Earlens | Why Earlens – A Paradigm Shift in the Treatment of Hearing Impairment

Session Description

Recent publications have pointed to the value of early identification and effective treatment of hearing impairment via restoration of speech audibility over the broadest possible frequency range, and yet, less than 20% of candidates make regular use of hearing aid technology. The narrow bandwidth of effective amplification achieved with conventional hearing aids commonly results in poor sound quality and limited performance in a wide variety of listening situations, and leads to unmet expectations of the overall listening experience. The Earlens system overcomes these limitations by directly activating the structures of the middle ear via a custom built transducer ‘Lens’ which is placed deep in the ear canal by an ENT physician, followed by processor calibration and programming by an audiologist. Direct activation produces 2.5x the audible, processed bandwidth of conventional devices, allowing advanced digital signal processing to perform to its full potential and generating a significant improvement in speech understanding even in background noise, coupled with strong patient preference in terms of overall sound quality. This session will explore the differences between traditional hearing devices and the Earlens system, in terms of method of action, theoretical benefits of enhanced audible bandwidth, laboratory and real-world patient outcomes.