Technology can be confusing. It doesn’t matter if it is a computer that sets on your desk, one that you hold in your hand that you use for phone calls and text messages or that cute little device that sets on or in your ear that allows you to communicate and be an active participant in life! All computers have different capabilities based on the flexibility of it’s computer chip and accompanying components.
Hearing Instruments are indeed a computer. Not all hearing instruments are created equal. The major 6 hearing aid manufacturer’s have 5 main technology levels. I will broadly break this down for you.
PREMIUM LEVEL or TOP technology: This will provide the very best stimulus to the brain. Why? Because it has the widest frequency response. Usually they will amplify and respond to sounds and speech between approximately 150 HZ to 9400Hz…. That means your brain is getting the most auditory stimulus possible. All of our human speech is in this area and also where most noise needs to be controlled to get the best speech to noise ratio. The premium level will have 8 processors (that your provider can adjust the speed of) for speech and competing environmental sounds. This means all of the sounds in your environment Are classified into 8 different types. Each processor can be set with a specific speed and degree of correction. Thus, the hearing instruments adapt quicker and faster to get your brain a true reproduction of sounds. Starkey Hearing Technologies started putting AI (artificial intelligence sensors) in their Premium level instruments about 7 years ago. The AI sensors make the devices a “smart device” and thus; rapidly learn your specific environment along with the voices that are present and correct to get the speech out in the forefront of the situation. Their latest also have gyroscopes. The purpose of the gyroscopes is to tell the AI sensors where you are looking…who your are trying to understand so that the instruments can rapidly fine tune the signal for the brain. When you have a hearing loss.. the signal to the brain is distorted. The better the hearing and faster the instrument can process the speech and noise together; the clearer the signal getting to the brain. These hearing instruments have a quieter noise floor.. in fact 46% quieter hearing aid than anything on the market. That means a truer signal to the brain. This level has multiple microphone integrated system to separate sounds into little zones for directionality. Only the Premium level has Gyroscopes accompanying the AI sensors. Starkey is the only manufacturer with AI sensors and Gyroscopes at this time.
ADVANCED LEVEL: The next level down. Bandwidth of these instruments are approx; 500 HZ to 7800 hz Somewhat narrower. Men’s voices are around 500Hz ( as a reference). Background noise that occurs in lower frequencies below 500 hz will not be able to be diminished. Screechy sounds above 7800Hz will also not be above to be fine-tuned. If you have primarily a high frequency hearing loss and your hear the low frequencies almost perfectly then we really want to be able to control those extreme low frequencies as you already hear them just fine. Sound processors will drop from 8 in the premium level to usually 4 in this level. So that means; you are still have the same type of sounds and speech in your environment but they are lumped together. Perhaps the wind processor and the transient noise processor are together so they have to control both sounds the same way. Also.. usually only the premium level technology will let your provider change the speed and adaptation rates of the sound processors. So that means they are either on or off. The microphone system is adaptive like the premium tier… but they run somewhat differently. The AI sensors are included in this level with Starkey. Still a great hearing instrument level with lots of flexibility depending upon your test results.
SELECT LEVEL: Third level in the top tier. The corrective bandwidth again narrows. Useable amplification zone will be from approximately 500Hz to about around 6000 Hz. Depending upon the manufacturer there may be either 3 or 4 sound processors. The microphone system usually consists of a front and back microphone. The flexibility of how much the processor can reduce background noise is usually 10 decibel per processor and it will be either on or off. Usually on. 10 decibels is very little reduction. (A flourescent light bulb emits 14 decibels of sound.. just to give you an idea). In comparison… the Premium technology gives 8 processors with a cut of 30 dB per processor.. and the processor attack time and speeds are fully customizable to your hearing needs. Again…depending upon your hearing test results and your activity levels… this may still provide you with great results. Starkey still provides the AI sensors in all of their top 3 levels.
So.. that is the top three levels. When hearing manufactures release new technology they usually do the release in the Premium level first. Then in a few weeks to a few months they will release the next two levels. After an additional few more months they may release the next two levels down of technology. Every manufacturer has different names for their levels. The next two levels become more basic.
ELITE PLUS: This bandwidth ranges approximately from 500Hz to about 4000Hz. There are 2 - 3 sound processors that we can turn on or off for you. This level is half of the corrective spectrum of the Premium Level. Thus.. 50% less stimulus to the brain. Most hearing aids in this tier have one or maybe 2 microphones depending upon the manufacturer. This technology is best suited for patients who have a limited noise environment and great speech improvement scores.
ELITE or ENTRY LEVEL: The corrective bandwidth will range from approximately 550 Hz to 4000Hz but their are not as many bands. Usually there are 2 processors so all your sounds are either wind noise or speech noise. Each processor usually provides 5 -10 decibels of reduction. The processors can’t be adjusted in speed or strength… just either on or off. Most provide 1 microphone..thus directionality is very limited. These instruments are best suited for patients with a flat style hearing loss with limited noise exposure.
So hearing technology goes from Premium Level with 24 bands and compression cycles down to 10 bands and accompanying compression cycles. Starkey has now put their AI sensors in all levels of their hearing instruments and so is their fall detection.
Hopefully, this gives everyone a little enlightenment. The higher & better you can go the better the noise reduction and clearer the speech is reproduced. What is important is that you get a thorough hearing evaluation… (not just beeps and a few words). After the evaluation your hearing health care provider should explain your options and why you should be in the level of technology that they are suggesting. While price is always at the forefront.. you should understand the differences as they pertain to you and your hearing loss. This knowledge allows you to make an informed decision. We are here to help! 385-3497. To Hear Better Is To Live Better! Special Thanks to Gary P. For this article idea!!
By: Roseann B. Kiefer, B.A., BC-HIS