General Information
All below information will be rewritten in prominent areas of the poster.
“How a hearing aid works and is manufactured”
[Topics broached: manufacturing techniques and benchmarking; new technological
improvements; standards that should be followed]
Why are hearing aids needed? They are developed to help with “sensorineural
hearing loss” – “Sensorineural hearing loss involves damage to the cochlea. It's
the most common type, affecting about 90 percent of people with hearing loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss can be a byproduct of aging, or it can occur due to
infections, genes, head trauma, exposure to loud noises or fluid buildup in the
inner ear. This is the type of hearing loss that a hearing aid can help.” (Watson)
What are hearing aids comprised of? Hearing aids are fairly simple devices,
consisting of four basic parts:
% A microphone picks up sound from the environment and converts it into
an electrical signal, which it sends to the amplifier.
% An amplifier increases the volume of the sound and sends it to the
receiver.
% A receiver/speaker changes the electrical signal back into sound and
sends it into the ear. Then those impulses are sent to the brain.
% A battery provides power to the hearing aid.
%
Hearing aids aren't effective for everyone. Hair cells in the inner ear must pick up
the vibrations that the hearing aid sends and convert those vibrations into nerve
signals. So, you need to have at least some hair cells in the inner ear for it to
work. And, even if some hair cells remain, a hearing aid won't completely restore
normal hearing. (Watson)
How are hearing aids made? To make a hearing aid, an audiologist or hearing
aid dispenser will make an imprint of the patient's ear by pouring silicon material
into the ear. Once it hardens, the silicon imprint is removed from the ear and
sent to the manufacturer to make the hearing aid.
The imprint is used to make a silicon mold, which is filled with acrylic and
hardened in an ultraviolet oven. This creates the shell of the hearing aid. Holes
are drilled into the hearing aid, and the electrical components -- volume control,
microphone and speaker -- are placed inside. A group of wires is attached to all
of the different electronic parts and the battery is installed. When the hearing
aid is finished, it is polished smooth and then analyzed to make sure that it fits
the patient's hearing prescription. (Watson)
“Powering a more sustainable hearing aid” – internationally
[Topics broached: comparison of sustainable hearing aid battery lives and afterlives;
manufacturing]
Why is this important? How to power them? The World Health Organization
says there are roughly 250 million hearing-impaired people around the globe,
with two thirds of them living in developing nations. And yet every year fewer
than 10 million hearing aids are manufactured. Why? "Batteries," says
Weinstein. "They cost $1 each and last about a week." That's a prohibitive price
in countries where $1 a day is often the going wage. Even if you gave away
standard hearing aids, many users couldn't afford to keep them running. "Poor
people in Africa, Latin America and Asia wear a hearing device until it runs down
and then put it in the drawer or sell it," Weinstein says. "If you could come up
with a solution, you could touch millions of lives." (“Introducing”)
Examples of sustainably-powered devices? “To power SolarAid's rechargeable
batteries — which are more environmentally friendly than disposable zinc
hearing-aid batteries, 175 million of which are discarded every year — Godisa
invented a solar-powered charger that's slightly larger than a computer mouse.
The unit is placed in the sun for six to eight hours while a solar cell recharges two
special AA batteries that can keep their power for a week.” (Wightman)
More Specific Information
Information to be rewritten in prominent area of poster that defines guidelines and needs addressed by
hearing aids of all types.
“Types of hearing aids across the world” – higher-end market
[Topics broached: developed countries – technological innovations, costs, and quality]
Affected populace: “[…] or the estimated 28 million Americans with hearing
loss” (Watson) … “The World Health Organization says there are roughly 250
million hearing-impaired people around the globe, with two thirds of them
living in developing nations.” (Watson)
“Types of hearing aids across the world” – lower-end market
[Topics broached: developing countries – how they are manufactured, powered, promoted,
made]
“The SolarAid — complete with solar charger and a package of four rechargeable
batteries — sells for less than $100 and will last the consumer for at least two to
three years.
A study conducted by University of Copenhagen audiologist Dr. Agnette
Parving concluded that the SolarAid was comparable in performance to the
much higher-priced, digital hearing aids produced in Europe. [Put into
“Powering”]
To power SolarAid's rechargeable batteries — which are more environmentally
friendly than disposable zinc hearing-aid batteries, 175 million of which are
discarded every year — Godisa invented a solar-powered charger that's slightly
larger than a computer mouse.
The unit is placed in the sun for six to eight hours while a solar cell recharges two
special AA batteries that can keep their power for a week.
Once or twice a week, the consumer either puts the SolarAid in the charger or
takes the batteries out to be charged separately overnight.
All parts for the hearing aid come from high-quality European suppliers and a
special lacquer is applied to inside components to prevent humidity and sweat
from corroding the unit.
Deaf technicians assemble all the imported components at the Godisa workshop,
40 kilometres south of the capital, Gaborone.
Last summer, after a 10-week training course at Microniks in Dorval, Que.,
Akanyang and two of her co-workers became certified instructors in electronic
surface mounting soldering, which is second only to aerospace soldering in its
complexity.” (Wightman)
Works Cited
"Introducing Solar-Powered Hearing Aids." Newsweek - National News, World
News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More. 3 May 2008.
Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.newsweek.com/2008/05/03/something-to-
shout-about.html>.
Watson, Stephanie. "How Hearing Aids Work" 23 August 2007.
HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/modern/hearing-aid.htm> 23
September 2010.
Wightman, David. "Deaf Technicians Share SolarAid Success." Hearing Loss
News and Articles. 22 Jan. 2006. Web. 23 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2006/01/deaf_technician.html>.
