My Mechanical Ear Can Hear!
External hearing aids consist of a microphone, amplifier and receiver.Copyright (left) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/ehdi/CDROM/resources/unilateral_loss.html, (right) US Attorney General http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=3290
Students are introduced to various types of hearing impairments and the types of biomedical devices that engineers have designed to aid people with this physical disability. Worn by young and old, hearing aids are electronic devices that amplify sound at different levels for different pitches. Students learn about the hearing process and ways in which hearing can be lost.
Engineers have designed many types of hearing-aid devices to target specific hearing problems — from the most familiar outer-ear hearing aids, to tiny devices that are surgically implanted in the inner ear. Materials, circuits, programs and comfort are addressed by teams of engineers who design products that help young and old people regain the use of a very important sense.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Explain the process of hearing and identify ways in which hearing can be lost.
- Explain how hearing aids are used, how they have been designed to address different hearing problems, and describe their different components.
- Identify the types of engineers who design these devices, be able to describe the difficulties with each design, and suggest possible solutions.