Opening Overview
For years, one of the goals of hearing technology has been to make the device smaller, less noticeable and easier to live with.
This week, that idea took a remarkable step forward.
A new cochlear implant has become commercially available in Europe with every component implanted beneath the skin. There is nothing behind the ear to put on in the morning, remove before swimming or take off at bedtime.
Meanwhile, Cochlear reached an important milestone in its own research toward fully implantable hearing technology, with more than one million hours of patient experience accumulated across its clinical research programs.
And Starkey introduced a new generation of AI hearing aids designed around another kind of invisibility: technology that makes millions of decisions without requiring the wearer to constantly adjust it.
But perhaps the most useful hearing story this week is much less futuristic.
A first-person account of living with hearing loss describes something many hearing-aid users know well: hearing aids can be imperfect and still make an enormous difference.
And a timely consumer-health article offers an important reminder:
Not every hearing loss should be treated by simply buying hearing aids. Some hearing changes require medical attention—and one in particular can be an emergency.
This week, hearing technology became a little less visible.
The goal, however, remains the same:
Make hearing easier so people can spend less time thinking about hearing loss and more time living their lives.
❤️ “Imperfect” Hearing Aids Can Still Give You Something Important Back
Eric Steinert describes the beginning of his hearing loss in a way many people will recognize.
People seemed to mumble.
Accents became difficult.
Soft voices were hard to understand.
And ordering something as simple as coffee could require mentally piecing together what the barista had probably said.
Then came the situation familiar to almost every experienced hearing-aid wearer:
The crowded restaurant.
In a personal essay published September 28 by the Hearing Health Foundation, Steinert describes restaurants as the point where hearing difficulty became especially frustrating.
Hearing aids didn’t magically restore normal hearing.
They didn’t eliminate every difficult listening situation.
But they helped restore something more important:
clarity, connection and independence.
That’s worth remembering in an industry increasingly filled with claims about artificial intelligence, deep neural networks and breakthrough processors.
Consumers can easily begin searching for the hearing aid that will solve every hearing problem.
It doesn’t exist.
Even excellent hearing aids still require adjustment, communication strategies and realistic expectations.
But “not perfect” and “not worthwhile” are very different things.
HArC Insight: The goal of hearing aids isn’t perfect hearing. It’s reducing the amount of work required to communicate so you can concentrate more on the conversation—and less on trying to decode it.
🦻 A Cochlear Implant You Can’t See
One of the most interesting hearing-technology developments of the year arrived September 29.
MED-EL announced the European launch of TICI UNICO, which the company describes as the world’s first commercially available totally implantable cochlear implant.
Unlike conventional cochlear implants, TICI UNICO has no external sound processor.
The microphone, processor, power source and implant are all beneath the skin.
That changes some very basic aspects of living with a cochlear implant.
A recipient can potentially hear while:
• Sleeping
• Showering
• Swimming
• Exercising
• Charging the implant
There is no external processor to put on in the morning, accidentally knock off or remove around water.
One early recipient described the experience simply: he can wake up hearing and fall asleep hearing.
The technological challenge is substantial.
Microphones normally need direct access to sound. MED-EL had to develop microphone technology capable of capturing useful sound through the skin while remaining completely implanted.
TICI UNICO has received CE Mark approval and is initially being introduced in European markets. It is intended for people with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss who may be cochlear-implant candidates.
This is not currently a U.S. consumer option.
But it provides an intriguing glimpse of where implantable hearing technology may be heading.
HArC Insight: “Invisible hearing” used to mean making an external device very small. Fully implantable technology changes the definition: someday, the hearing device may not be visible at all.
🔬 Fully Implantable Hearing Research Reaches One Million Hours
MED-EL wasn’t alone in advancing fully implantable hearing technology this week.
On September 28, Cochlear announced that patients participating in its fully implantable hearing-system research programs have accumulated more than one million hours of device experience.
The company also completed enrollment in its worldwide pivotal trial program.
The U.S. ELEVATE study includes 11 clinical sites, while the ENTERPRISE study has been conducted at five sites in Europe and Australia.
Ninety-two participants are currently being followed in the pivotal trials, and more than 100 people have received Cochlear’s investigational fully implantable technology across its research programs dating back to 2005.
The technology remains investigational.
Cochlear says data from the trials are intended to support future regulatory submissions, so consumers shouldn’t interpret this milestone as meaning a product is about to appear immediately in U.S. clinics.
But taken together with MED-EL’s European launch, something important is clearly happening.
Fully implantable hearing systems are moving from a decades-long research goal toward a real category of hearing technology.
That could eventually be particularly meaningful for people who want continuous access to sound without managing external equipment.
🤖 Starkey Adds More AI — But the Most Interesting Feature May Be Doing Less
On October 1, Starkey introduced Omega AI+, the next generation of its prescription hearing-aid platform.
The new processor can operate four specialized deep neural networks simultaneously, managing functions including speech enhancement, noise reduction, directionality and spatial awareness.
Starkey also introduced what it calls DNN Dual Compression, designed to balance two competing goals:
Making speech easier to understand while keeping the surrounding sound environment natural.
Omega AI+ also adds Auracast support, sleep tracking and expanded AI capabilities across additional hearing-aid styles.
But one change may be particularly interesting from a consumer perspective.
Starkey’s Edge Mode previously required the wearer to activate it when encountering a difficult listening situation.
With Omega AI+, the technology can operate continuously.
In other words:
The hearing aid is increasingly supposed to figure things out without you telling it what to do.
That’s an important direction for hearing technology.
Sophisticated features aren’t especially useful if someone has to pull out a smartphone and navigate an app every time the listening environment changes.
The best AI may ultimately be the AI you rarely notice.
As with any new hearing-aid launch, however, manufacturer performance claims need independent testing and real-world experience before consumers can know how much improvement the new platform actually provides.
HArC Consumer Tip: When evaluating an AI hearing aid, ask what you actually have to do to receive the benefit. Automatic technology that works reliably in the background may be more valuable than another impressive feature buried inside an app.
🛡️ Consumer Watch: Don’t Assume Every Hearing Change Means “I Need Hearing Aids”
An unusually useful consumer-health article published October 1 by The Washington Post makes an important point:
Hearing loss is a symptom—not a diagnosis.
Different problems can cause hearing difficulty, and they don’t all require the same treatment.
Sensorineural hearing loss—the type commonly associated with aging and noise exposure—usually involves permanent damage to the inner ear or auditory pathways.
Conductive hearing loss occurs when something interferes with sound reaching the inner ear.
That could be something as straightforward as impacted earwax.
Fluid behind the eardrum, infection and other middle-ear problems can also reduce hearing—and some of those conditions can be treated.
That makes professional evaluation particularly important when something about your hearing changes unexpectedly.
And there is one situation every HArC reader should recognize:
Sudden hearing loss can be a medical emergency.
A rapid, unexplained reduction in hearing—particularly in one ear—can be sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
It may occur along with tinnitus, dizziness or vertigo.
Early medical treatment, often involving steroids, can improve the chance of recovering hearing. Waiting to see whether it disappears can reduce that opportunity.
Contact a medical professional promptly if you experience:
• Sudden hearing loss in one or both ears
• A dramatic unexplained change in hearing
• New hearing loss accompanied by severe dizziness or vertigo
• Ear pain or drainage
• Hearing loss following an injury
HArC Consumer Tip: Gradual age-related hearing loss and sudden hearing loss are very different situations. If your hearing changes abruptly, don’t start by shopping for hearing aids. Start by getting medical attention.
💙 What This Means for You
There’s an interesting connection among this week’s stories.
MED-EL is trying to make the cochlear implant physically disappear.
Cochlear is testing technology designed to do much the same thing.
Starkey is trying to make the work performed by a hearing aid disappear into the background.
And Eric Steinert’s story reminds us why any of that matters.
People don’t wake up hoping to spend more time thinking about hearing technology.
They want to hear the person sitting across the table.
They want to understand the cashier.
They want to watch television without constantly asking what was said.
They want to go swimming, exercise, sleep, travel and live without continually managing a hearing device.
That’s why convenience matters.
Automatic adjustments matter.
Battery life matters.
Water resistance matters.
And someday, fully implantable hearing technology may matter enormously.
But technology also can’t replace knowing when something is medically wrong.
Better hearing care requires both:
Better technology—and better-informed consumers.
Closing Thought
For years, hearing technology has been getting smaller.
Maybe the more interesting question now is whether it can become something we barely have to think about.
A cochlear implant completely beneath the skin.
A hearing aid automatically adapting to the environment.
Technology quietly doing its job while the wearer concentrates on everything else.
That sounds like progress.
But Eric Steinert’s experience offers an important reminder.
Hearing technology doesn’t have to be perfect to change someone’s life.
Sometimes the breakthrough isn’t hearing every word.
It’s realizing that you’re back in the conversation.
The best hearing technology may ultimately be the technology that lets us think less about hearing—and more about living.
HArC I Hear™ shares hearing news and consumer information for educational purposes. It is not a substitute for evaluation, diagnosis or advice from a qualified hearing-care or medical professional.