AI HEARING AIDS EXPLAINED

Artificial intelligence is providing a world of clearer and cleverer sounds to the hearing impaired

- AILSA HARVEY

Hearing aids are essential and transformative devices for those who experience hearing loss. They use microphones to pick up and amplify sounds in the ear for clearer hearing. Some hearing aids sit behind the ear, where outer microphones can better pick up sound, with a connected piece delivering sound into the ear canal. Others have a receiver inside the canal, and cochlear implants work to stimulate the auditory nerve by delivering signals to the cochlea in the inner ear. The cochlea is the hearing organ that produces nerve impulses triggered by sound vibrations. Cochlear implants are often required for those with more severe hearing loss.