JAKARTA - Hearing aids are devices that are usually recommended for people with hearing impairments. This tool is used to help humans hear more clearly so as to facilitate communication. How's the history?
As we know today, hearing aids are small electronic devices that are worn in or behind the ear. This device helps increase the volume of sound entering the ear. How does it work?
There are three parts to a hearing aid: the microphone; amplifiers; and speakers. As quoted from the Hellosehat page, hearing aids receive sound through a microphone, which converts sound waves into electrical signals and sends them to an amplifier. The sound amplifier then increases the signal strength and sends it to the ear via the speaker.
Hearing aids amplify sound vibrations that enter the ear through hair cells. The surviving hair cells detect the larger vibrations and convert them into nerve signals that are sent to the brain.
The greater or more severe the damage to the hair cells, the more severe the hearing loss. Automatically the volume needed to be able to hear should also be increased.
There are many types of hearing aids. For example, the completely in the canal type, this type of aid is installed completely in the canal and shaped to fit inside the ear.
The second is in the canal, this type is made specifically to enter part of the ear canal. This type of device helps improve mild to moderate hearing loss in adults and is not recommended for people with severe hearing loss.
Then there is another type behind the ear, which is placed just behind the outer ear which is connected to a special ear opening in the ear canal. This type of device is the most commonly used by people with mild or severe hearing loss. So what is the history of the invention of this hearing aid?
The beginningIf traced its history, the invention of hearing aids dates back hundreds of years. And efforts to correct hearing loss have been around since the first time people cupped their palms to their ears.
The earliest period of the discovery of hearing aids is known since the 13th century. As quoted by the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society page, people with hearing loss in that century used the horns of animals such as cows and rams that were hollowed out as hearing aids. It wasn't until the 18th century that better ear trumpets were invented.
Entering the 19th century, when the revolutionary era was squirming, the invention of the telephone shocked the world. This discovery, coupled with the mass application of electricity, had a major impact on the development of hearing aids. People with hearing loss quickly realize that they can hear conversations better through a telephone receiver held to their ear.
Thomas Edison, an entrepreneur who is also known as the inventor of mass-produced devices, who have hearing loss saw a great opportunity in hearing aids. In 1870, he invented a carbon transmitter for telephones that amplified electrical signals and increased the decibel level by about 15 dB. While the standard required 30 dB to improve hearing, the invention of the carbon emitter for telephones paved the way for even better technology.
Along with the rapid trend of technological development after the industrial revolution, the sophistication of hearing aids has also increased. The invention of the transistor by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1948, revolutionized the shape of hearing aids to become smaller. Thanks to the transistor also the volume can be adjusted.
Norman Krim, an engineer at Raytheon and previous inventor of subminiature vacuum tube technology, sees the potential for applying transistors in hearing aids. In 1952, he succeeded in making a junction transistor, as a result, the device can be placed in or behind the ear.
The progress of hearing aids is also part of the civilization of the mass commercialization of the technological equipment industry. Because in 1953 hearing aids with this more revolutionary form were so popular, as a result, more than 200,000 devices were sold. "The capitalization of this new technology makes hearing aids the first to be fitted to the ear. The company that made it happen is Otarion Electronics," it writes.
From analog to digitalAlong with the rapid development of technology, by 2005 digital hearing aids had controlled 80 percent of the market. During that time, the development of transistors made of silicon allowed hearing aids to form smaller.
From 1960-1980 hearing aid technology persisted in analog form. In this version, the microphone goes into the ear and is connected by a small cable to the amplifier and the battery clipped to the ear.
It was only after that digital processing chip technology was introduced. Hearing aids were initially tried in hybrid form (analog and digital) until 1996. In the following years, hearing aids changed completely to digital.
Entering the 21st century, then hearing aids can be made more tailored to the needs. Professional doctors are starting to be able to adjust hearing aids that fit their patients.
*Read other information about HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Ramdan Febrian Arifin.
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