According to the WHO, 360 million people (328 million adults and 32 million children) worldwide are affected with hearing loss each year.
About one-third of the world’s population aged above 65 years suffers from hearing loss, most of whom live in low and middle-income countries such as Africa and India.
Luckily, audiological technology has come a long way in the last few years with the advent of technologies like cochlear implants.
You might remember the YouTube video that went viral a few years ago of the woman turning on her Esteem hearing implant offered by Envoy Medical:
Videos like this helped increase awareness about technological innovation in the audiology field, which is in turn helping the Global Audiological Devices Market to grow at a CAGR of 6.01 percent through to 2019.
Advances in Audiological Technology
People with hearing loss can prefer either analog or digital hearing aids depending upon sound quality and comfort. Advances in technology such as digital signal processing, automated sound processing, multiple listening programs, adoption of automated directional microphone, and wireless Bluetooth technology have helped to precisely process sound waves with the assistance of computer programs.
In addition, the advent of Bluetooth technology has made it easy to automate and process soft and loud sounds with adjustable amplification and control the volume with simple devices such as remote and even mobile application.
The technology provides:
- Binaural synchronization for synchronizing sound both sides by preserving intelligibility of speech; binaural coordination to ease and balance the sound.
- Bluetooth interface to provide better use of external devices such as phones, computers, MP3 players.
- Binaural DFC to manage and eliminate false activation from the feedback system especially when listening to music played on instruments such as the piano.
Introduction of Wireless and Waterproof Hearing Devices
The major vendors in the Global Audiological Devices market constantly focus on providing hearing aids with better noise reduction quality and ease of use. They are innovating new products that improve and amplify sound waves with natural 3D sound quality, and provide a high degree of IPR protection against debris, dust, and water.
Siemens’ Aquarius, one of the world’s first waterproof hearing aids, was introduced in 2011. A hands-free cellphone with JustTalk feature on SurfLink mobile by Starkey performs both as a receiver and a cellphone microphone.
In addition, streaming of devices such as computers, MP3 players, and others can be directly synchronized with mobiles to have better comfort level. Hence, the advent of new innovative devices in terms of reliability, technology, and safety is expected to boost the growth of the market during the forecast period.
