Low-Cost Hearing Aid

Abstract

The project addresses the need for intelligent signal method in the design of hearing aid devices. Based on World Health Organization reported the rapidly aging population and the fact that a sizable percentage of those over 65 years of age have a significant hearing problem, the project addresses a very real need impacting the quality of life for a segment that will exceed 20% of our society. Despite the available technology, user dissatisfaction with commercially available hearing aids is fairly high. This project will produce a system that can automatically identify the environment in the hearing device and determine the best approaches to enhance environment specific desirable signals for this while eliminating the undesirable ones. The system will be designed to meet the power and size restrictions of in-the-ear hearing devices. The system developed in this project will also allow for improved design for signal from the hearing aids. While hearing protection devices do exist in the market, their use is restricted by the fact that they may also limit the hearing of audible warning signals as well as inhibit verbal communication between workers.