The making of Hearing aids!
Monday, February 8th, 2010The intricate making of hearing aids varies with different manufacturers. However, the general procedure stands the same for most of the hearing aids. Since hearing aids are to be worn on the ears, they have to be tailor made just like dresses. The patient with the hearing disability meets an audiologist. Hearing aids should fit the ear of the patient so the exact shape of the patients ears are needed for making the hearing aid. Making a cast of the ear is pretty simple. Foam or a bit of cotton is carefully placed completely into the ear canal to prevent the casting material from entering into the ear drum. This is an important step; the casting material may damage the ear if it enters. This could enable the patient to a free hearing test. After this step, a malleable impression substance like silicon is gently placed into the ear and is allowed to set. Once the silicon sets into the ear, it is gently removed keeping in mind that the imprint and the ear sh
ould not be damaged. Now this depicts the inner shape of the patient’s ear. The audiologist carries out varies tests and the audiogram of the patient is taken. The result of these tests, the audiograms and the ear cast is sent to the manufacturer’s lab.
The manufacturer custom makes the hearing aids with the given silicon cast and specifications. The silicon imprint is used to make the body of the hearing aid. This is done by pouring acrylic into the silicon mould and hardening it by exposing it to ultraviolet rays in a UV kiln. This creates a tough but flexible shell of hearing aid. Now the shell is drilled with holes and all the components like wires, microphone, circuit, receiver, volume control, battery, amplifier and the speaker are embedded into the shell. It is then polished to make it smooth. Finally it’s tested for its working and tuned according to the given specification. After assembling the hearing aid it is shipped back to the audiologist. The audiologist calls back the patient once the aid is ready. Now the audiologist checks if the speci
ally designed hearing aid fits the patient or not. If the aid doesn’t fit, it is sent back to the manufacturer. Once the fitting is checked, the audiologist performs series of tests to make sure the patient is able to hear properly with the hearing aid. All these steps determine the cost of the hearing aid.
Siemens hearing aids are a very reliable and well made hearing aid.
