Now You’re Talking: Making Cellular Phones Hearing Aid Compatible
Tired of digital wireless mobile telephones interfering with your hearing aid or cochlear implant (CI) sound processor? New solutions to this grating problem are rolling out in time to meet the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deadlines. In June 2005, the FCC confirmed the timetable for the development and sale of digital wireless phones compatible with hearing aids. (See “FCC Lays Down the Law” on p. 33.)
The key to using cellular phones without interference is the telecoil (T-coil). A small, tightly wrapped piece of wire inside the hearing aid, the T-coil picks up the voice signal from the strong electromagnetic field radiating from a hearing-aid-compatible telephone. Most behind-the-ear hearing aids and CIs have T-coils. In-the-ear and in-the-canal aids must be ordered with T-coils. Though completely-in-the-canal hearing aids are too small for a T-coil, a variety of products, such as the Clarity® MHA 100 Mobil Headset Amplifier, as well as pads that distance the phone from the ear, provide easier listening for users of hearing aids without T-coils and people with hearing loss not using any amplification.
Presently, the only feasible way a digital telephone works well with a hearing aid or CI is to distance it from the aid or CI. Below are new products that employ this basic principle.
Motorola Hands-free Neckloop, a receiver-transmitter hanging from a neck lanyard, works with all Motorola headset-compatible telephones and uses a standard 2.5 mm headset plug. A mute button provides the user with privacy.
Nokia LPS-4 Accessibility Neckloop interfaces with 50 models of their digital cell phones. Integrated with an “answer/end” button for convenient operation, it has an automatic grade control to ensure the correct field strength. In addition, Nokia has a CI patch cord that connects a CI speech processor directly to a Nokia 3300 or 8800 cell phone.
CLA7 Amplified Neckloop is a universal tool that works with most mobile, cordless or corded phones with a standard 2.5 mm jack. It has an external amplification control of up to 30 decibels and works like a signal boost to deliver the sound to weak T-coils. The optional 3.5 mm adaptor connects with MP3 players and other sound devices.
Hearing Aid Telecommunications Interconnect System (HATIS®) is available in three models. HATIS® Freedom Mach I is for use with one hearing aid or CI processor; HATIS® Freedom Mach II, for use with two aids or processors; and HATIS® Lite for people with mild hearing loss. HATIS Freedom Mach I and II are silhouette induction loops with a throat microphone for hands-free operation. The product user adjusts the volume on the telephone, hearing aid or CI. HATIS works on all cell phones and cordless phones with a 2.5 mm headset jack.
Ericsson T-1000 Cellular Phone Handset Adapter, a conventional telephone handset adapter, provides people wearing hearing aids with T-coils and TTY users with telephone compatibility. It plugs into the cell phone 2.5 mm jack and sits in the acoustic cups of a TTY.
Starkey’s ELI is a miniature Bluetooth® device enabling wireless communication among hearing aid wearers and a growing assortment of Bluetooth signal sources, such as telephones, computers and stereos. Providing a maximum of 2.5 hours of uninterrupted communication, ELI connects to behind-the-ear hearing aids with a direct audio input boot. Also, it can be worn on a neckloop to transmit wireless signals to hearing instruments with a T-coil. No additional hardware is required.
On the higher end, the Phonak SmartLink SX uses Bluetooth technology to link to mobile phones. It also has the capability to pick up FM signals and functions as a hearing instrument remote control. SmartLink transmits incoming auditory signals to Phonak’s FM MicroLink receiver attached to the user’s hearing aid or CI processor. In addition, SmartLink can be plugged into any telephone with a 2.5 mm jack input via a patchcord .
Trends Reporter Nannette Nicholson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor with a joint faculty appointment at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and has a clinical staff appointment at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She can be reached at NicholsonNannette@uams.edu.
