Article Surfing Archive

Did you know that hearing aids are a controlled medical device. The manufacturers of these products are controlled by the USA's Food and Drug Administration and so it is the FDA who handle any complaint that consumers might feel the have against a specific hearing aid manufacturing company or any of their products.

The manufacturer of hearing devices is quite an exact science and the production of these devices is far more sophisticated than the technology used in similar appliances like home audio equipment. In essence, hearing aid manufacturing incorporates two industries, namely audio amplification as well as medical appliances.

Even though hearing aids do not have life threatening ramifications, as do heart pacemakers and similar medical devices, the FDA ensure that all hearing aid manufacturing companies comply with strict federal codes and guidelines. Millions of people around the United States and other countries rely very heavily on their hearing aid appliances to allow them to hear better. All of these companies are obliged to monitor the quality of the hearing aid products that are released onto the market. The vast majority of manufacturers have their very own in-house quality assurance policies to ensure that their patients are continually happy with the quality of their hearing appliance.

The hearing aid manufacturing industry has changed quite considerably during the past ten or so years since the development and subsequent introduction of digital style hearing aids. During the 1980's there were technological breakthroughs when the industry realized that the digital sound amplification process allowed specific sounds to be amplified, rather than just foreground or background sounds. This development spurred the manufacturers to develop high quality digital hearing aids for the benefit of millions of people suffering hearing conditions.

Today digital hearing aids haves become so sophisticated that these devices are now quite able to recognize and limit the throughput of unwanted sounds. They perform this service, while at the same time permitting certain 'wanted' sounds to get through to the wearer of the device. This ability and the automatic adjustment capabilities of modern hearing aid devices is making the wearing of hearing aids much more popular among hearing loss patients, including those with very severe hearing restrictions.

The automatic adjustment feature reduces the need for continuous programming of the device as a hearing aid patient's circumstance and environment changes. Most digital hearing aids are wired into the device during manufacture with the final programming being performed by the technician during its fitting to the patient. The actual fitting of the device is not just about ensuring it properly fits the patient's ear, but also the correct filtering is programmed into the device to meet the individual wearer's particular requirements.

In very simple terms these modern high quality digital hearing aid can help a particular wearer by separating the voice sounds from the background noises or by amplifying certain frequencies with which the patient has trouble. The capability of these small devices is similar to artificial intelligence. The products being supplied today by the hearing aid manufacturers are constantly on the improve, and as such will continue to enhance the lives of those who suffer from hearing loss.