffusion of Innovations and its Application to Hearing Care: Part 1

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Amyn Amlani, PhD In 1962, E.M. Rogers developed a theory on how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Specifically, this theory, Diffusion of Innovations (DOI), explained how an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses (i.e., spreads) through a specific population or social system. The principle behind diffusion is that categories of people will progressively
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Aug. 26, 2021

Ear Device Patents for July 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
New Ways of Thinking With  OTCs on the near horizon, players of various types and motivations continue to enter the mild to moderate hearing loss landscape. That includes Georgia Tech, with a patent for a hearing aid platform which is Cost effective, such that  low-income individuals in developing countries have access to these important technologies, is customizable based on the
Featured image for “US Ear Device Patents for June 2021”
Aug. 03, 2021

US Ear Device Patents for June 2021

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
Successful hearing aid users and their audiologists know that regular follow-up appointments are de rigueur to monitor hearing ability and ear canal health; adjust hearing instruments to match hearing status and wearer needs; and check instrument performance against manufacturer’s specs. That last step is important but routine and a bit boring. It also raises questions, at least in this audiologist’s
Featured image for “Decision Aids: A Mechanism to Advance Patient Care in the  Evolving Hearing Care Market”
Jul. 21, 2021

Decision Aids: A Mechanism to Advance Patient Care in the Evolving Hearing Care Market

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
by Amyn Amlani, PhD Healthcare has moved towards shared decision-making as an engagement strategy that allows providers and patients to work together in determining treatment intervention and management. Decision aids are part of the shared decision-making process that encourages active participation by patients in their healthcare decisions. Over the past few months, readers have been introduced to the application of decision
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 “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 “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