Thanks to a team of inventors, people with hearing difficulties might have significantly improved access to custom hearing aids—potentially costing less than the price of a cup of coffee.
A team led by members from Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated an ultra-low-cost proof-of-concept device called the LoCHAid. From open-source parts and a 3D printed casing, the new design is intended to be both manufactured and repaired in areas where custom hearing aids are prohibitively expensive for most people in need.
Details of the design for their proof-of-concept are reported in the journal PLOS ONE, first published September 23.
An Alternative for the ARHL Population
LoCHAid components are estimated to cost 98 cents when bought in bulk of 10,000 units, allowing for customization through a 3D-printed casing. Researchers aim to provide the hearing aid as an over-the-counter (OTC), self-serviceable solution for the elderly part of the population suffering from Age-Related Hearing Loss (ARHL).
"The challenge we set for ourselves was to build a minimalist hearing aid, determine how good it would be, and ask how useful it would be to the millions of people who could use it," said M. Saad Bhamla, an author of the study and an assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He added that the need is obvious since conventional hearing aids are expensive, allowing only a small number of people to avail of these aids.
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One of the factors that drive the high costs among hearing aids is its specialized function that is more than just amplifying sound to be heard by the user. Hearing loss occurs differently with each person and even characterizes itself through uneven attenuation at different sound frequencies, making practical applications like speech comprehension challenges. Hearing aids must be sensitive enough to amplify the sound, but without distorting it or adding noise in the process.
The Georgia Institute of Technology-led team focused on ARHL because the aging population commonly experiences hearing loss at higher frequencies. Since the older adults make up a large group of people requiring hearing aid, the researchers can focus on a specific design that works on the range commonly hampered among their target population.
LoCHAid: a Hearing Aid Game-Changer
"Taking a standard such as linear gain response and shaping it using filters dramatically reduces the cost and the effort required for programming," said first author Soham Sinha who, according to the Institute's press release, was born in India and is also a longtime user of hearing aids. Sinha, a Georgia Tech undergrad and now a doctorate student at Stanford, shared that he himself was not able to get hearing aids until he was in high school.
Vinaya Manchaiah, speech and hearing sciences professor at Lamar University and a co-author in the paper, explained that hearing directly affects our emotions and behavior. He added that for adults, the loss of hearing makes cognitive decline worse.
Manchaiah also compares their LoCHAid with conventional hearing aids as "purchasing a basic car versus a luxury car." He further explained: "If you ask most users, a basic car is all you need to be able to get from point a to point b. But in the hearing aid world, not many companies make basic cars."
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