History of Hearing Aids

Hearing loss is not a modern problem. Although the problem is not modern, the devices we think of when we think “hearing aids” really are. Doctors and scientists throughout history have come up with some creative, interesting, and helpful advances to assist people throughout history with their hearing.

Ear Trumpets & Aurolese Phones –1800’s

Although exact dates are still quite ambiguous, ear trumpets were some of the only forms of hearing amplification from about 1700-mid1800s. Ear trumpets are an extension of cupping one’s hand behind the ear to increase hearing. Ear trumpets came in many shapes and sizes but always had the general shape of a funnel, large on one side to catch sound waves, tapering down to a thinner tube to be inserted into the ear. Although most of these ear trumpets were bulky and obnoxious, many brilliant inventors created ways to hide the ear trumpets into objects. Perhaps most notably, the King Goa chair was created by F. C. Rein in 1819. The sound traveled through the chair, into the armrests and through a tube that was inconspicuously placed in the king’s ear. King Goa wasn’t the only person who wanted to increase his hearing inconspicuously. Rein continued to be a leader in early hearing loss when he created aurolese phones in 1830. These hearing devices were meant to be hidden, under hats and in hairstyles, or in the form of an ornate headband.

Electronic & Vacuum Tube Hearing Aids – Early 1900s

At the turn of the 20^th century, hearing aids began moving from mechanical to electrical. Borrowing technology from telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, the first electrical hearing aid, called the Akouphone – was invented by Miller Hutchinson in 1898. These devices were not portable, and were heavy and cumbersome. In 1920, naval engineer Earl Hanson created the first “portable” hearing aid– weighing 7 pounds! It used vacuum technology, which turned sound waves into electric signals, that were then transmitted into speech.

Transistor Hearing Aids – 1950s

In 1948, the first transistor hearing aid was created at Bell Laboratories. These transistor aids were an easy replacement of vacuum aids, as they were lighter, used less battery power, were less fragile and created less heat than their predecessors. The problem with early transistor aids was that they could not get damp. Therefore, the aids would die in a matter of weeks. In 1954, Texas Instruments produced a silicone version of the transistor aid, which eliminated this problem.  This technology, however, did not last long as in 1958 invention of the Integrated Circuit hearing aid by Jack Kilby changed the course of hearing aid technology.

Digital Hearing Aids 1960s-Today

During the 1960s, Bell Laboratories began creating hearing aids using digital computer technology. As the advances in computer technology increased, so did advances in digital hearing aid technology. In1970, the microprocessor was invented, which allowed for hearing aide technology to become much smaller. In 1979, Daniel Groupe created a technology that allowed the user of the aid to adjust transmission based on their environment. According to Wikipedia, Widex created The first commercially successful, all-digital hearing aid in 1996. Advances continue to be made in the field of hearing aid technology. According to John Hopkins medicine, over 95% of their hearing aids fitted today use digital technology. Apple recently created an app for hearing impaired users where phone calls, music, and podcasts can be digitally streamed to the user’s hearing aide.

Hearing aid technology has obviously made great advances from the ear trumpet to purely digital technology. As research continues, there is no doubt technology will only continue to improve, and continue to make life a little easier for the millions of people worldwide who live with hearing loss.

Works Cited

"Hearing Aid Technology." Hopkins Medicine. Johns Hopkins Medicine, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hearing/hearing_aids/technology.html>.

"History of Hearing Aids." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. .

Washington University School of Medicine "Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th Century." Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th Century. Bernard Becker Medical Library, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

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