Tens of millions of Americans aged 65 and older suffer from hearing loss. They significantly depend on these hearing aids to keep them in tune with the audio around them. But what happens when hearing aids lose some of their functionality? Or when static interferes with the hearing aid's signal?
Until recently, there was no solution to this problem. However, technological advances have contributed to the creation of the hearing loop for hard of hearing older adults. The hearing loop uses a technology called the T-coil, which is currently found in two thirds of hearing aids. The T-coil is a comprised of a “thin strand of copper wire installed around the edge of a room.”
Composer Richard Einhorn who suffers from hearing loss encountered this T-coil technology and “for the first time since [he] lost most of [his] hearing, live music was perfectly clear, perfectly clean and incredibly rich.” This is a technology that can change the lives of tens of millions of Americans who suffer from hearing loss.
The T-coil has been widely adopted in Northern Europe, but the United States is just starting to incorporate this technology into the manufacturing of hearing aids. Several Eastern states are currently using this technology and as it proves effective, more states will surely get on the bandwagon.
