ELECTROACOUSTICAL COMPENSATION HEARING AID

THE APPLICANT ORGANIZATION HAS DISCOVERED AND EXPERIMENTALLY OBSERVED THAT AN ELECTROACOUSTICAL COMPENSATION (ELAC) CIRCUIT COUNTERACTS THE OCCLUSION EFFECT EXPERIENCED BY HEARING AID WEARE S OF UNVENTED HEARING AIDS. UNVENTED HEARING AIDS WITH THE ELAC CIRCUIT SHOW PROMISE FOR A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER PRESENT VENTED DESIGNS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: 1) HIGHER AVAILABLE GAIN BEFORE POSITIVE FEEDBACK OSCILLATION, 2) REDUCED AMPLIFIER AND RECEIVER DISTORTION, 3) REDUCED DIRECT TRANSMISSION OF AMBIENT NOISE, 4) BETTER LOW-FREQUENCY RESPONSE (IF NEEDED), 5) BETTER SUITED FOR IN-THE-CANAL DEVICES. IN VIEW OF THE SEVEN-YEAR INVOLVEMENT WITH OCCLUDED IN-THE-EAR COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE DESIGN BASED ON ELAC CIRCUIT, THE APPLICANT WILL BE ABLE TO DESIGN, FABRICATE, AND PERFORM A LIMITED EVALUATION OF ELAC HEARING AIDS WITHIN THE LIMITED TIME AND RESSURCES OF THE PHASE I PROJECT. ALL FACILITIES ARE IN PLACE.