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Alternative battery systems for hearing aids. Most of the size of the more powerful hearing aids are due to battery size. If the hearing aid battery could be mi

Alternative battery systems for hearing aids. Most of the size of the more powerful hearing aids are due to battery size. If the hearing aid battery could be miniaturized further or even completely eliminated (by, say, running off body heat or something), then hearing aids would shrink to be invisible. The advent of Bluetooth has made it normal to have things hanging out of your ears, but a lot of hearing-impaired people would feel less self-conscious if their hearing aids were invisible, yet still functional. Pipe dream, I know... but one can dream.

ladberg 6y ago
Smaller batteries are absolutely VC-backable. If they're developed for any application (phones, cars, power grid) they'll spill over into every other area.
stmw 6y ago
Have you looked at https://www.listenlively.com https://www.listenlively.com or are you talking about something different? (It's VC-backed BTW).
- Jemaclus 6y ago
  I haven't heard of that, but those hearing aids aren't anything special w/r/t shape or size. They're using the same batteries as other hearing aids. I'm sure they're getting their cost savings somewhere else. See this photo: https://www.listenlively.com/_next/static/images/rechargeable-model-f3a18946e7faf09551b34c1c40c508f8.png.webp https://www.listenlively.com/_next/static/images/rechargeabl... They claim to be "invisible", but what they really mean is that the tube from the aid to the ear is really thin and transparent, and the aid itself is skin-toned. But it's not invisible, anyone can see it, and it's still big! (though light-years smaller than they were in the 90s...) First, a clarification. There are in-the-ear hearing aids and over-the-ear hearing aids. The difference is usually one of power. An in-the-ear hearing aid is usually for older people with minor hearing loss. Someone like me that is profoundly deaf or with a severe hearing loss needs more powerful amplification. More power == more energy, and more energy == bigger batteries. That means that we need an over-the-ear hearing aid, like the one in the image above. The size factor for over-the-ear aids isn't due to design, but rather to the battery. The battery is the biggest part! They're this big: https://helpingmehear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/hearing-aid-batteries-2.jpg https://helpingmehear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/hearing... This means the aid cannot be ANY SMALLER than the battery. If we could eliminate the battery entirely and rely on some other energy store, then the size of the aid could be slimmed down to almost flat. The other problem with batteries is that batteries need to be changed when they die. My battery lasts somewhere between 7-9 days before it dies. If we were to use a smaller battery than the image above, it would die even more often. And trust me, it SUCKS to be mid-conversation when a battery dies... and it sucks even more if you didn't have any batteries with you and now you have to run to a local pharmacy to buy some, and you're trying to communicate with a cashier or whatever while completely deaf... Oof... But I digress... :) Anyway! So the dream, as it were, is to create a battery-less aid that can run off body heat or something magical like that.
frompdx 6y ago
Interesting idea. I am hearing impaired and have a set of in the ear hearing aides that aren't very noticeable. However, they are quite old. I got them in 2001. I rarely use them because I cannot get used to the background noise that I normally don't hear. I haven't upgraded due to costs. Personally, I would like to see the manufacturing costs of better hearing aides come down. The last time I looked into it the costs was about $3500 per ear for modern in the ear hearing aides.

ladberg 6y ago

Smaller batteries are absolutely VC-backable. If they're developed for any application (phones, cars, power grid) they'll spill over into every other area.

stmw 6y ago

Have you looked at https://www.listenlively.com https://www.listenlively.com or are you talking about something different? (It's VC-backed BTW).

Jemaclus 6y ago
I haven't heard of that, but those hearing aids aren't anything special w/r/t shape or size. They're using the same batteries as other hearing aids. I'm sure they're getting their cost savings somewhere else. See this photo: https://www.listenlively.com/_next/static/images/rechargeable-model-f3a18946e7faf09551b34c1c40c508f8.png.webp https://www.listenlively.com/_next/static/images/rechargeabl... They claim to be "invisible", but what they really mean is that the tube from the aid to the ear is really thin and transparent, and the aid itself is skin-toned. But it's not invisible, anyone can see it, and it's still big! (though light-years smaller than they were in the 90s...) First, a clarification. There are in-the-ear hearing aids and over-the-ear hearing aids. The difference is usually one of power. An in-the-ear hearing aid is usually for older people with minor hearing loss. Someone like me that is profoundly deaf or with a severe hearing loss needs more powerful amplification. More power == more energy, and more energy == bigger batteries. That means that we need an over-the-ear hearing aid, like the one in the image above. The size factor for over-the-ear aids isn't due to design, but rather to the battery. The battery is the biggest part! They're this big: https://helpingmehear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/hearing-aid-batteries-2.jpg https://helpingmehear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/hearing... This means the aid cannot be ANY SMALLER than the battery. If we could eliminate the battery entirely and rely on some other energy store, then the size of the aid could be slimmed down to almost flat. The other problem with batteries is that batteries need to be changed when they die. My battery lasts somewhere between 7-9 days before it dies. If we were to use a smaller battery than the image above, it would die even more often. And trust me, it SUCKS to be mid-conversation when a battery dies... and it sucks even more if you didn't have any batteries with you and now you have to run to a local pharmacy to buy some, and you're trying to communicate with a cashier or whatever while completely deaf... Oof... But I digress... :) Anyway! So the dream, as it were, is to create a battery-less aid that can run off body heat or something magical like that.

frompdx 6y ago

Interesting idea. I am hearing impaired and have a set of in the ear hearing aides that aren't very noticeable. However, they are quite old. I got them in 2001. I rarely use them because I cannot get used to the background noise that I normally don't hear. I haven't upgraded due to costs. Personally, I would like to see the manufacturing costs of better hearing aides come down. The last time I looked into it the costs was about $3500 per ear for modern in the ear hearing aides.