Hearing and Deafness

The innovative device was designated as a Tech Award Laureate and currently can be found in Brazil, Botswana, and Palestine’s West Bank, but Solar Ear expects to expand into Mexico, China, India and Canada in 2010. And now that designers have shown ...  

A reporter for the Palm Beach Post just got a hearing test, and wrote about the experience. She is fearful, but passes the hearing test. Just the same, she is concerned about hearing aids until the audiologist shows her today's modern, extremely fashionable and high tech hearing aids.What Happens When a Reporter Gets Her Hearing Tested? originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 22:12:28.Permalink | Comment...  

In an interesting twist on the popularity of personalized "skins" and covers for electronic items, Valencia-based Advanced Bionics announced today that it has partnered with San Diego-based Skinit to apply the technology to cochlear implants. Advanced Bionics said that its devices, used to help people with poor hearing, can be customized with favorite colors, sports teams, and works of art, or event a user's uploaded graphics. Financial...  

There were some perks to dating a cyborg. My ex-boyfriend Josh was born mostly deaf, but had some hearing in one ear thanks to a cochlear implant—a spiral of electrodes threaded into his cochlea to stimulate the auditory nerve, bypassing damaged parts of the ear. The surgery, which is irreversible, wipes out any residual hearing in the operated ear. (It's a major invasive procedure—fortunately a one-time thing—that puts the patient at risk of...  

Valencia-based Advanced Bionics, a manufacturer of cochlear implants, said Monday that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Sonova Holdings AG. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. According to Advanced Bionics, the deal helps Sonova Group strategically expand into the area of cochlear implants.Advanced Bionics was advised by UBS Investment Bank and O'Melveny & Myers in the deal.  

I love my parents, but good god, it bothers me to no end that they can't hear anything. As I type, my father is insulating our attic, and blaring the radio. Now, you might not think that's so bad. I'm a teenager, so why would loud music bother me? Be...  

From TODAY producer Ian Wenger As journalists, there are some stories we work on that are simply not what we expect. Today's piece about cochlear implants is one of those stories for me. WATCH VIDEO When this story was pitched, the headline was “Three siblings get four cochlear implants all on the same day!” My reaction was, “Wow! Amazing.” And if you are unfamiliar with the process, as I was, the vision is one of children ensconced in silence...  

Background: The standard electrode array for the MED-EL MAESTRO cochlear implant system is 31 mm in length which allows an insertion angle of approximately 720 degrees. When fully inserted, this long electrode array is capable of stimulating the most apical region of the cochlea. No investigation has explored Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential (ECAP) recordings in this region with a large number of subjects using a commercially...  

Today's hot news is that the cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics has been bought by a hearing aid manufacturer, Sonova. Abledbody.com notes that Sonova bought Advanced Bionics because the market is estimated to be as much as $800 million. I'm not surprised a hearing aid manufacturer is buying a cochlear implant manufacturer. As cochlear implants grow in popularity and people with less severe hearing losses are able to get them, it...  

In 50 years ask her if any possible complications were worth hearing her parents voices, laughter, the sound of rain on the roof, music of all kinds, the wind rattling through the trees, water over rocks, crickets in the summer or the any of the other thousands of sounds those of us who can hear take for granted.My guess is she'll say it was worth it.  

Apparently, the state of Wyoming's Equality Care program believes that only zombies qualify to receive cochlear implants. Why do I say this? Today CD posted a follow-up to her earlier blog post about being denied for a cochlear implant. In this follow-up, CD posted a response from Wyoming Equality Care. A quoted segment: "the client must be unable to communicate through speech or other means to make their medical or basic needs known." How...  

About.com has just introduced something new, which I will be offering on About.com Deafness soon. But first, I wanted to get your suggestions. We have a new form that will allow you to tell your own story, complete with optional pictures. Some possible ideas: Tell About Your Worst Job Discrimination Experience Share your favorite sign How I coped with losing my hearing How I improved my English Do you have any other suggestions? I will...  

As you watch someone happily murder every song he belts out at the karaoke bar, you have to wonder whether it's caused by the growing bar tab, a total lack of embarrassment or simple tone deafness. Why do some of us hear music so differently?  

Today's newest hearing aids range from the completely invisible -- it sits deep in the ear canal for months at a time -- to Bluetooth-enabled gadgets that open cell phones and iPods for hearing-aid users.  

THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - While Tiger Woods continued to attract criticism from communication experts for the way he has handled his troubled private life, he gained widespread sympathy from fans at his tournament on Thursday.