TOP ONLINE HEADLINES in December

• UK Project Explores In-Body Power Microgenerator
• Siemens Lankanau to Retire; Pedra to Take Reigns
• New Hearing Loss Statistics Published by HHS
• Mom Creates Safe-Volume Earbuds for Children
• Marcon Celebrates 30th Anniversary
• Study Assesses Students’ Exposure to Noise
• Levitt Presents a History of Digital Hearing Aids at ASA/AJA
• New Directional Microphone Designed on the Fly
• Hybrid Hearing Aid/Implant Being Developed by Cochlear
• Professor Turns Rapper to Attract More (Audiology) Homies
• Archaeoacoustics, Aural Architecture, and the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza
• NIDCD Studies Twins for Clues About Presbycusis

• A recent presentation at the 4th ASA/AJA Joint Meeting in Honolulu by R.N. Miles and colleagues from the Georgia Institute of Technology presented the paper "Development of Novel Biologically Inspired Directional Microphones" which describes a new directional microphone designed around the fly, Ormia ochracea.

• At Carnegie Hall, tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra joined Phonak to launch Hear the World, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about the importance of hearing and the impact of hearing loss.

• A story in the LA Times featured Cochlear’s experimental hybrid implant/hearing aid that uses a thinner, shorter bundle of electronics for the probe—10 mm in length compared to up to 28 mm for traditional implants—and positions the implant at the opening end of the cochlea, stimulating the auditory nerve only when high-frequency sound waves enter the ear.

• "...The equipment was relatively large. The box-like device consisted of a minicomputer and a digital array processor. Small units on top of the computer were an FM radio transmitter and receiver. These units provided a radio link with a body worn transmitter and receiver which, in turn, were linked by wire to an ear-worn microphone and hearing aid receiver (loudspeaker). As one wag put it, 'It may be a good hearing aid, but you’ll need a friend with a wheelbarrow behind you to carry the instrument.'" —Harry Levitt, "Digital Hearing Aids: From Wheelbarrows to Ear Inserts" (ASA/AJA)

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This month, HR Online asked readers: After the initial hearing aid fitting, how much time usually elapses before your next contact with the client/patient?

Be sure to participate in our next poll (left side of HR home page):
Of all the new people visiting your office/practice, what percentage do you deem NOT to be candidates for hearing aids?

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