Could we build a hearing aid? By we I mean me, you, the guy studying audiology at university, the hard of hearing electrical engineer and all the other people.

In computer software there’s a thing called open source. What it means is that someone, or some people, build something and they don’t just release the finished product they also give the source code away too. Source code is the programming language statements that were used to make the software.

Basically, they give anyone the means to build the software themselves for free. Do you use the Firefox web browser? That’s open source, anyone is free to download it’s source code and change it, improve it, package it in different ways and sell it as something else.

Could a whole bunch of people do this with a hearing aid? Could we get together the right skills and build an aid and make the details of how to do it free for anyone to see so that other people can take it and improve it?

Of course, I’m not suggesting building a hearing aid is easy – years of research has already gone into making the products we buy today. But there are clever people out there who would get into a project like this – it works with computer software and has been working for years.

No one person could do this, but a group could and that’s the power of open source.

Healthcare Digital has a interesting little article about Starkey UK.

It talks a bit about the company’s history, current production model and their quality control processes.

A look at Starkey.

More than two-thirds of young people who regularly use MP3 players face premature hearing damage because the volume is too high, a charity warns.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People said its findings were alarming, particularly with eight million MP3 players sold last year alone in the UK.

It accused manufacturers of failing to put clear and prominent warnings on packaging for consumers.

The RNID urges MP3 player fans to invest in in-ear filters for headphones – these cancel out background noise and reduce the need to increase volume levels.

Full article on BBC, via The Deaf Blog

David from Hearing Mojo reports that Songbird Hearing have received venture capitalist funding in order to re-start their disposable hearing aid business. He gives a good writeup so I’m not going over it here again. I will say though, that I think there’s still a huge market for throwaway CIC hearing aids, for two reasons:

• Many people, I would even say most people, want to hide their hearing loss and they will purchase the smallest aid they possibly can. Even though companies like Phonak are pushing the cool-factor with their new coloured open-fit ranges, it still going to take a long time before people get over that hearing aid stigma.
• Disposable is an easy option for many people. The up-front cost is much lower. If they don’t like wearing hearing aids, they can throw it away at any time and they are not losing too much money – also, they don’t have to worry so much about losing their aid, or letting the dog eat it, or whatever.

Check out David’s article and while you are there, subscribe to his feed – it’s a great blog.

Widex have rejected speculation it was in talks with headset maker GN Store Nord and its hearing aid arm Resound over a potential merger. Shares in GN rose as much as 7 percent on Friday on speculation the companies were in talks, but lost some positive ground once Widex had denied the rumour. “We haven’t been in talks and are very surprised over the rumours we were to buy Resound,” Widex Sales and Marketing Chief Tom Westermann told Reuters.

GN declined to comment on the speculation.

“There are rumours in the market that Widex is in talks with Resound. Widex has said earlier that it is not interested in Resound, but apparently the market believes the rumours,” said Jyske Bank trader Morten Byrdal.

GN has said it expects to own Resound throughout 2007 but has said it will pursue all possible strategic options for the arm, and concentrate instead on its headset activities.

News from Reuters.

Do you have handbag syndrome?

Shops are very noisy places, there are a lot of people around, everyone is talking, tills are ringing – there’s a lot of background noise and a lot of distractions. Many hard of hearing people finds shops difficult – it can be difficult to hear the person who is serving you. How much money are they asking you to pay? If you can’t see the amount then you have to hear them.

To avoid this problem many people always carry big notes that they know will easily cover there shopping bill. Didn’t hear the £15.67 price? Pay with the £20 note and the problem is avoided. But, because you are always paying with notes, your handbag (or pocket) will soon fill up with loose change – handbag syndrome.

I’ve had handbag syndrome myself – well, I don’t actually own a handbag but I always pay with my Credit Card to avoid having to know the exact amount.

The Hearing Aid Bank, a program of the Deaf Service Center of Palm Beach County, provides used and recycled hearing aids free to those in financial need.

Many people have the misconception that hearing aids cannot be re-used. That is basically true and there are three good reasons why a person should not use another’s hearing aid (1) sanitary issues; (2) everyone’s prescription is different and using the wrong prescription could possibly be damaging; and (3) it would be very uncomfortable since the shape of the portion that fits in the ear canal is customized to each person’s ear.

But, the donation of used hearing aids to the Hearing Aid Bank provides individuals in financial need with the opportunity to hear again. The Hearing Aid Bank refurbishes behind-the-ear style of hearing aid because the portion that goes in the ear is removed and a new “mold” is custom made for the new user, for a very nominal fee. If the hearing aid uses newer technology and is “programmable,” it can be changed appropriately for the new user.

The donations of used hearing aids that cannot be refurbished are still very important. They are returned to the manufacturers where parts are salvaged and the Hearing Aid Bank receives a credit towards repairs of broken hearing aids for the Hearing Aid Bank patients.

The person who donates a used hearing aid can use it as a tax deduction, and the individual who cannot afford to purchase a new hearing aid, receives one specifically tailored to their needs.

Help the Hearing Aid Bank at the Deaf Service Center provide a better quality of life for those who are disadvantaged. In Delray Beach, call 561-278-6444.

The Deaf Service Center is a Town of Palm Beach United Way, Community Foundation of Palm Beach & Martin Counties, and United Way of Palm Beach County community partner.

From Sun-Sentinel.com

Yet another warning  has been published about damage that MP3 players can do to our hearing. And that’s no bad thing as it’s a very real and worrying problem. www.crutchfieldadvisor.com have a very informative article about the ways that the people can use MP3 players more safely, they include:

• Using the iPod’s “Limit Volume” option to make sure you don’t accidentally ramp up the volume too high.
• Using the best quality audio files. Recording music at a lower quality will lose some of its detail being lost, producing an unnatural sound – resulting in the volume being turned up to try and better hear the lost detail.
• Using good quality headphones.

Check it –>out.

LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) is computer software that helps you to improve your listening and vocal comprehension skills.

Hearingaids help you hear, but they don’t help you to listen. This is where LACE comes in. The software runs on Windows and Mac and offers a number of listening tests to train your brain to better pick out and understand words in noisy, difficult situations.

I downloaded the demo version and gave it a try. First of all, you are asked to set your PC’s speakers at a comfortable level; the software repeats a spoken sentence, giving you the chance to adjust the volume so you can hear it clearly. Once you’ve done that, the tests start. The first ones have a male voice speaking a sentence, once the sentence is finished you are asked two questions:

• Did you hear every word and completely understand the sentence?
• If you didn’t hear every word, could you at least understand what the sentence was about?

The same kind of test is repeated several times: a sentence followed by those two questions. The next stage of the test is slightly different, one word from a sentence is purposefully drowned out and you are asked what you think the word was. Following that, you are given a sentence and asked to remember it, you then have to answer questions like, “What was the word the came before apple” and “what word followed man“.

That is about as far as the demo went. The full version has many more tests and so I assume will also have different variations of test too. The full version costs $149.

I spent about 1/2 hour with the demo and I will definitely be buying the full version. I did quite badly on the tests; only a few times was I able to hear an entire sentence, some of the time I picked up a few words but mostly I couldn’t make out any of the sentence. This was quite disappointing and initially it put me off trying again, but then I realised that is exactly why I need to get the full version! I need to practice, I need to learn how to listen better.

Unfortunately you cannot download the full version and then pay for a key to unlock it – like you do with almost all other software these days – so I’m going to have to wait a week or so to try out the full version.

You can order the full version on a CD via post or download the installer and then purchase a registration code.

Try out the –>demo version or download the full-version installer from the LACE website.

You can use Google’s video search to find subtitled videos on the web.

Go to the Advanced Search option:

Then simply click the “search only closed captioned videos” checkbox:

Super easy and super useful.