Bluetooth Hearing Aids

Hearing aids have been around now, for a considerable amount of time. Well, everyone remembers those puny hearing aids with wires. Those were the good old days when things were not as complicated as they are now, according to the older generation. But welcome to the world where technological advancement is happening every minute. It is so rapid that you cannot match its speed. Bluetooth hearing aid devices are a proof of one such advancement.

What is a Bluetooth Hearing Aid?

It is important that we understand more about Bluetooth technology in order to figure out how these hearing aids function. Bluetooth technology is a method to exchange data over short distances from cell phone devices. It is an open wireless protocol which creates personal area networks. You need not be Einstein to know how effective this technology would be when attached to or embedded into a hearing device. Such is the case with a hearing aid, which is a small electronic device worn at the back of the ear in order to amplify sound, so that a partially deaf individual can hear clearly.

When hearing aids are equipped with this wireless technology, they become Bluetooth friendly. There are two types of Bluetooth hearing devices - one is the usual; behind-the-ear one and the other routes Bluetooth signals to a proprietary wireless protocol.

Uses of Bluetooth Hearing Aids

• First and foremost, Bluetooth enables a hearing aid user a better compatibility with Bluetooth enabled handsfree devices. This has effectively tackled the problems of compatibility with phone headsets and iPods, faced by hearing aid users.
• Well, Bluetooth technology facilitates communication between two hearing aids, which leads to optimal audibility.
• This technology also facilitates connectivity with wireless Bluetooth enabled devices, like cell phones and music players.
• They basically enhance the listening for the hearing aid users.
• If the hearing aid has an ear level instrument (eli), then the Bluetooth technology works properly. In fact, eli is necessary for connecting it to an audio input connection.
• Thanks to Bluetooth technology, it is possible to make your cell phones ring directly into your Bluetooth hearing aid. Press a specific button on your hearing aid to receive or disconnect a call, and you don't even need to touch the phone.
• What's more, this module can sense if the caller has hung up and it will end the call automatically.
• These hearing aids consume less power.

Technology Needed for Bluetooth Hearing Aids

There are two components needed for a hearing aid to work in tandem with Bluetooth technology. It has to be either a Telecoil or Direct Audio Input (DAI). Telecoil, for starters, are small magnets in the hearing aids, which receive signals from cell phones or other devices. DAI refers to the feature common to almost all 'behind the ear' hearing aids, and allows a connection with the FM and various other options. By far, this is the most expensive Bluetooth option to use with a hearing aid.

Bluetooth hearing aids have ushered in a major revolution in the arena of hearing aids. Although not very easily available now, they will be easily accessible and available in the future. This technology will certainly do wonders for hearing aid users, with the digital and Bluetooth devices increasing in numbers.