In the second quarter of 2018, US quarterly sales of hearing aids exceeded 1 million net units for the first time in the industry’s history, according to statistics generated by the Hearing Industries Association (HIA). In Q2 2018, unit sales increased by 5.73% compared to the same period last year—the exact same percentage growth as the first quarter’s sales’ growth rate.
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Starkey Hearing Technologies has provided a video for a glimpse at its upcoming Livio AI hearing aid that will reportedly include sensors and artificial intelligence. The new device is scheduled to launch on August 27.
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Inventis SRL—the Italian audiometric equipment manufacturer of audiometers, video otoscopes, REM systems, and more—has announced the opening of its new US office in Minneapolis, the company’s first office established outside its world headquarters in Padova, Italy. Riccardo Rizzoli, who has been with Inventis for 6 years, has been appointed as its managing director.
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Starkey Hearing Technologies will be expanding its research and development globally by establishing an advanced development center in Israel; the company closed the Starkey Hearing Research Center (SHRC) in Berkeley, Calif, in late June.
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Victor Bray, PhD, reviews the research on depression and hearing loss, treatment effects, risk factors, and how you can screen for depression in this free webinar sponsored by Hamilton CapTel®. He also postulates a future in which hearing healthcare professionals will be called on to assist mental health specialists in the treatment of depressed individuals.
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Drs Barbra Timmer and Mary Beth Jennings provide information about what it really means to have a “family-centered care” (FCC) approach and why FCC so important.
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The new report offers clinical guidance on several topics, including assessment and referral, removing earwax, treating idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, assessment and management in audiology services, and follow-up audiology services.
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Sallie Frye, MA, an audiologist who as International Marketing Manager of Frye Electronics helped propel the company to worldwide prominence, passed away due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease on May 22 in her home near Portland, Ore. She was 81.
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There has been great interest in using speech-evoked cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEP) as an objective hearing aid validation measure, because CAEPs allow us to assess the audibility of speech sounds at the highest (cortical) levels. Here is a review by Sridhar Krishnamurti and Larry Wise, as well as results from a study they conducted that suggests there is clinical value of CAEPs for assessing cortical changes from amplification, as well as using this data in audiology services to demonstrate patient benefit.
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True listening involves more than just repeating words. Might there be useful ways to think about quantifying listening effort by taking advantage of a considerable body of research on the auditory event-related potential (AERP)? In this article, Dr James Jerger explores two different ways to think about clinical speech audiometry relative to assessing total listening effort: 1) Altering the task from repetition to decision, and 2) Evaluating the response evoked by the decision via an AERP paradigm.
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Creig Dunckel, MA, a well-known practice-owner and respected educator in audiology, passed away on May 23 at his cabin home in Gaylord, Mich. He was 72.
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Sonova Holding AG—the parent group of Phonak, Unitron, and Advanced Bionics—reported solid financial performance for the 2017/18 financial year, achieving sales of US$2.68 billion, driven by organic growth in both hearing aids and cochlear implants and further supported by acquisitions.
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Sometimes colleagues complain that, while it may seem like a nice idea to include family members in the audiologic assessment and rehabilitation process (ie, nice to do), it is just too time consuming. But what if family involvement in the rehabilitation process not only provides more efficient use of time, but results in better outcomes? Drs Christopher Lind, Joseph Montano, and Gurgit Singh show why it’s a myth that “there isn’t time to include family members” in an appointment.
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The hearing healthcare field was recently surprised by the announcement that Widex and Sivantos (formerly Siemens) plan to merge their companies. However, the hearing healthcare industry has always been in constant flux, with many mergers and acquisitions (M&As) during the past 25 years. Here is a select list of industry M&As since 1994.
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Sivantos and Widex have agreed to terms for merging the two companies. The combined company—pending what will probably be a long and possibly uncertain regulatory approval process—would position it on par with current global market leaders Sonova and William Demant Holding, with a worldwide market share of around 24-25% and revenues of approximately $1.9 billion.
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