This Week in Hearing

Kate Carr, Executive Director of the Hearing Industries Association (HIA), joins Brian Taylor to discuss some of the key findings in the latest MarkeTrak 2022 report.  Since 1989, HIA has been collecting data on the estimated incidence of hearing loss within the U.S., household income and education related to hearing aid use, satisfaction with hearing instruments, new user rates by age, menta...

The ecosystem of hearing care service delivery continues to evolve as technology enables patients to self-fit their amplification intervention.   In this episode, David Akbari, AuD, Senior Medical Science, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Liaison at Intricon Corporation shares the research methods and outcomes of Intricon’s self-fitting amplification technology called Sentibo. In particular, D...

Nick Hunn, the analyst who coined the term 'hearable', sits down with Dave Kemp to talk about Auracast™ Bluetooth broadcast audio and the significant implications it will have for people with hearing loss, as well as the general public once the technology becomes widely available.   Auracast™ broadcast audio enables an audio transmitter, such as a smartphone, laptop, television, or public add...

This special episode highlights audiologists who are members of the LGBTQ+ community and their contributions to the profession.    They discuss how their identities and careers intertwine and how to best foster an inclusive and compassionate clinical experience for LGBTQ+ providers and patients alike.   *Kathleen Wallace, Au. D. (She/her/hers) is an audiologist based in New York Cit...

This week, host Shari Eberts is joined by broadcast meteorologist Meaghan Thomas. From the WKRN TV studios in Nashville, Meaghan Thomas speaks to nearly three million people everyday. But when the broadcast meteorologist posted recently on social media about overcoming hearing loss through her new hearing aids, her viewers spoke back. Within days, she received dozens of messages from those with he...

This week, host Ashley Hughes is joined by Liz Fuemmeler, to discuss the role audiologists play in evaluation and management of patients with concussions and head injury.    Dr. Fuemmeler discusses how she came to specialize in vestibular audiology, specifically related to concussion as part of an interdisciplinary team of specialists. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for the...

Over the past decade, the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline has been a hot topic, with much of the research in this area misinterpreted or misunderstood. Here to help us get a clearer picture of this linkage between hearing loss and cognitive decline and how hearing aids might help is Danielle Powell, PhD. She is an audiologist and epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University S...

Gael Hannan sits down with Jill Rivoli and Lauren Deckard to discuss their hearing loss journey, and what led them to pursue cochlear implants. They talk about their experience from the initial activation, how long it took to begin recognizing sounds again, things they still struggle with and what advise they have for others who might be considering a cochlear implant.   Be sure to subscribe...

AudioTelligence is a UK-based audio startup that is developing and leveraging audio technologies for social good within the consumer technologies and hearing care markets.    In this episode, Rick Radia, the Product & Partnerships Manager at AudioTelligence, shares the company’s mission and motivation in disrupting these markets with their software solution, aiso™. This software solu...

Donna Sorkin is the Executive Director of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance ( ACIA ), a multidisciplinary group that advances access to cochlear implants through research, advocacy and awareness.    In this episode of This Week in Hearing, she sits down with Brian Taylor for an interview that touches on the ACIA’s mission, the broadening cochlear implant (CI) candidacy requirements...

This week, host Shari Eberts is joined by fitness icon, Lou Ferrigno. While he is best known for his role in the TV series, The Incredible Hulk, Ferrigno has also for years been an inspiration to many in the hard of hearing community.  In 2021, Lou underwent cochlear implant surgery.  In this interview, Lou talks about how his experience as a child with hearing loss and being bullied hel...

This week’s special episode comes live from the Future of Hearing Healthcare conference, where Dave Kemp hosts a panel of audiologists to discuss different ways clinicians can thrive in the future by exploring service delivery options beyond traditional hearing aid dispensing: Heather Malyuk , AuD, Head of Audiology at Tuned Grace Sturdivant , AuD, Founder of OtoPro Technologies Joseph Sakumura ,...

I n this week's episode, Larry Guterman joins Dave Kemp to talk about personalized audio and how it can benefit people with and without hearing loss.    Larry is the co-founder of SonicCloud, which provides a software solution that helps custom tailor the audio experience for users on both mobile and desktop devices.   https://www.soniccloud.com/   Be sure to subscribe to our Y...

Hearing industry veteran Andrew Hebert is the COO of Eversound Technology and he joins This Week in Hearing for an interview. During this conversation Andrew shares how Eversound is trying to bring better hearing to an under-served segment of the population: older adults living in residential and assisted living communities. Andrew discusses the community burden of untreated hearing loss and how E...

Even though OTC devices don’t exist yet as an FDA-regulated product category, direct-to-consumer hearing devices have existed for decades. In this week’s episode of This Week in Hearing Brian Taylor interviews Professor Sterling Sheffield of the University of Florida. Sterling has authored soon-to-be-published research comparing DTC devices to medical grade hearing aids. During the interview, Ster...

This week, host Bob Traynor sits down with Mike Halloran, the president of Beltone. As the nation’s leading hearing care retailer, Beltone has been paving the way in the hearing care industry for 82 years and has a network of 1,500 locations.   Being part of the Beltone network allows owners to remain independent while also being part of something bigger. Beltone welcomes and encourages heari...

This week, host Dave Kemp chats with Gael Hannan and Shari Eberts about living well with hearing loss. They discuss the motivation behind their new book, Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing loss, which they wrote as a how-to-guide for living successfully with hearing loss.    The pair believe it could not only benefit people in their hearing loss journey, but also add value t...

Computational audiology is defined as the augmentation of traditional hearing healthcare by digital methods, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.  This week, host Dave Kemp sits down with Jan-Willem Wasmann to talk about the potential of computational audiology to help more people in need of hearing healthcare service across the globe, and how it can help further improve th...

TympaHealth , a UK-based startup, is premised on enabling people to access ear and health services quickly and efficiently. Their innovative technology enables allied healthcare professionals with an all-in-one mobile technology, Tympa System, that delivers otoscopy, micro suction wax removal, and hearing screener services. These services are then available in care settings such as pharmacies, opt...

This week we tackle cell and gene therapy for hearing loss. To help us better understand the potential of allogeneic cell therapy we asked Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics to describe how it works and how these types of pharmacologic treatments could stand side-by-side existing treatments such as hearing aids and cochlear implants. Be sure to subscribe to the  TWIH YouTube...

This week, celebrity influencer and hearing advocate, Heather Thomson sits down with Shari Eberts to address the challenges and blessings of navigating hearing loss in children and empowering her son to own his hearing health as he enters adulthood.  Heather recently partnered with ReSound to raise awareness of the hearing loss stigma surrounding young adults and adolescents. During her time...

If you are a member of the American Academy of Audiology, and you have yet to cast your vote for president-elect, this special episode of This Week in Hearing is well worth your time.    Both candidates, Bopanna Ballachandra and Rebekah Cunningham, sat down with TWIH to chat about their career paths and the vision they have for the profession.    Be sure to subscribe to our You...

From picking a restaurant on a Saturday night to choosing a new dentist, all of us seem to rely more and more on online reviews. In this episode of This Week in Hearing, Vinaya Manchaiah, professor at the University of Colorado Medical School talks us through the consumer on-line review research his team of collaborators have conducted over the past few years. Be sure to subscribe to the  TWI...

Kim Fishman is a long time practice owner in the suburban Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. In this episode of This Week in Hearing, she shares her new business venture, which combines in-person care with an on-line store, as well as a co-op membership for consumers.  Kim also shares her passion for ethical practice and the importance of transparency. To learn more about her...

In January of 2022, Soundwave Hearing announced the launch of its new self-fitting Sontro AI hearing aids and mobile app.  In this week's episode, Soundwave CEO, Anthony Florek, and company CTO, Christopher Boven, sit down with host Bob Traynor to talk about the development of the company's technology and their plans to partner with the audiology community to offer Sontro AI devices as a 'sta...