Modern day hearing aids have come a long way; present models are remarkably effective and come with amazing digital functions, like wifi connectivity, that dramatically improve a person’s ability to hear along with their all-around quality of life.
But there is still room for improvement.
Particularly, in certain situations hearing aids have some difficulty with two things:
- Locating the source of sound
- Eliminating background noise
But that may soon change, as the latest research in hearing aid design is being guided from a unusual source: the world of insects.
Why insects hold the key to improved hearing aids
Both mammals and insects have the equivalent problem in regard to hearing: the conversion and amplification of sound waves into information the brain can use. What researchers are finding is that the method insects use to solve this problem is in many ways more proficient than our own.
The organs of hearing in an insect are smaller and more sensitive to a bigger range of frequencies, allowing the insect to identify sounds humans cannot hear. Insects also can perceive the directionality and distance of sound in ways more exact than the human ear.
Hearing aid design has historically been directed by the way humans hear, and hearing aids have had a tendency to supply straightforward amplification of incoming sound and transmission to the middle ear. But scientists are now asking a different question.
Borrowing inspiration from the natural world, they’re inquiring how nature—and its hundreds of millions of years of evolution—has attempted to solve the problem of detecting and perceiving sound. By examining the hearing mechanism of several insects, such as flies, grasshoppers, and butterflies, researchers can borrow the best from each to create a completely new mechanism that can be applied in the design of new and improved miniature microphones.
Insect-inspired miniature directional microphones
Researchers from University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and the MRC/CSO Institute for Hearing Research (IHR) at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, will be testing hearing aids equipped with a unique kind of miniature microphone inspired by insects.
The hope is that the new hearing aids will accomplish three things:
- More energy-efficient microphones and electronics that will eventually result in smaller hearing aids, lower power usage, and extended battery life.
- The capability to more precisely locate the source and distance of sound.
- The ability to focus on specific sounds while wiping out background noise.
Researchers will also be experimenting with 3D printing procedures to improve the design and ergonomics of the new hearing aids.
The future of hearing aids
For most of their history, hearing aids have been engineered with the human hearing mechanism in mind, in an effort to recreate the normal human hearing experience. Now, by asking a different set of questions, researchers are establishing a new set of goals. Rather than trying to RESTORE normal human hearing, perhaps they can AUGMENT it.