AI in medicine: hearing aids with artificial intelligence

AI in medicine: hearing aids with artificial intelligence

© Helena Lopes / pexels.com

Anyone can be affected by hearing loss. But don’t worry: the rapid progress of artificial intelligence in medicine is making top-class hearing technologies possible. Thanks to a network of neural depths, state-of-the-art AI hearing aids optimize the hearing experience of their wearers like never before – a revolutionary milestone in hearing acoustics.

Artificial intelligence has long since become an integral part of our everyday lives. Be it individual film recommendations from the streaming provider or daily support from digital assistants – AI is omnipresent. Technology has also had a firm place in healthcare for years and is responsible for a large number of revolutionary innovations. This also applies to hearing acoustics.

Hearing loss affects many people in Germany and represents a significant limitation in daily life. This is where hearing aids come into play: modern ones Hearing aids with AI offer an optimized listening experience that compensates for impairments as best as possible and enables carefree listening. Advanced models adapt individually to the needs of their wearers and significantly improve their quality of life.

Survey confirms: Hearing loss is not uncommon

Our hearing shapes our daily lives in many ways – be it when talking to friends or family, listening to music on the go or perceiving important everyday sounds. Yet this meaning is often taken for granted and not sufficiently appreciated – until it is too late. Hearing loss can affect anyone, and the risk increases particularly with age.

A representative survey by GEERS shows how widespread hearing problems are in Germany. Of the 1,005 people surveyed, one in five said they had hearing limitations. From the age of 25 onwards, hearing difficulties are a worrying reality for 18% of those surveyed, for 55 to 64 year olds it is already 20% and in the 65 to 74 age group the proportion is already over one at 27% Quarter. The greatest limitations due to hearing loss occur in participants aged 75 and over, of whom over a third (36%) suffer from hearing loss.

Despite these alarming figures, only a few sufferers use hearing aids, even though healthy hearing has been proven to have many health benefits increases the quality of life. A good sense of hearing, in addition to a more active and fulfilling everyday life, is also crucial for mental fitness in old age and reducing the risk of dementia.

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Hearing aids with AI increase the quality of life for young and old and significantly support a fulfilling everyday life for people with hearing loss.
© Dario Valenzuela / unsplash.com

Unjustly unpopular: Stigma towards hearing aids

Even though there are numerous options, many people affected by hearing loss hesitate to purchase a hearing aid and then actually wear it. The term “hearing aid” is often still used outdated ideas connected: You think of large devices with visible cables or have high expectations that even the most modern AI hearing aids supposedly cannot meet. Add to that the purchase costs, and the whole concept of wearing hearing aids can quickly seem daunting and some people prefer to come to terms with the limitations of their own hearing.

However, this is by no means necessary, let alone recommended. In reality, hearing acoustics has now reached new standards that refute such well-known prejudices. Modern AI hearing aids are particularly discreet in design and integrate innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence or particularly reliable Bluetooth compatibility. Particularly through the integration of AI, the latest generation of hearing aids can specifically address the individual needs of their wearers and elevate the hearing experience to a previously unthinkable level. The constant development of AI in medicine ensures that well-known problems in hearing acoustics fade into the background and the quality of life of those who wear AI hearing aids is noticeably improved.

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AI hearing aids enable an optimized hearing experience with little listening effort – regardless of the background noise. © Toa Heftiba / unsplash.com

Breakthrough in hearing acoustics: AI and neural networks take on well-known problems

Artificial intelligence has had a firm place in healthcare for years and is also playing an increasingly important role in hearing acoustics – the continuous progress of AI in medicine has significantly expanded the range of applications for hearing technologies. Hearing aids with AI now allow a high degree of adaptability to the individual needs of the wearer, as well as precise sound regulation in a wide variety of noise environments.

To date, however, there have also been hurdles in hearing acoustics that even hearing aids with AI have not been able to satisfactorily overcome. The lack of reliable speech intelligibility in noisy environments is a well-known problem, as is the delay in switching between different speakers and the perception of speech from different directions. It was also difficult to maintain connectivity with communication or entertainment devices for a long time. All of this leads to increased listening effort for the wearer – but these hurdles have now been overcome thanks to a groundbreaking innovation.

By combining artificial intelligence with a network of millions of neural connections, the latest generation of AI hearing aids have reached new heights. The highly developed dual-chip technology in modern hearing aids with AI not only shines with particularly reliable connectivity, it is also trained with millions of sound patterns and can therefore identify an almost endless range of background noises. This allows for effective filtering out of background noise and puts the focus of sound processing on the conversation, even in ambient noise. In addition, the latest hearing aids with AI recognize better than ever before which direction speech is coming from and also when the speaker changes. The sound is adapted in real time to the respective situation and individually to the needs of the wearer, thus offering an optimized listening experience – speech understanding is significantly improved and listening effort is significantly reduced.

This advance represents a significant milestone for hearing acoustics, and given the rapid growth of AI in medicine, more miracles in hearing technology can be expected in the near future. The path is paved for ongoing, revolutionary developments in AI hearing aids to continuously improve the quality of life of people with hearing loss.

November 14, 2024

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