美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）日前通过了第一款用户可自行设定以符合需求（self-fitting）的助听器，允许用户在没有医疗服务提供商的帮助下，可以自行安装、编程和控制的助听器。这款率先抢下 FDA 新型医疗器材（De Novo）首个上市许可的 self-fitting 助听器正是“Bose 助听器（Bose Hearing Aid）”，为知名声学大厂 Bose 所开发，旨在为 18 岁以上、患有听觉轻度至中度听力损伤的人，提供声音放大的功能。

“Telehealth,” “telemedicine,” and “telecare” are terms we will hear a lot more of during an extended period of sheltering at home. So if you wear a pair of brand-name hearing aids, now is a good time to learn about “teleaudiology.”
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, hearing aid manufacturers were ramping up their remote care capabilities. Smartphone apps, text messaging, and web-based video calls were making it possible for audiologists to communicate more easily with patients at home. And new cloud-based digital services were starting to enable providers to send program adjustments directly to their patients’ hearing aids over the web.
But for many consumers and audiologists, teleaudiology is still a relatively new concept, and at-home hearing aid services have only just started to catch on. So, we can expect that necessity will be the mother of invention as patients and providers stuck at home start to use new teleaudiology tools.
Table of contents

• What is teleaudiology
  
• How to access remote care
  
• How to access during COVID-19
  
• The benefits of remote care
  
• The limitations of remote care
  
• The cost of remote care
  
• Current teleaudiology platforms
  
• Remote care from Costco
  
• Hearing aids purchased online
  

• Hearing aid updates on the fly - Sound and programming updates offered by your audiologist can lead to major improvements in performance over the long term. And because immediate updates can be tested on-the-spot, you can get the best hearing aid performance possible in the listening environments that you find most challenging.
  
• More interaction with your audiologist - With remote care, your provider is only a text or video call away. Any problems that come up can be solved more quickly than waiting for a time-consuming office appointment. And more interaction with your provider means you can make constant improvements that will dramatically increase your satisfaction with your hearing aids.
  
• Ongoing performance monitoring - Your audiologist will have immediate insight into your hearing aid usage and performance. This will help guide the care they provide, the adjustments they make, and the recommendations they make for follow up appointments.
  

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The net of all these benefits is better day-to-day hearing aid performance, higher satisfaction, and less time investment.
The limitations of remote care
Of course, there are limits to current remote hearing care services. You still need to visit your provider for the initial hearing test and hearing aid fitting, as well any necessary adjustments to the physical fit of your hearing aids. And real-ear measurement (REM)*, an important test that verifies your hearing aids are meeting your unique sound prescription, must still be done on site.
Additionally, not all hearing aids work with teleaudiology services. You’ll need to purchase a newer pair of Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids from one of the top-tier brands. And you’ll need to own a relatively modern iPhone or Android smartphone too. Oh, and owning the right hearing aids and a compatible phone doesn’t guarantee you access to remote care. Your audiologist needs to be trained up and technologically able to provide the service in the first place.
*Whenever possible, do not forego a REM test. If a REM test is not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions, consider asking for a refund / exchange policy that covers you if your hearing aids are not capable of meeting your prescription when a REM test is able to be performed. This will ensure you don’t get stuck with hearing aids that don’t meet your hearing needs. If your hearing aids don’t meet your REM prescription, consider asking for stronger speakers, custom earmolds, or a more powerful model. If adjustments can’t be made to give you the volume you need, consider asking for an exchange or refund.
The cost of remote care
Most audiologists bundle the cost of their services in with the cost of the hearing aids. This means, when you purchase a pair of hearing aids, you’ll usually get anywhere between 1-5 years of unlimited free follow-up service, all depending on the provider of course. The bundled price typically covers in-office visits, and with the advent of teleaudiology, bundled pricing typically includes remote follow-up visits too. However, in 2020, there is a growing trend for practices to unbundle their hearing aid pricing, so if your purchase is unbundled, be sure to check on the cost of in-office versus remote follow-up appointments. Who knows, you might even save some money by going with remote appointments.
Current teleaudiology platforms
Makers of premium hearing aids have led the development of web-based remote hearing care services. Five global manufacturers—Sonova, Demant, WS Audiology, Starkey, and GN Hearing—now control more than 80% of the global market for premium hearing aids, and all have developed remote care offerings for one or more of their product lines. Because most hearing aids are sold by audiologists, teleaudiology solutions are designed to optimize personal interaction between audiologists and patients.
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Continue reading for an overview of the teleaudiology platforms offered by each major hearing aid brand, or check out our comprehensive brand comparison on Google Sheets (no login required). Our brand comparison is a live document, and will be updated as we learn more, and as manufacturers update their solutions, so please bookmark this page.[/size]

Monte Dillow, President, Beltone 提到:Remote Care Live becomes even more important as patient access to in-person hearing care is limited as communities across the country implement various “stay home” policies to help minimize COVID-19 spread. We’ve seen the growth of telemedicine in many medical settings, but it has been a recent introduction to hearing care. With Beltone Remote Care Live, we really take it to a new level, making it easier on our patients and their families to access the hearing care they need.

Dr. Cliff, AuD, demonstrates the myPhonak app, performing a video consultation and making program adjustments from his office in Phoenix for a patient in New Hampshire. Closed captions are available on this video. If you are using a mobile phone, please enable captions by clicking on the three small dots.

• Remote Tuning - Enables your provider to make real-time program changes to your hearing aids through the Signia App, and to communicate face-to-face in virtual video sessions.
  
• CareChat - Secure text messaging with your provider is also supported by the Signia App.
  
• Daily Satisfaction Ratings - Daily reminders to rate the performance of your hearing aids and provide comments.
  
• Hearing Lessons - Assess your experiences in different listening situations, and provide feedback so your provider can make the best adjustments for you.
  

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David Copithorne
Content Director
David Copithorne is a longtime hearing-loss blogger and Content Director at Hearing Tracker. In 2002, he suffered a sudden and severe hearing impairment. Since then, he has dedicated himself to sharing the valuable information he has learned along his journey.
Connect →  [url=https://twitter.com/HearingMojo][/size]

What is LE Audio and LC3, the latest in Bluetooth audio?

Bluetooth SIG announced a wave of new Bluetooth audio technologies as part of LE Audio, including an improved LC3 codec.


For audio enthusiasts, the big story of CES 2020 is clearly Bluetooth SIG announcing a wave of new supported audio technologies. Built into the core Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) standard, these new features fall under the LE Audio name. Next-gen Bluetooth audio gear gains a lot of very useful features that should be much more widely supported than third party equivalents.





Headline-grabbing features of the new LE Audio standard include the new LC3 Bluetooth codec, which sounds superior to the current default SBC codec. There’s also now native support for true wireless earbuds and Bluetooth features for hearing aids too.



Here’s everything that you need to know about Bluetooth LE Audio and all its features.



Editor’s note: this article was updated on March 5, 2020 to include information on the difference between audio and file compression.



Bluetooth LE and LE Audio



Before diving into the audio side, a bit of Bluetooth background is required. Currently, there are two major forks of Bluetooth radio operation – Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth LE. Low Energy caters for low power, low bandwidth data transfers between IoT-like devices like fitness trackers. It launched as part of Bluetooth 4.0 and remains under the Bluetooth 5.0 and 5.1 standards.



Bluetooth Classic, which includes older Bluetooth 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 use cases, is still required for more power-hungry high-speed data transfers. This includes as sending audio data between your phone and headphones. All of the current Bluetooth audio codecs, whether that’s default SBC, Qualcomm’s aptX, or Sony’s LDAC, transmit data over Bluetooth Classic.



LE Audio changes the game, finally enabling audio data to transmit over the lower power and lower bandwidth Bluetooth LE radio too. That’s obviously great for both headphones and handset battery life and listening times. However, LE Audio will first be supported in version 5.2 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. Meaning you’ll need new devices to take advantage of it.



Check out the video below for more details on LE Audio and its components.



[img=820x0]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KxI1-NdmHU8/hqdefault.jpg[/img]



Meet the LC3 Bluetooth codec



LE Audio introduces an all-new Bluetooth audio codec called LC3 (Low Complexity Communication Codec).  A codec compresses audio for transmission over the air. If you need to brush up on what a codec is, check out our breakdown here. LC3 scales down to very low bit-rates while retaining good sounding audio quality. This ensures data correctly sends over the limited bandwidth of Bluetooth LE even in congested radio conditions.



For example, LC3 scales from 345kbps right down to 160kbps. SBC, Bluetooth Classic’s mandatory codec, ranges from 345kbps to 240kbps—ut it takes a substantial hit to audio quality as a result. aptX Adaptive runs between 279 and 420kbps, while LDAC ranges from 330 to 990kbps. LC3 is by far the most compact Bluetooth codec used in consumer audio to date. But what effect does that have on audio quality?



LC3 scores higher for sound quality than SBC and also runs at lower bit-rates.



According to Bluetooth SIG, LC3 sounds much better than SBC even when running at lower bit-rates. The company presents the above graph, showing an industry-standard perception score for sound quality at different bit-rates.



You can read about the ITU-R BS.1116-3 perception test here if you would like to know more about how that score works. The key thing to note is that a score of 5.0 is imperceptible from the source. 4.0 indicates a perceptible but acceptable quality difference, and a score of 3.0 is “slightly annoying” in terms of quality degradation. As you can see, LC3 hovers around 4.5 even at its lowest quality setting, which is much better than SBC performs at much higher bit-rates.



The scalable nature of the LC3 codec matches the ideas we’ve seen from aptX Adaptive and LDAC. Quality dials back when connection quality becomes an issue, such as when listening at long distances or in congested radio environments. The move to the limited bandwidth of Bluetooth LE makes this a necessity. It will be interesting to see how regularly LC3 defaults to higher quality bit-rates.



LC3 changes Bluetooth forever



While this may all sound boring and overly in the weeds, the real-world applications of this wireless connection are going to change a lot about how people use their Bluetooth audio accessories. This includes those who use hearing aids and other devices meant to make audio accessible to those with impairments. That’s because the LC3 offers what Bluetooth has been missing for so long: the ability to have multiple synchronous connections by default.







True wireless earphones will get dramatically better



Wireless earbuds are a staple of the audio market these days, but they aren’t all the same. Qualcomm supports True Wireless stereo (left and right audio data directly to the specific earbud) with its smartphone and headphone chips from a couple of generations ago. However, default Bluetooth is stuck with the original method of transferring stereo data to one earbud and then sending a mono channel onward to the other earbud. When the new rue wireless earphones get their Bluetooth 5.2 hardware, they’ll be able to leave this issue in the dust. Additionally, by switching to LE audio, they can offer much better battery life as well.



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[color=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6)]SEE ALSO:
BEST TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS[/color]



Share your music with friends over a single source



This old method is bad for power consumption and latency. Fortunately, Audio LE supports proper true wireless earbuds using independent synchronized audio streams. Audio LE takes this further, supporting multiple-device streaming from a single source. For example, two or more listeners streaming movie audio from a laptop to their own Bluetooth headphones.



Audio Broadcast support also makes an appearance with Bluetooth Audio LE. This is a mass broadcast version that supports loads of users predominantly in public places, allowing them to tune headphones into various supported sources. Examples include TVs showing sports in bars, cinemas, or streaming TV news channels in multiple languages. For the hearing impaired, this technology integrates into hearing aids too.



Hearing aids are about to make life even easier for millions



Here’s where all this tech comes together to solve a real-world problem. While improving the lives of those who cannot hear well may not be the sexiest feature of any wireless standard, the real-life application of LC3 devices holds a lot of promise for the hard of hearing because it enables listening directly to the sources around you.



For example, there’s currently a small emitter device that looks a bit like a hockey puck demoed at CES 2020 that can enable hearing impaired users to connect their hearing aids directly to the movie they’re watching, the church sermon they’re listening to, or even sporting events. Essentially, you’re piping the live broadcast into your ear canals, instead of having the hearing aid try to record and process the ambient sound around you. Hearing aids currently suck out loud at this task because they have very glaring [url=https://www.soundguys.com/why-does-my-microphone-sound-bad-23749/]technical issues that can’t really be overcome in their current configuration.



Shortcomings in hearing aids is one of those more “invisible” impediments that those hard of hearing have to suffer through, but LE audio goes a long way in alleviating some of the crappier parts of going to a public event and having a tough time hearing it. While there’s no guarantee that the hardware will be available soon, Bluetooth 5.2 and LC3 seem to be extremely promising—at least from the hearing aid demo units Chris Thomas tried at CES.



When can I use Bluetooth LE Audio?



LE Audio will be bundled as part of the upcoming Bluetooth 5.2 specification. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for new playback sources and headphone hardware sporting Bluetooth 5.2 chips to arrive before we can test it out. But as none of this is proprietary technology, market adoption of these features will be reasonably fast.


The first hardware components supporting LE Audio will be making their way out to developers later in 2020. This suggests that the first consumer products won’t appear until very late in 2020 or early 2021. Support for Broadcast Audio may not appear in public spaces until 2022.

source from : https://www.soundguys.com/apple-airpods-...xm3-27270/

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85)]深度：解读轮椅/老年鞋/蛋白粉/助听器四大类产品创新发展路径[/color]
 2019-10-02 快速评论
人口结构的趋势性交叉将为所有消费行业带来深刻变化。这个变化已经在日本推动了食品、鞋服、化妆品、商超零售等等众多行业的适老化转型再造，让一批率先转战老年市场的企业取得丰硕成果；在中国，人口结构变化同样正在越来越明显的改变消费行业的发展趋势。

  

3、比如轮椅，3000-5000元电动轮椅取代500元手推轮椅成为主流 从AgeClub近期统计的轮椅电商销售数据看，手推轮椅在销量上占比61%，电动轮椅占比为39%。 但从销售额统计则形势反转，电动轮椅占比69%，手推轮椅占比31%。很显然，电动轮椅已经成为电商平台轮椅品类的主导力量，或许也将很快改变线下市场以手推轮椅为主的格局。 

  

  

  

  

2011年中国听力产业发展预测

2011-03-08 11:36:15 作者： 来源: 中国医药报

在我国医疗卫生事业高速发展的现今时代，众多专家、业内人士对2011年中国听力产业的发展方向和重要事件做出了一些预想。



国产设备
专业技师资本介入
数字助听器国产化项目正在紧锣密鼓地进行。美国助听器专家John Moulton博士解释说，与模拟助听器不同，数字助听器的核心技术是助听器的算法程序。它就像控制计算机运行的软件程序。没有软件，再好的计算机芯片也无法工作。
中国听力学网总编汉东声说，研制具有我国自主知识产权的数字助听器一直是国人的梦想，但是，这种数字助听器的“大脑”（即算法）不能购买，而只能创造。
据悉，基于先进的0.13微米工艺的数字芯片的国产助听器已经“出炉”。参加该项技术开发的加拿大听力语音实验室首席科学家付晓毅也强调，国产助听器必须是具有自主知识产权的助听器，而不是单纯的组装产品。此次开发的助听器的算法就是在中国独立创作的，所编写的算法得到国家知识产权保护；更重要的是，该项目实现了从编程到验配、从生产到应用的系统平台，其中包括具有自主知识产权的验配软件、助听器配方公式和助听器编程适配器等一系列硬件和软件技术。该助听器能否于今年上市，成为本年度中国听力产业的一大猜想。
在过去的一年里，国产多通道人工耳蜗临床试验的启动及其远远低于进口人工耳蜗的预期销售价格，吸引了众多潜在使用者关注的目光。据了解，目前国产多通道人工耳蜗已经完成60例临床测试。然而，业内人士认为，人工耳蜗要真正实现国产化，并投入市场，可能还需要一定时间。
专业技师
中国听力学发展过程中一个巨大的障碍是人才缺乏。我国听力学专业人才培养和入门资格认定是近期才开展的。根据目前我国听力疾病患者人数，以每位患者每年做一份听力图为基数，再加上听力复查需求，我国每年至少需要测试1.32亿份听力图。这还不包括助听器验配和人工耳蜗植入等康复测试需求。如果参照每位听力师每天测试5份听力图的国际标准（按每月20个工作日计算），目前我国需要11万名听力学专业人员。
原中国残联听力语言康复中心门诊部主任、现从事助听器验配师资格认证工作的王树峰博士说，目前，在全国范围内需要通过助听器验配师职业资格培训及认定的从业人员有7万人，加上全国近10万家医疗卫生机构所需要的4万名测听技师，正好是上面提到的11万专业人士的空缺。
2007年，中国劳动和社会保障部发布的《第九批新职业目录》中首次列入助听器验配师职业。目前，已经有部分助听器验配师通过相关培训和测试，获得初步认证，这为下一步的岗位强制性认证奠定了基础。但是，一些业内人士指出，助听器验配师的职业界定仅解决了听力领域亟待规范的多种专业人才中的一种，更关键的是，必须尽快建立听力技师等专门职业，以便从根本上解决我国听力康复和学科教育面临的核心问题。
资本介入
2010年即将结束之际，国务院和国家发改委相继发布了关于开放国内医疗市场投资的一些重要政策。
2011年初，美国全球分析公司发表的报告预测，到2015年，全球听力器械市场将达到220亿美元，其中增长最快的是亚太地区——这里的听障人群占全球一半以上，但是助听器和人工耳蜗使用率却极低，该地区至少将保持9%的复合增长率，中国、俄罗斯、巴西、印度等将成为主要增长国家。
听力康复产业一直受到境外资本的密切关注。2006年，瑞士峰力集团大举并购当时国内代理优利康和峰力产品的两个公司，并在苏州建厂。随后，其他助听器厂家也纷纷在中国建厂。然而，虽然国内助听器连锁经营行业初具规模，“丽声”、“自然之声”、“惠耳”等一直受到资本青睐，但是由于行业整体规模仍偏小，投资者非常谨慎。
随着我国经济快速发展，尤其是听力康复产品相继得到政府财政补贴和资助，在一些地区，助听器可获得部分甚至完全报销，因此销量会随之剧增。预计2011年，国外助听器公司或部分股权投资者可能在具有一定市场份额和规模的助听器连锁店进行资本介入。

关于助听器市场销售的调查分析
转载Augusdi 最后发布于2013-10-13 23:48:20 阅读数 2878  收藏
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              ----耳带助听器
 
一、世界助听器市场情况简述
（一）世界助听器市场情况
目前，世界助听器市场年销售7-800万台左右，销售额近100亿美元，世界助听器市场销售主要集中在美国、德国、英国等发达国家，其中，美国助听器市场销售占全球市场的40%左右。与世界其它销售市场一样，由于受2008年开始的金融危机影响，世界和美国的市场销售量均有所下降。
（二）世界助听器主要生产商
目前，全球排名靠前的6家助听器生产企业是：德国西门子、瑞士峰力（Ph0nak）、丹麦瑞声达（GN Resound）、丹麦奥迪康、丹麦唯听、美国斯达克（Starkey），这6家企业都已经进入中国市场，像美国斯达克、丹麦瑞声达，已经分别在南京和厦门建立了大型助听器生产基地。另外，还有国外一些二线品牌企业，如加拿大的优利康、丽声等也开始进入中国市场销售；
二、国内助听器市场情况分析
（一）目前，我国助听器行业的基本情况
1、我国助听器行业的发展概况
（1）我国助听器行业的发展，起步晚，发展速度快，尤其是在验配点和销售数量的增长速度方面，均遥遥领先于世界平均发展水平，所以，世界主要跨国公司纷纷将制造基地扎根中国，或合作、或独资建厂，在很大程度上促进了我国助听器行业的快速发展。
（2）数字助听器目前已经基本取代了传统的模拟助听器技术。
（3）国内内资助听器企业的发展严重萎缩，国产产品在国内的市场销售举步维艰，国外产品或中外合资企业产品的市场份额超过九成以上；
（4）我国助听器行业发展与市场销售出现了一些新动向，几百近千元的国产助听器少人问津，上万元的洋助听器却非常畅销，国外助听器产品纷纷放弃庞大的老年人市场，面向儿童的几万元的高端产品一直风头不减，儿童的高端产品已经占据助听器销售市场的大半江山；
（5）相对于我国的智残人口数量，和每年的助听器20万左右的销售量，总体来看，助听器的使用率仍然很低，市场潜力很大。
2、我国助听器行业的主要生产企业及生产经营情况、主要产品与技术情况
目前，我国的助听器生产企业主要以中外合资为主，主要的生产企业及经营情况有：
（1）奥迪康（上海、南京）听力技术有限公司，是世界上最早生产助听器的生产厂家丹麦奥迪康国际听力集团进入中国设立的公司，员工近2000人，年营业额数亿人民币；
（2）西门子1995年在中国设立的力斯顿（苏州）听力技术有限公司，员工200余人，年营业额3000万元人民币；
（3）厦门新声科技有限公司，国内最大的内资企业，产品出口，年营业额近亿元人民币；
（4）其他一些规模比较大的外资公司还有：瑞声达听力技术（中国）有限公司、斯达克听力技术（苏州）有限公司、峰力（中国）听力技术有限公司、唯听助听器（上海）有限公司、丽声助听器（福州）有限公司。
 
（二）国内助听器市场情况分析
1、基本情况
目前世界助听器市场年销售规模在7-800万台左右，其主要集中在发达国家，中国的优质助听器销售仅占全球3%的市场份额，年销售额20万台左右。与成熟市场相比，中国目前有182.5万听障患者具有使用助听器的意愿，但没有实现，中国助听器市场潜力较大，但国外产品占90%以上。
目前我国形成江苏和在厦门两在助听器生基地，全球排名靠前的6家助听器生产企业都已进入中国市场，这些企业包括德国西门子、瑞士峰力、丹麦瑞声达、丹麦奥迪康、丹麦唯听、美国斯达克等。有数据显示，2008年受全球金融危机影响，中国助听器产品出口数量同比下降了12%左右。
2、助听器事业逐步步入高速发展阶段
改革开放的三十年，极大的加速了我国助听器事业的发展速度，尤其是在验配点和销售数量的增长速度方面，恐怕遥遥领先于世界平均发展水平。这也是为什么世界主要跨国公司纷纷将制造基地扎根中国的原因之一。我国自20世60年代正式开始制造助听器，1979年开始正式验配助听器。其后，各大跨国企业纷纷以各种形式进入中国，并大多在大陆地区成立了独资企业和生产基地。苏州、上海和厦门无疑成了世界助听器加工的主要场所（其中三家是其全球最大和最重要的生产基地）。激烈的竞争迫使制造商几乎与国际同步介绍其尖端产品到中国大陆，有时也特别生产适合于发展中国家的低端产品，其服务水平也一步步接近国际水准。同时，我国针对生产企业采用了与国际接轨的审核和验证制度。这些跨国公司在销售自己产品的同时，也举办了大量的培训班，弥补了国家机构培训力量不足的情况。同时，多数企业与政府合作，近年来积极参与慈善捐赠活动和全民爱耳护耳宣传活动。
3、助听器零售快速发展，验配技术水平参差不齐
在零售方面，全国预估有4000多家验配店（点），现在一个大城市几十家甚至上百家专卖店（中心）已经随处可见，县城里也有验配中心了。虽然这些机构几乎都拥有合法的经营执照，但是验配技术水平差距巨大。2008年全国验配的助听器总数大约 30～40万个（2004年约为25万个），这在全球都是一个不小的数量。近十年来总量的年增长百分比略快于国家GDP的增长速度。约有7%～10%的听障患者使用了助听器，这比十年前的2%可以说有了较大进步。但是单耳佩戴、使用盒式或低端模拟助听器的比例还是相当高。验配的助听器总量约70%～80% 来自于私人机构，总量的50%左右来自于没有形成规模的私人店面。助听器验配的价格档次、患者接受的程度存在着严重的地域差别。在大中城市，老年性聋患者多使用3000～5000元左右的产品，而儿童使用多在5000元以上且常常为双耳佩戴。儿童接受干预和康复治疗的时间越来越提前，错误接受“治疗”的患儿越来越少。但是部分儿童家长因为心理原因常常选择功率不够的定制式产品，导致康复效果受限。即便是正在工作的成年人，现在也越来越多的接受使用助听器（尽管对外观要求很高常常选择定制式产品）。这些要得益于我国经济发展、“爱耳日”宣传和儿童听力筛查的进一步普及等因素。
4、我国助听器事业发展市场潜力巨大
由于我国助听器事业的飞速发展，使大多数听障者可以就近接受先进的产品服务，使他们走出了残障的阴影。但是，因为发展速度太快，才需要我们冷静想一想如何更好、更快的发展。因为，即便是几十万的验配量与我们2780万残疾听障人士相比也有巨大差距。也就是说绝大多数需要助听器者，仍然因为各种原因没有得到他们应该得到的服务。
5、我国助听器市场发展所面临的问题
（1）价廉物美与推行助听器验配制度的矛盾
我国出台的助听器验配师制度，是在国家政策层面为我国助听器市场发展提供了保障，助听器验配康复是一项高科技的人性化服务，应该大力推广，作为生产企业和验配机构，应该多多研究和实施如何让患者听得清楚和维修方便的方案，应该让患者切实体会到是在为他们的生活质量服务。问题是，每个消费者都喜欢价廉物美的产品，这与国家推行助听器验配康复制度是矛盾的，如何协调？
（2）缺乏听力教育，更缺乏专业人士
我国的验配师制度最近几年才刚刚起步，同样我们的听力学教育也起步不过十几年，因此，我国不仅听力教育缺乏，听力方面的专业人士更加缺乏。对助听器市场的正常发展都是极为不利的。
（3）市场服务缺乏品牌
目前，在全国的4000余家助听器选配机构中，超过半数以上属于私营的验配店。虽然有几间较大的连锁店，但是真正形成品牌优势的不多。
在美国助听器验配患者会选择验配店和验配师，而不是哪个品牌的助听器。
在中国，患者看病选择的是医院或知名专家，而不在意医院使用的是否是进口药或者用的是否是国外医疗器械。而我国目前患者选择助听器常常首先询问是否是进口品牌或听说某某品牌很好等等。另外，各地聋儿康复中心也大多开展了验配工作，但是并未形成一个全国统一的服务品牌效应。而医院的验配也常常仅限于医院内部。因此，建立服务品牌也是市场发展的方向。
（4）市场品牌宣传没有做到实事求是

人耳的听损情况分为三种：传导性耳聋、感音神经性耳聋以及混合性耳聋，但是如何区分这三种耳聋以及他们各有什么特点呢？
1、传导性耳聋的产生机理：存在于外耳或中耳，声音在抵达内耳之前的振动受到阻碍，内耳功能正常，但因为刺激弱而不能产生神经冲动，大多数可以治疗。
纯音测听显示：骨导正常，气导较差，且气导骨导之差大于10dB。
传导性耳聋产生的原因是：外耳道堵塞性病变：外耳道耵聍栓塞、异物、闭锁或肿瘤，骨膜穿孔：由炎症、异物、或爆破声、或扇耳光引起，听骨链固定：大声、扇耳光、交通事故等，中耳炎症：鼓膜炎、分泌性中耳炎、化脓性中耳炎。
传导性耳聋的解决办法：可以到医院进行鼓膜修补、分泌性中耳炎治疗，如治疗效果不好建议选配助听器。
2、感音神经性耳聋的产生机理：发生在内耳、听神经、大脑皮层，占听力损失的95%，主要表现由于衰老、噪音损伤或疾病引起。（内耳的毛细胞、神经等受损）
纯音测听显示：气导、骨导均下降，两者间差距小于10dB。
感音神经性耳聋产生的原因：感音性聋——（耳蜗损伤）耳蜗毛细胞出现损伤或坏死，如噪声性聋、药物性聋。神经性聋——（听神经损伤）由于听神经及其以后的部位病变。中枢性聋——（脑干和大脑皮层病变）可以由于脑肿瘤、脑外伤等引起。
感音神经性耳聋的解决办法：感音性聋和神经性聋通过医疗手段几乎是不可能治愈的，正确的选配助听器是首选的有效途径；中枢性聋选配助听器时要注意使用者的言语识别率。
3、混合性耳聋的产生机理：传导性耳聋和感音神经性耳聋同时存在。
纯音测听显示：气导和骨导都不正常，且气导与骨导之差大于10dB。
混合性耳聋的解决办法：首选助听器。

Hearing Aid of the Future
SAR prof’s new technology could help people hear by looking

Sargent research engineer Sylvain Favrot wears the portable eye-tracker component of the visually guided hearing aid (VGHA) developed by Professor Gerald Kidd and other researchers. Photo by Cydney Scott


The White Stripes is one of Erick Gallun’s favorite bands. But years before the rock duo split in 2011, he’d stopped going to see them. Gallun recalls his last, ill-fated attempt, when he was a postdoctoral fellow at BU and the band was performing in a New Hampshire hockey rink. His wife had a great time, but for Gallun, who is deaf in one ear, the experience was a bust. His right ear couldn’t filter out the reverberations in the rink, making the event about as frustrating as a feedback-riddled cell phone conversation. “The concert was essentially ruined,” he says.
Although Gallun didn’t have a hearing aid then, he says he doubts the one he’s using now would have made much difference. But in 2012, he tested a device he believes could get him back into the rock music scene: the visually guided hearing aid (VGHA), being developed by a Sargent College professor.
The VGHA can approximate or even surpass the normal human ear’s ability to choose what to tune into and what to ignore. It does this by making two preexisting technologies—an eye-tracker and an acoustic beam–forming microphone array—work together to counter some of the problems in typical hearing aids. Right now, the VGHA is a lab-based prototype whose components connect via computers and other equipment, but with further development, it could become a pair of portable hearing aid glasses.
Gerald Kidd says typical hearing aids sometimes fail to offer help for people with hearing loss in noisy environments because they amplify everything. Photo by Chitose Suzuki
Gerald Kidd, a SAR professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences and a specialist in psychoacoustics (the study of the perception of sound), came up with the idea for the VGHA in 2011. He’s now put it together at SAR’s Sound Field Laboratory with the help of an international research team and grants from the National Institutes of Health. Kidd believes that his team, which includes Sylvain Favrot, a research engineer in the SAR speech, language, and hearing sciences department, and staff at Sensimetrics Corporation of Malden, Mass., is the first to integrate these two technologies. And the test results are impressive: no other hearing aid, Kidd says, can do what this device can.
The VGHA is the latest advance in Kidd’s work to solve “the cocktail party problem,” where people with hearing loss struggle to follow conversations in noisy environments. It’s a big issue: nearly 20 percent of Americans age 12 or older have hearing loss severe enough to make communication difficult, Johns Hopkins Medicine reported in 2011. Typical hearing aids may not help much in some situations, Kidd says—they amplify everything, even those voices and sounds you want to tune out. One hearing aid in development tries to fix this by using the wearer’s head movements to guide the aid’s microphones. But this can tire the user, he says, and it’s relatively slow: we can’t turn our heads as quickly as we turn our attention. The VGHA addresses these problems by using eye movement (which is quicker than head movement) to steer the aid’s microphones, “like an acoustic flashlight that you’re shining on what you want to listen to,” Kidd says.
Gallun, now a research investigator at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, tested the VGHA as a consultant on the project—with exciting results. Sitting in a listening booth at Sargent wearing the VGHA’s eye-tracking component—Mobile Eye-XG—he listened to recorded voices speaking from slightly different directions. He was to pick out what one particular voice was saying—no easy feat with impaired hearing, given that all the voices were speaking at once. But by looking in the direction of his cue, he “told” the eye-tracker to make the VGHA’s microphone component amplify the voice he wanted, helping him hear what it was saying. “I’ll take two!” Gallun enthused to the team. He’s excited about the VGHA’s potential not only for himself, but also for the veterans he works with at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon, many hearing-impaired from exposure to blasts.
Although the VGHA is still a prototype and needs further testing, Kidd hopes enthusiasm for the technology will propel its development. Interested hearing aid companies, he says, could make the device wearable and attractive. Kidd and Favrot also speculate that the VGHA could piggyback on emerging technologies like Google Glass—lightweight glasses whose capabilities range from projecting driving directions to responding to voice commands.
Whenever the VGHA reaches consumers, you can expect Gallun to get his hands on one. All he’ll need then is a White Stripes reunion.
This article was originally published in the 2013–2014 issue of Inside Sargent.
Julie Rattey can be reached at jrattey@bu.edu.


source from:  http://www.bu.edu/articles/2014/hearing-...the-future