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Welcome to the Age of
Bionic Hearing
by: ARA Content
(ARA) - Better. Stronger. Faster. That was the promise made by those
fictional techno-doctors who used their imaginary electronic wizardry to
reconstruct Jaime Sommers' character into The Bionic Woman. Fiction back
in the 1970s -- today, a reality. Many of the body's functions that have
been either damaged or lost can be restored with technology so advanced,
it would make even those fictional doctors green with envy.
For those who are baby boomers, we have two things in common. First, we
probably all remember that television show! Second, we have spent the
better part of our lives unwittingly destroying our hearing. Noise
exposure in today's society has risen to such an intense and pervasive
level that significant and permanent hearing loss by late-middle age is
the rule, not the exception. Without The Bionic Woman's doctors to
outfit us with a supersensitive bionic ear, what are we to do?
The only solution available to most Americans with hearing damage is
hearing aids. However, this alternative is not without criticism. In
fact, the main disadvantage of conventional hearing aids comes from the
fact that they typically make every noise louder. Therefore, a car
honking, a jet on takeoff, even a concert recording, all become
unbearable to an individual wearing traditional hearing instruments. No
wonder so many people fitted with these aids leave them in a dresser
drawer! However, hearing-health leader GN ReSound has developed an
answer to this issue.
GN ReSound has been in the business of creating hearing-health solutions
for more than 50 years. Its latest advancement, based on extensive
research with traditional hearing aids and its own efforts to digitize
sound, has resulted in the Canta7 (pronounced Cn-ta) product line.
Featuring "3D Digital" Technology, this innovation digitally
reconstructs sound. What does that mean? Bottom line -- its smart
technology knows the difference between noise and speech. With this new
system, noises are not amplified, and speech is clarified. Big
difference.
Hearing loss has reached epidemic proportions, with more than 28 million
in the United States alone who cannot distinguish words such as fork,
torque and short -- it's the initial consonants of "f," "t" and "s" that
throw them off. In addition, the number of younger people facing damage
is steadily increasing, raising the concerns of those in the hearing
health care industry and government health organizations. So if you
missed out on the "protect your hearing" message, you're now faced with
the message "correct your hearing." And to do that, the bionic
opportunities have never been better.
That's where GN ReSound's exclusive advancement -- 3D Digital Technology
-- comes into the picture. Today, with the incorporation of digital
technology and the use of micro-miniature computer processors,
hearing-impaired patients can be fitted with sophisticated hearing
instruments. They analyze incoming sounds; isolate and actually suppress
the noise; digitally reconstruct speech to make it recognizable to the
impaired ear; and virtually eliminate that awful, high-pitched squeal of
feedback often associated with basic-level hearing aids.
"I've been in the hearing health care field for many years and seen
constant innovations and upgrades to hearing aids," said audiologist Dr.
Jim McDonald, past president of a national audiology organization.
"However, this latest innovation is truly revolutionary in how it will
increase patients' speech understanding -- and ultimately their
satisfaction with hearing instruments as a solution to their loss."
The world of bionic hearing truly has arrived. And in today's world of
excessive noise exposure and its associated increase in permanent
hearing damage, these technological advancements have arrived just in
time to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans with
hearing loss.
For more information on societal noise exposure, effective use of ear
protection, or the advantages of 3D Digital Technology, please contact
GN ReSound at 800-248-4327.
About The Author
Courtesy ARA Content,
www.ARAcontent.com; e-mail:
info@ARAcontent.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information please contact Tracy Moline,
Karwoski & Courage, (612) 342-9729 phone, (651) 503-1066 mobile,
tmoline@creativepr.com or
Dave Smriga, GN ReSound North America, (952) 769-8403 phone, (612)
805-5568 mobile,
dsmriga@gnresound.com..
GN ReSound focuses on developing, marketing and supporting hearing
health solutions. The company's worldwide headquarters are in
Copenhagen, Denmark with North American headquarters in Minneapolis. GN
ReSound is the second-largest manufacturer and distributor of hearing
instrument devices globally. |
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