Developing an Appropriate Digital Hearing Aid for Low‐Resource Countries: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper reviews the development process and discusses the key findings which resulted from our multidisciplinary research team's effort to develop an alternative digital hearing suitable for low-resource countries such as Thailand. A cost-effective, fully programmable digital hearing aid, with its specifications benchmarking against WHO's recommendations, was systematically designed, engineered, and tested. Clinically it had undergone a full clinical trial that employed the outcome measurement protocol adopted from the APHAB, the first time implemented in Thai language. Results indicated that using the hearing aid improves user's satisfaction in terms of ease of communication, background noises, and reverberation, with clear benefit after 3 and 6 months, confirming its efficacy. In terms of engineering, the hearing aid also proved to be robust, passing all the designated tests. As the technology has successfully been transferred to a local company for the production phase, we also discuss other challenges that may arise before the device can be introduced into the market.

In-ear medical devices for acoustic therapies in tinnitus treatments, state of the art

“…Designing and producing a brand new low-cost medical device (hearing aid or sound generator) could be the most effective option. For example, the WHO has taken a big step forward in extending its activities to the economic context of medical and assistive technology and focusing more on rehabilitation and community living [69] and the development of an alternative digital hearing suitable for low-resource countries [70].…”

A Survey of Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids

“…The first, Development: [12] are develop an pocket-type digital hearing is call PDN-01B, which suitable for lowresource countries such as Thailand and the cons: shape design was old fashioned but it was a good response from the users in rural areas.…”

Effectiveness of a programable body-worn digital hearing aid for older adults in a developing country: a randomized controlled trial with a cross-over design

“…The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), a Thai governmental organization, developed body-worn aid, digital, programmable hearing aids and has been producing them since 2006. The first model, PDN-01B, also called P01, met the electro-acoustical test standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC 60118–7) [ 14 ]. Clinical testing revealed that users were very satisfied at both 3, and 6 months regarding ease of communication and speech understanding in a moderately reverberant room and other environments with competing noise.…”

“…Clinical testing revealed that users were very satisfied at both 3, and 6 months regarding ease of communication and speech understanding in a moderately reverberant room and other environments with competing noise. Hence, the P01 model indicated suitable for users with moderate to severe hearing impairment [ 14 ]. P01 was later modernized, giving it a similar look to a media player (model P02) (Fig.…”