Intel: Multicore Hearing Aid on the Way
Multicore drives customizable hearing aid
(Google search for more sources, same articles)
A technology licensing company is in the final design stages of a novel hearing aid that it says could be sold over the counter for as little as $100. The low-cost but powerful device is based on the company's homegrown multicore processor and audio algorithms.
The behind-the-ear device can be customized by the user on a standard PC. It performs as well as top-end $3,000 devices that fit inside the ear canal, and require insertion and tuning by an audiologist, the company claimed.
About six million people now use hearing aids that cost about $350 or more and require customization by an audiologist. As many as 300 million people have hearing loss but can't afford today's products or don't have access an audiologist, opening up a kind of retail market TPL hopes to address.
"For example, Pakistan has 190 million people and one audiologist," said Nicholas Antonopoulos, VP of business development for TPL. "We believe we can give people the best hearing aid of all time at a lower price point," he added.
TPL, a 125-person company that makes 90 percent of its revenues licensing its technology and patents, is seeking a partner to take the device to market. It believes the technology could also be used to create a line of headsets for cellphones and MP3 players.
The device is based on the company's Seaforth, a 24-core asynchronous processor running at 700MHz designed by TPL's Intellasys unit. The company claims the 3mm x 3mm chip delivers up to 20,000 MIPS, and it has a 40-core version now in production.
"In the last few years, hearing aid developers have lived in world of devices with 8-10 MIPs," said Daniel Leckrone, TPL CEO.
The company has a team of engineers in Vienna that has developed the audio algorithms running on the chip. A separate group in Cincinnati has created a 6mm x 4mm transducer that could become its speaker unit.
"We are excited about the convergence of these three technologies that could outperform state-of-art $3,000 devices that you can customize yourself," said Leckrone.
The company does not plan(no need?) to seek approval from the FDA or other regulatory agencies for the device.
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My comments:
Wow this is so exciting! I remember seeing threads about people complaining that top of the line HAs cost as much as $3000 each! $100 each makes them affordable to millions of people who otherwise are forced to settle for 15 year old analog HAs or even go without any HA.
But what's more exciting is those HAs are not just affordable but very powerful, they could be an upgrade for all of us! They can also be programmed by the user. No one but the user knows his or her hearing best and can program it to whatever is desired.
This could be the answer for many of us with profound hearing losses. Just program it to the max! For those with moderate or severe HL, program it only as high as you need to get your aided hearing to normal ranges but not where things become uncomfortably loud or you risk further damaging your residual hearing.
It could finally let us hear the frequencies we never could hear properly before! My aided score is poor above 500Hz and I still have no answers. I really wish I could reprogram my current HAs myself so I can hear the best I should. If it can't be made better, those $100 HAs could be the ticket and at an extremely affordable price too!
What will people do with their old HAs they paid thousands for? Keep them as a spare? Donate them like people donate their old glasses? What will the companies that make the $3000 HAs do? They can not compete with a company selling them for $100 unless the $3000 HAs are that much better and the people have such profound losses and can afford the cost.
What will hearing dispensers and audiologists do? A $100 HA won't make them enough profit. They could still charge for the audiogram and other hearing tests but not any more than an optometrist charges for an eye exam. Glasses have been $100(without the silly gimmics) now it's time for hearing aids to be the same price. Optometrists are still in business so perhaps audiologists will be fine, they just need to change their business plans.
Multicore drives customizable hearing aid
(Google search for more sources, same articles)
A technology licensing company is in the final design stages of a novel hearing aid that it says could be sold over the counter for as little as $100. The low-cost but powerful device is based on the company's homegrown multicore processor and audio algorithms.
The behind-the-ear device can be customized by the user on a standard PC. It performs as well as top-end $3,000 devices that fit inside the ear canal, and require insertion and tuning by an audiologist, the company claimed.
About six million people now use hearing aids that cost about $350 or more and require customization by an audiologist. As many as 300 million people have hearing loss but can't afford today's products or don't have access an audiologist, opening up a kind of retail market TPL hopes to address.
"For example, Pakistan has 190 million people and one audiologist," said Nicholas Antonopoulos, VP of business development for TPL. "We believe we can give people the best hearing aid of all time at a lower price point," he added.
TPL, a 125-person company that makes 90 percent of its revenues licensing its technology and patents, is seeking a partner to take the device to market. It believes the technology could also be used to create a line of headsets for cellphones and MP3 players.
The device is based on the company's Seaforth, a 24-core asynchronous processor running at 700MHz designed by TPL's Intellasys unit. The company claims the 3mm x 3mm chip delivers up to 20,000 MIPS, and it has a 40-core version now in production.
"In the last few years, hearing aid developers have lived in world of devices with 8-10 MIPs," said Daniel Leckrone, TPL CEO.
The company has a team of engineers in Vienna that has developed the audio algorithms running on the chip. A separate group in Cincinnati has created a 6mm x 4mm transducer that could become its speaker unit.
"We are excited about the convergence of these three technologies that could outperform state-of-art $3,000 devices that you can customize yourself," said Leckrone.
The company does not plan(no need?) to seek approval from the FDA or other regulatory agencies for the device.
--------------------------------
My comments:
Wow this is so exciting! I remember seeing threads about people complaining that top of the line HAs cost as much as $3000 each! $100 each makes them affordable to millions of people who otherwise are forced to settle for 15 year old analog HAs or even go without any HA.
But what's more exciting is those HAs are not just affordable but very powerful, they could be an upgrade for all of us! They can also be programmed by the user. No one but the user knows his or her hearing best and can program it to whatever is desired.
This could be the answer for many of us with profound hearing losses. Just program it to the max! For those with moderate or severe HL, program it only as high as you need to get your aided hearing to normal ranges but not where things become uncomfortably loud or you risk further damaging your residual hearing.
It could finally let us hear the frequencies we never could hear properly before! My aided score is poor above 500Hz and I still have no answers. I really wish I could reprogram my current HAs myself so I can hear the best I should. If it can't be made better, those $100 HAs could be the ticket and at an extremely affordable price too!
What will people do with their old HAs they paid thousands for? Keep them as a spare? Donate them like people donate their old glasses? What will the companies that make the $3000 HAs do? They can not compete with a company selling them for $100 unless the $3000 HAs are that much better and the people have such profound losses and can afford the cost.
What will hearing dispensers and audiologists do? A $100 HA won't make them enough profit. They could still charge for the audiogram and other hearing tests but not any more than an optometrist charges for an eye exam. Glasses have been $100(without the silly gimmics) now it's time for hearing aids to be the same price. Optometrists are still in business so perhaps audiologists will be fine, they just need to change their business plans.
