History of hearing aids

Strange as it may seem, it was the famous Alexander Bell who pioneered in hearing aid technologies. At the beginning of his scientific career Bell was personally encouraged to make the lives of the deaf easier as his wife was deaf. An ordinary school teacher, he designed a device that could make the sounds visible. The mechanism consisted of a membrane, which transmitted sound vibrations, and a specific needle, which reflected the received signals in form of lines on the paper. Thus, the given graphic could be used in speech therapy for deaf people.

In 1876, while conducting his experiments, A. Bell happened to create a device that has become a must in modern life – telephone. Afterwards Bell’s idea was extended and improved.

The first hearing aid based on this technology was made by B. Toriton. It saw the light in 1896 and was put into production in 1898. First hearing aids were very uncomfortable, although they helped a lot of people. Technical development of hearing aids drove the development of new diagnostic methods and audiometers.

During the 20th century many leading scientists worked to improve hearing aid technologies. The dimensions of the details were downsized, the weight of the energy units was reduces; the devices became more compact with the replacement of lamps for transistors. By the end of the 80s microprocessors were applied which allowed to focus on a single voice in a noisy environment.

Present-day market of hearing aids is nearly occupied by imported devices. Nevertheless, our domestic products keep up and progress, too. Thus, for over 50 years “Plant of Hearing Aids “RITM” has been designing and developing hearing aid technologies. Presently, this manufacturing plant is one of the leading producers of medical equipment not only in Russia, but in the neighboring countries as well.

Hearing care developments have been constantly developed by our professionals. The product line for adults and children is regularly upgraded, but old models are not out of production, so even those people who do not like to change what they are used to can enjoy wearing their devices. For young and active people there are different miniature in-the-ear and in-the-canal devices.

It is also notable that the software for individual settings is created at the manufacturing plant, where hearing care professionals can learn to work with new programs.

All the products are subject to a thorough quality control which allows fine adjustment and comfortable listening.

As new technologies appear, hearing aids develop and become more convenient in use. Today one can choose individual settings and programs and hearing impairment will not stand in the way of using modern gadgets.