Blackminster
Hearing Centre Blackminster
Hearing Centre
Open Fittings
This design consists of a very small module which hides behind the ear. This module contains a tiny battery, a digital computer chip and one of more tiny microphones. These new designs are VERY small and can be almost invisible. This is a typical Open Fitting model - in this case, from GN Resound:
The hearing aid module fits behind the ear and an almost invisible sound pipe connects to the tiny "dome" which nestles in your ear canal. The thin plastic sound pipe carries sound from a loudspeaker in the hearing aid body into the "dome". This configuration allows the hearing aid to deliver high frequency sound to the ear. (Open Fittings can only boost high frequencies) This picture of a Starkey Aspect in use shows the low visibility of the Open Fitting style.
This technology can handle Mild and/or High Frequency hearing losses ... but is NOT very effective in helping with Severe and/or Low Frequency losses. This limits the number of people who can be successfully fitted with this style. However, for many people, the new Open Fitting models can perform as well as most older Behind The Ear designs .. but in a smaller and almost invisible package. I feel that these new designs are also less visible than most In The Ear models. On top of all this, these new Open Fittings models use an "instant fit" design and so can usually be fitted on the day of your hearing test.
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Loudspeaker In The Ear (LITE) Fittings
Note: Some manufacturers call this style of hearing aids RITE (Receiver In The Ear), SIE (Speaker In the Ear) or CRT (Canal Receiver Technology) hearing aids. Like the Open Fittings shown earlier, this design consists of a very small module which hides behind the ear. This module contains a tiny battery, a digital computer chip and one of more tiny microphones.Like the Open Fittings these new designs are VERY small and can be almost invisible. They look very similar to Open Fittings models - but in fact work differently. This is a typical Loudspeaker In The Ear model - in this case, from Unitron:
The hearing aid module fits behind the ear and a "dome" fits in the ear canal, just as with an Open Fitting model. However in this style the tiny loudspeaker is IN THE DOME and NOT in the hearing aid body! The thin plastic pipe joining the "dome" to the hearing aid does NOT carry sound ... it contains a very thin electrical wire to drive the loudspeaker. This fine almost invisible wire connects to a tiny "dome" which nestles in your ear canal. The tiny "dome" contains a miniature loudspeaker which feeds the boosted sound to your ear ... so the loudspeaker is actually INSIDE your ear canal, and not at the end of a plastic sound tube! This configuration allows the hearing aid to deliver low frequency sound as well as high frequency sound. (Open Fittings can only boost high frequencies) This new technology can handle a wide range of hearing losses from Mild to Severe. In other words a Loudspeaker In The Ear model can help correct many types of hearing loss ... and NOT just the high frequency hearing losses that the Open Fitting style can assist with. Essentially, the new Loudspeaker In The Ear models can perform as well as most older Behind The Ear designs .. but in a smaller and almost invisible package. I feel that these new designs are also less visible than most In The Ear models. On top of all this, these new Loudspeaker In The Ear models use an "instant fit" design and so can usually be fitted on the day of your hearing test. The almost invisible fit, plus the improved comfort, and the "instant fitting" of these models means that they are displacing the more traditional chunky Behind The Ear models, and even many In The Ear models. The era of taking resin impressions of your ears and then waiting for customised plastics to be made to fit your ears is almost over! Only people with very Severe or Profound losses still need the traditional large Behind The Ear hearing aids ... maybe 90% of hard-of-hearing people can be fitted with the new almost invisible Loudspeaker In The Ear hearing aid styles. We will definitely see many more hard-of-hearing people adopt these models. The benefits are clear ... especially in comparison with the disadvantages of the older styles .
Note: If you have a Profound loss then sadly you may need a traditional Behind The Ear hearing aid for best results. |
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