This Week in Hearing

This week, Gael Hannan sits down with Tiffany Storrs, a trilingual actress, advocate, and author of the memoir "Adaptability." She shares her transformation from pain to purpose through faith and determination and describes her experience with sudden hearing loss and two hearing implant surgeries. Tiffany's hearing loss struck suddenly after giving birth, and coming to terms with her...

This week, Dave Kemp and Andrew Bellavia sit down for a conversation about recent rumors that Apple is planning to get further involved into the hearing space and whether or not the company would actually consider producing an OTC hearing aid. Due to Apple's massive size and cultural influence, they discuss how the company could positively influence societal perceptions around treating hearing...

Nicky Chong-White, PhD is a Principal Engineer and leads smart technology innovations at the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) in Australia. She sits down with Brian Taylor to discuss AirPods Pro as a potential substitute for hearing aids. Recent reports have indicated that Apple might be interested to further enhance the hearing features in its latest devices. Currently, features like Headphon...

This week, Amyn Amlani sits down with Chris Cardinal and Anne Michelle Puglisi from Amptify. They discuss Amptify's innovative digital aural rehabilitation program and the introduction of their new virtual clinic. The aural rehab program includes auditory brain training games, a curriculum, coaching, and group support. The virtual clinic enables patients to schedule remote appointments with au...

A new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2022. This week, we bring you the presentation by Dr. Vinaya Manchaiah, from this year's FHH 2023 conference, taking a closer look at what the data shows about how hearing professionals and consumers view OTC hearing aids and service delivery models. Be sure to subscribe to our...

This week, Andrew Bellavia sits down with Intel's Head of Accessibility, Darryl Adams. They discuss Intel's commitment to improve accessibility for individuals with hearing loss and other disabilities, and the initiatives currently underway at Intel. The company recently announced hearing health collaborations with organizations like 3DP4ME and Accenture, utilizing 3D printing technology t...

Originally presented at the 2023 Future of Hearing Healthcare Conference, Dr. Jacque Scholl, Executive Director & Head of Audiology for Soundwrx and Head of Pediatrics for Tuned, discusses the motivation behind and solution for expanding a telehealth platform for pediatrics. Despite several known barriers to learning in schools, such as hearing loss and mental health issues, no state screens f...

In case you missed it at this year's Future of Hearing Healthcare Conference, Heather Malyuk, AuD, owner of Soundcheck Audiology and Head of Audiology at Tuned, presented an insightful look at hearing conservation needs in the modern workforce. The session delves into the crucial role of audiologists in addressing the unique needs of today's working population. Backed by compelling data fr...

This week, Andrew Bellavia is joined by Simin Soleimanifar, a research scientist and product specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. They explore the Simin's research on the voice perception and control of cochlear implant (CI) users. The study involved recording the voices of 13 individuals with bilateral CI devices and analyzing their ability to control volume variations d...

Bennett Griffin is the executive vice president of research and development for Lucid Hearing. He recently sat down with Brian Taylor to discuss Lucid's unique approach to the market - a strategy that includes both OTC and prescription hearing aids, diagnostic equipment and hearing protection devices. Along with Lucid's vertically integrated strategy, Bennett discusses ADRO signal processi...

In case you missed it at this year's Future of Hearing Healthcare Conference, Chuck Sabin, the Senior Director of Market Development at Bluetooth SIG, presented an excellent overview of Auracast™ broadcast audio, offering important take-aways for hearing professionals and the patients they serve. Auracast™ broadcast audio is a new Bluetooth® capability that is set to be the next generation of...

Can valid clinical testing be done outside the traditional sound booth in the audiology clinic? This week, Bob Traynor sits down with Renée Lefrançois of SHOEBOX to discuss this question. They explore the benefits of web-based audiometry and use of portable clinical audiometers for testing outside sound-treated environments. In recent years, validation studies by highly respected institutions like...

This week, Dr. Amy Sarow sits down with Nell Rosenberg, National Director of Teleservices for the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, to discuss the role of telehealth services in supporting children with hearing loss and their families. The discussion highlights the importance of early intervention and the role of various professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss. They also...

Amyn Amlani is joined by Jackie Phillips of Safkan Health , Mark Campbell-Foster of Redux , and Rob Koch of AHead Simulations , to share their perspectives on offering cerumen management in the hearing care clinic. They discuss various options available to providers, the tools and training required, as well as how these services not only help patients, but also improve a clinic's bottom line....

In this episode, Bob Traynor sits down with Dr. Annie Duchen from WS Audiology to take a closer look at the WSA-Sony partnership and what it means for consumers with hearing loss. They discuss the latest products that have emerged from their collaboration: the CRE-C10 and the CRE-E10. They explore some of the key features found in Sony's OTC devices that hearing care professionals should be fa...

On World Hearing Day, the WHO launched a new initiative to enable local healthcare professionals to deliver primary ear care including treatable conditions such as cerumen buildup and otitis. This could resolve up to 60% of ear issues directly. Practitioners would be trained to screen for hearing loss but not to treat it. Yet there are many regions of the world where referring out to a hearing car...

The idea of manufacturing auditory neurons that can be used to replace those damaged by disease is closer to reality that you may think. This week, Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics discusses a collaboration with the University of Michigan with an initial focus of studying cell therapy for auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders, a condition that affects about 10% of children with hear...

This week, we bring you a special episode live from the Future of Hearing Healthcare 2023 virtual conference. The event featured a thought-provoking panel discussion moderated by Amyn Amlani. We had the privilege of hosting three distinguished guests, Gael Hannan, Shari Eberts, and Blake Cadwell. Each of them provided unique and insightful perspectives on the topic of over-the-counter (OTC) hearin...

It is widely believed that only 5% of the more than 2 million adults who are potential candidates for cochlear implant technology have been treated. There are several reasons for this low uptake rate, including the limited number of audiologists and clinics who work with cochlear implants. In addition, these limited resources create an aftercare burden, as many CI recipients must travel long dista...

This week, Amyn Amlani discusses over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids and their integration into hearing healthcare practices. Our guest is Annie Duchen, AuD, the Senior Manager of Customer Success for the OTC team at WS Audiology. They discuss the current OTC product offering now available through the Sony x WS Audiology partnership and the importance of personalized recommendations based on user...

Meredith Holcomb, AuD, Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology and Director of the Hearing Implant Program at the University of Miami Ear Institute discusses the under-treatment of hearing loss and new cochlear implant guidelines that support the continuum of care. Contact information: meredith.holcomb@med.miami.edu Links mentioned in this interview: CI Task Force Guidelines: https://adulth...

Researchers are beginning to better understand the lived experiences of persons with hearing loss. In this episode of This Week in Hearing, Bec Bennett reviews various coping strategies associated with untreated hearing loss, the limitations of amplification for improving overall well-being and how clinicians can better address the emotional and social consequences of hearing loss with her newly d...

This week, Dave Kemp takes a closer look at how innovations in genetic screening technology are having a clinical impact to preserve the hearing of at-risk infants. He is joined by Dr. John McDermott, Dr. Nicola Booth and Dr. Gino Miele, to discuss how Genedrive's point-of-care genetic testing device is allowing clinicians to determine whether a child is at increased risk of permanent hearing...

Mirror therapy has been used with amputees for many years. This  scene  from a 2009 episode of Dr House demonstrates the effects of mirror therapy for amputees. In this episode of TWiH. Dr. Clas Linnman, assistant professor at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital discusses his patent-pending auditory mirror therapy device for tinnitus patents.  Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for the...

This week, host Dave Kemp explores the potential impact of AI on the future of hearing care - and what that means for clinicians and the patients they serve. He sits down with two leading voices in this area in audiology: De We Swanepoel, PhD and Jan-Willem Wasmann, MSc. They discuss the potential benefits and risks of technologies like ChatGPT for the audiology community and in healthcare in gene...