The American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACI) has announced the launch of a new blog on adult rehabilitation post cochlear implantation. The blog, written by experienced speech pathologist and educational audiologist Naama Tsach, PhD, is intended for adults who have (or will soon receive) cochlear implants.
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Pivot Hearing, a Petaluma, California-based practice development partner that helps audiologists and hearing aid dispensers build sustainable private practices, announced that it has expanded both its team and the scope of services it provides to members.
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GN Store Nord (GN), Copenhagen, has announced that Marcus Desimoni joins the company as chief financial officer (CFO) of GN Store Nord and GN ReSound, effective February 15, 2016. Desimoni replaces Anders Boyer, who resigned as CFO of GN Store Nord and GN ReSound in December 2015.
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The fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015 marked strong growth for the private sector, with an 8.2% increase in sales compared to Q4 2014. The VA increased its dispensing activity by 2.3%. Total hearing aid unit sales grew by 7.0% in Q4 2015. What is not known is how much private sector growth can be attributed to the market gains of low-cost retailers like Costco.
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Twelve months after the transfer of the Siemens hearing aid business to Sivantos Group, the company announced a successful first year and also introduced Signia, its new co-branded hearing aids. Sivantos reports that it is creating a new stimulus with comprehensive initiatives in an effort to achieve the industry leading market position.
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The University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service has launched a new clinical trial involving 60 patients, half of whom will use an online care package to determine whether the routine annual clinic check-up of hearing and device status can be replaced with a personalized online version.
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It is our nature to view new technologies with some degree of skepticism—and rightfully so! Evidence-based research is critically important to support the introduction of new technologies. As such, this article focuses on a new family of acoustic stimuli, Level Specific CE-Chirps©, and the science of them.
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Sonus Hearing Care Professionals and Serendipity Hearing Inc have announced an exclusive agreement with Audibel that makes them the only Audibel dealers in California. According to Sonus, Audibel hearing aids will now be available exclusively at more than 50 Sonus and Serendipity Hearing owned clinics across the state.
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Starkey Hearing Technologies has announced it is joining forces with Bragi, maker of The Dash, to transform hearable and wearable technology. Starkey CMO Chris McCormick announced strategic partnerships with Bragi and Satjiv Chahil, Silicon Valley marketing pioneer, at the 2016 Hearing Innovation Expo, Jan. 20-24.
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Researchers at Dartmouth College have found direct evidence showing that the vestibular system’s horizontal canals play a key role in sensing our direction to help us navigate the environment. The Dartmouth study explains the specific brain activity that helps us get around and that is impaired by trauma, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases.
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The discovery and management of cognitive issues, which may masquerade as or occur in tandem with hearing problems, allows the hearing healthcare professional to better address the global needs of the patient in a timely manner. In this article, Douglas Beck, Barbara Weinstein, and Michael Harvey advocate for the universal cognitive screening of patients aged 70 and older with hearing loss, even in the absence of obvious signs or symptoms of cognitive impairment.
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Salus University has announced that its Alumni Association awardees for 2016 are Diane T. Adamczyk, OD ’85, FAAO, who is the Albert Fitch Memorial Alumna of the Year; and Kathy A. Foltner, AuD ’03, who is the Audiology Alumna of the Year. An award presentation will take place during a Celebration and Awards Dinner held April 2 at Alumni Weekend 2016, though Dr Foltner will accept her award at the Salus University Open House during AudiologyNOW! on April 13, 2016.
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In an article posted on the CultofMac.com news site, writer Graham Bower describes the wireless, noise-canceling EarPods that are slated to ship with the new iPhone 7. Bower says that “from a hardware perspective,” these headphones would be very similar to hearing aids. With this article, Bower implies that Apple’s new wireless EarPods might present another advanced wearable audio technology that is poised to disrupt the hearing industry.
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RadioEar has announced the release of its new and enhanced RadioEar B-81 audiometric bone conductor, which has improved low frequency performance, and is based on the BEST (balanced electromagnetic separation transducer) technology in order to overcome the limitations of classic bone conductor performance. The BEST technology allows testing at low frequencies of up to 20dB higher than the classic bone conductor.
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The authors look back at a study from 2000 that showed short time constants and a large number of independent compression channels reduced the temporal and spectral contrast of speech when using technology of that period. Additionally, in subjective paired comparisons, long time constants, low compression ratios, and a small number of compression channels were preferred in the investigated technology configuration by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.
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