It used to be more difficult to decide on the best hearing aids. Devices had more limitations, and it was often necessary to balance potential trade-offs and benefits when selecting the most appropriate hearing aids.
As hearing aid technology progresses, the devices are becoming more helpful to a broader range of hearing challenges and lifestyles. Hearing aids now have fewer trade-offs and more benefits.
Looking to the future, hearing aid technology will continue to progress. These improved devices can better address individual challenges, making them easier to use than the hearing aids of the past – and with better results.
Hearing technology has advanced considerably over the past few decades.
We went from analog hearing aids that simply amplified any – and all – noise, to digital devices capable of making real-time adjustments to
help the brain filter and prioritize sound signals.
This progressive technology not only marks an incredible change for wearers of hearing technology, but it’s also a major change for hearing professionals.
Once upon a time, audiologists had to use screwdrivers to physically make adjustments to hearing aids. Now, adjustments are programmed digitally for a greater range and precision, and this helps us ensure your hearing aids are perfectly suited to your needs. We still have the screwdrivers at our clinic, but they aren’t used very often anymore (if at all).
Hearing aids are no longer the bulky and constantly-ringing devices your grandparents wore. Modern hearing aids are small and sleek, and they sport incredible features like feedback cancellation, noise reduction, and speech enhancement.
Modern hearing aids perform better and in a wider variety of environments and settings than ever before, thanks to some significant advancements in technology.
Improved feedback management systems work to prevent that annoying whistling sound caused by acoustic loops, without affecting the amplification of incoming sounds. This allows wearers to use their hearing aids in previously challenging environments, such as while wearing a ski helmet or riding in a vehicle.
Some hearing aids can learn the wearer’s sound preferences and automatically adjust sound levels when a change in the sound environment is detected. This reduces the need for manual adjustments. Wearers no longer need to stop what they are doing to change the settings on their devices. Instead, the hearing aids are becoming a “part” of people, intuiting their needs and correcting accordingly.
Wireless and Bluetooth capability allows modern hearing aids to connect to smartphones, televisions, and other connected home devices such as lights, doorbells and smoke detectors. And the prevalence of this technology means that Bluetooth is not just available in high-end devices – it is now available in more affordable models.
Advances in hearing technology have not been limited to the tiny computers that control the hearing aids. Improvements to the materials that house them have allowed for increased water and shock resistance, making the devices more durable and reliable.
Hearing aid manufacturers also continue to create smaller and more powerful devices, and some can sit right inside your ear canal, making them virtually invisible to others.
Even more profound innovations for hearing technology are expected in the coming years to seamlessly integrate hearing aids into the wearer’s lifestyle.
Hearing aids are designed around sound, but future technology will likely incorporate additional senses. This will help the devices to better adapt in different environments. For example, eye movements can be used to focus hearing aids to specific directions. The devices can prioritize sounds coming from the direction you’re looking at.
Going further, biometric sensors could be used to monitor chronic conditions or general health by monitoring and tracking movement, heart rate, body temperature, stress hormone levels, and brain activity.
Speed is an important factor in hearing technology. Because hearing aids haven’t been able to process input as quickly as the human brain can, wearers often experience a “comb-filter effect,” which distorts the sound and makes it difficult to understand.
Emerging technology affords a dramatically increased processing speed for near-instantaneous sound delivery, practically eliminating hearing aid delay.
While Bluetooth technology has become quite common in hearing aids, technology is advancing to further connect wearers with their environments and change how they interact with other technologies.
For example, hearing aids will connect to voice assistants, like Alexa or Google Home, and receive a signal directly from a smart device to make phone calls or play music.
Coupled with a biometric sensor, a hearing aid could detect a drop in heart rate or a loss of consciousness and call 9-1-1 or contact a loved one, all on its own. This level of connectivity could be lifesaving.
The increased connectivity and “smart” technology of hearing aids will also make it easier for hearing professionals to help their patients.
Audiologists will be able to use the data from the devices to understand the benefits or challenges of the technology, and more effectively treat individual hearing conditions.
As audiologists can customize devices to their individual patients, the technology will automatically adapt to new and changing environments. As they receive feedback from the devices, and their patients, clinicians use the data to improve the performance of this incredible technology.
Hearing loss can be frustrating, exhausting and isolating. Fortunately, great progress has been made in hearing aid technology to better the lives of people with hearing challenges and help them feel like themselves again.
Hearing aids have advanced significantly, with improved durability, water resistance, longer battery life, enhanced sound quality in difficult environments, and seamless connectivity to other devices.
Book a hearing test to understand your hearing health. Then we’ll find the best technology for you.
Visit Professional Audiology Clinic at our central Edmonton or Sherwood Park locations!
Edmonton - Hys Centre
11010-101 Street NW, Unit #107
Sherwood Park – Emerald Hills Office Tower
8005 Emerald Drive, Unit #827 (second floor)
Evening appointments available.