ZPower to Exhibit at EUHA Conference

​ZPower (https://zpowerbattery.com/) will be showcasing its silver-zinc rechargeable batteries and rechargeable system for hearing aids at this year's International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) in Hannover, Germany. Attendees of the 63^rd EUHA will have the opportunity to examine rechargeable hearing aid models, learn about recent product enhancements, and gain valuable insights regarding battery functionality and best practices at the ZPower booth. The EUHA conference will feature speakers on topics ranging from Bluetooth connectivity for in-ear hearing aids, to opportunities and risks in the digital revolution, to machine learning in audiology applications on October 17–19. More than 100 exhibitors are expected to participate. ​

Published: 9/21/2018 1:27:00 PM

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New Canal Hearing Aids Market Report

​HTF Market Intelligence has released the World Canal Hearing Aids Market study on the devices’ market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity to 2023. The market study is segmented by key regions that are accelerating the marketization, and includes key players such as William Demant, Sonova, Sivantos, GN Hearing, ReSound, Starkey, and Widex, It also categorizes the international canal hearing aid market by companies, region, type, and end-use industry. The full report is available at http://bit.ly/2NCE52E.

Published: 9/21/2018 11:53:00 AM

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Audigy Group Statement On The Passing of Foundational Member

On behalf of Audigy and the entire hearing care community, it saddens me to inform you that our dear friend, Rich Burba, has unexpectedly passed away. We're absolutely heartbroken. Heartbroken for his wife, Linda, for their family, and for all those whose life he touched in the inimitable way he did with everyone he encountered. He was an undeniable example of a person who cared, who listened, who mentored, and, in my personal experience, loved those around him unconditionally. We all felt that love. And now is the time for us to give that love back to all those who are missing Rich right now.

There are few people in our industry who were more dedicated to patient care than Rich was. He might have had a finance-focused career in his past (Rich was a former VP of Finance for a Fortune 200 company), but in practice, Rich's heart and soul were dedicated to their patients. Were you a patient with no way of getting to the practice? No problem. Rich would be the first one to give you a ride.

He was involved in nearly every aspect of the practice — its operations, financials, human resources, marketing, and IT, precisely so Linda could focus her efforts on delivering great patient care. They were a team. And their teamwork was as infectious as it was admired. Rich was more than a colleague. More than a Member of our organization. He was a friend, and an advisor, and a mentor to so many of us. To put it more plainly, he was family.

We will all miss his influence, his guidance, and his sense of humor. But, to put it even more simply, we will just miss his presence. Rich and Linda are the most loyal, personal friends I have ever had. He and Linda, with their support, helped us transform Audigy from an idea to a reality. They believed in us. We believed in each other. Rich was the biggest advocate of our whole Audigy family. That support doesn't always come easy, and his, it seemed, was effortless. We all felt it — Audigy staff, peers across the membership, industry folks, everyone. That's who he was. And the generosity of his spirit is a reminder to all of us of who we can all be if we choose to.

To Linda, their friends and family, their team, and their patient community, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. You have our unconditional support. And to Rich, thank you for being who you were, and thank you for influencing the lives of so many in the manner you did. We were lucky to have you, and we're better for having known you. We should all be so lucky.

​Wishing you all peace,

Brandon M. Dawson, CEO, Audigy Group

Published: 9/18/2018 3:28:00 PM

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Oticon Opn™ Expands Open Sound Experience with New Custom Styles

​\The expanded Oticon Opn™ family delivers the revoluti​onary open sound experience in styles and performance levels to satisfy a wide range of hearing needs and preferences – making Opn the hearing solution of choice for users and hearing care professionals more than one million times over.  Now, new Oticon Opn Custom solutions bring 360° sound to users who want the ultimate in discretion. Five new custom styles, including the smallest hearing aid style Oticon has ever produced, use BrainHearing™ technology and Opn's extremely fast and precise technology to support the brain in making sense of sound and enable users to easily identify where sounds are coming from, even in challenging environments.

"The variety of Opn Custom styles, functionalities and features combined with Oticon's groundbreaking open sound experience provides hearing care professionals with even more Opn choices for their patients, especially those who are reluctant to try hearing aids," says Don Schum, PhD, Oticon Vice President of Audiology. "For many first-time users, the appeal of an invisible hearing solution, our smallest IIC ever, may be the catalyst for taking action to address their hearing loss."

No Compromise on Quality, Reliability, Performance

Like all Oticon Opn hearing aids, the comprehensive range of Opn Custom hearing aids breaks through some of the biggest challenges faced by people with hearing loss: understanding speech in noise and handling multiple speakers. The custom lineup includes fully-featured styles with outstanding 2.4 GHz low energy Bluetooth® connectivity that offers an array of wireless possibilities. The miniaturization of all components enables more functionality in less space, resulting in fewer compromises and more modeling freedom to support a better physical fit and a higher fit rate. The effect and availability of Opn Custom features varies with hearing aid style and prescription.

Oticon Siya Amplifies Rich Details of Sound

New Oticon Siya offers an excellent listening experience for users of hearing aids in the essential category. Siya amplifies the rich details of sounds, so users can follow conversations in noisy environments. Oticon BrainHearing technology and a powerful chip that processes sound 50 times faster than Oticon's previous generation of essential hearing aids deliver high resolution sound quality to improve speech understanding.

With 2.4 GHz Bluetooth low energy technology, Siya is the first hearing aid in the essential category to allow easy wireless connectivity with low battery consumption to modern smartphones, TVs and other Bluetooth®-enabled devices. Siya comes in a complete lineup of styles, ranging from invisible custom styles to power hearing aids.

​HearingFitness™ Encourages Healthy Hearing Habits

HearingFitness™ is a new tool, available in Oticon's proprietary ON App, to help people with hearing loss understand how they can optimize their hearing health behavior to take full advantage of their hearing aids. Users of internet-connected Oticon Opn and Oticon Siya hearing aids can use HearingFitness to track how long they wear their hearing aids and receive notifications and prompts to help them reach their wearing goals and track the noise levels they are frequently exposed to. The new tool can be especially useful for first-time users who find it difficult to adapt to wearing hearing aids. ​

Published: 9/17/2018 2:52:00 PM

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ZPower to Exhibit at EUHA Conference

​ZPower (https://zpowerbattery.com/) will be showcasing its silver-zinc rechargeable batteries and rechargeable system for hearing aids at this year's International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) in Hannover, Germany. Attendees of the 63^rd EUHA will have the opportunity to examine rechargeable hearing aid models, learn about recent product enhancements, and gain valuable insights regarding battery functionality and best practices at the ZPower booth. The EUHA conference will feature speakers on topics ranging from Bluetooth connectivity for in-ear hearing aids, to opportunities and risks in the digital revolution, to machine learning in audiology applications on October 17–19. More than 100 exhibitors are expected to participate. ​

Published: 9/21/2018 1:27:00 PM

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader https://ift.tt/2QTurYs
via IFTTT

New Canal Hearing Aids Market Report

​HTF Market Intelligence has released the World Canal Hearing Aids Market study on the devices’ market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity to 2023. The market study is segmented by key regions that are accelerating the marketization, and includes key players such as William Demant, Sonova, Sivantos, GN Hearing, ReSound, Starkey, and Widex, It also categorizes the international canal hearing aid market by companies, region, type, and end-use industry. The full report is available at http://bit.ly/2NCE52E.

Published: 9/21/2018 11:53:00 AM

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via IFTTT

Audigy Group Statement On The Passing of Foundational Member

On behalf of Audigy and the entire hearing care community, it saddens me to inform you that our dear friend, Rich Burba, has unexpectedly passed away. We're absolutely heartbroken. Heartbroken for his wife, Linda, for their family, and for all those whose life he touched in the inimitable way he did with everyone he encountered. He was an undeniable example of a person who cared, who listened, who mentored, and, in my personal experience, loved those around him unconditionally. We all felt that love. And now is the time for us to give that love back to all those who are missing Rich right now.

There are few people in our industry who were more dedicated to patient care than Rich was. He might have had a finance-focused career in his past (Rich was a former VP of Finance for a Fortune 200 company), but in practice, Rich's heart and soul were dedicated to their patients. Were you a patient with no way of getting to the practice? No problem. Rich would be the first one to give you a ride.

He was involved in nearly every aspect of the practice — its operations, financials, human resources, marketing, and IT, precisely so Linda could focus her efforts on delivering great patient care. They were a team. And their teamwork was as infectious as it was admired. Rich was more than a colleague. More than a Member of our organization. He was a friend, and an advisor, and a mentor to so many of us. To put it more plainly, he was family.

We will all miss his influence, his guidance, and his sense of humor. But, to put it even more simply, we will just miss his presence. Rich and Linda are the most loyal, personal friends I have ever had. He and Linda, with their support, helped us transform Audigy from an idea to a reality. They believed in us. We believed in each other. Rich was the biggest advocate of our whole Audigy family. That support doesn't always come easy, and his, it seemed, was effortless. We all felt it — Audigy staff, peers across the membership, industry folks, everyone. That's who he was. And the generosity of his spirit is a reminder to all of us of who we can all be if we choose to.

To Linda, their friends and family, their team, and their patient community, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. You have our unconditional support. And to Rich, thank you for being who you were, and thank you for influencing the lives of so many in the manner you did. We were lucky to have you, and we're better for having known you. We should all be so lucky.

​Wishing you all peace,

Brandon M. Dawson, CEO, Audigy Group

Published: 9/18/2018 3:28:00 PM

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via IFTTT

Oticon Opn™ Expands Open Sound Experience with New Custom Styles

​\The expanded Oticon Opn™ family delivers the revoluti​onary open sound experience in styles and performance levels to satisfy a wide range of hearing needs and preferences – making Opn the hearing solution of choice for users and hearing care professionals more than one million times over.  Now, new Oticon Opn Custom solutions bring 360° sound to users who want the ultimate in discretion. Five new custom styles, including the smallest hearing aid style Oticon has ever produced, use BrainHearing™ technology and Opn's extremely fast and precise technology to support the brain in making sense of sound and enable users to easily identify where sounds are coming from, even in challenging environments.

"The variety of Opn Custom styles, functionalities and features combined with Oticon's groundbreaking open sound experience provides hearing care professionals with even more Opn choices for their patients, especially those who are reluctant to try hearing aids," says Don Schum, PhD, Oticon Vice President of Audiology. "For many first-time users, the appeal of an invisible hearing solution, our smallest IIC ever, may be the catalyst for taking action to address their hearing loss."

No Compromise on Quality, Reliability, Performance

Like all Oticon Opn hearing aids, the comprehensive range of Opn Custom hearing aids breaks through some of the biggest challenges faced by people with hearing loss: understanding speech in noise and handling multiple speakers. The custom lineup includes fully-featured styles with outstanding 2.4 GHz low energy Bluetooth® connectivity that offers an array of wireless possibilities. The miniaturization of all components enables more functionality in less space, resulting in fewer compromises and more modeling freedom to support a better physical fit and a higher fit rate. The effect and availability of Opn Custom features varies with hearing aid style and prescription.

Oticon Siya Amplifies Rich Details of Sound

New Oticon Siya offers an excellent listening experience for users of hearing aids in the essential category. Siya amplifies the rich details of sounds, so users can follow conversations in noisy environments. Oticon BrainHearing technology and a powerful chip that processes sound 50 times faster than Oticon's previous generation of essential hearing aids deliver high resolution sound quality to improve speech understanding.

With 2.4 GHz Bluetooth low energy technology, Siya is the first hearing aid in the essential category to allow easy wireless connectivity with low battery consumption to modern smartphones, TVs and other Bluetooth®-enabled devices. Siya comes in a complete lineup of styles, ranging from invisible custom styles to power hearing aids.

​HearingFitness™ Encourages Healthy Hearing Habits

HearingFitness™ is a new tool, available in Oticon's proprietary ON App, to help people with hearing loss understand how they can optimize their hearing health behavior to take full advantage of their hearing aids. Users of internet-connected Oticon Opn and Oticon Siya hearing aids can use HearingFitness to track how long they wear their hearing aids and receive notifications and prompts to help them reach their wearing goals and track the noise levels they are frequently exposed to. The new tool can be especially useful for first-time users who find it difficult to adapt to wearing hearing aids. ​

Published: 9/17/2018 2:52:00 PM

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Three-curve rocker-soled shoes and gait adaptations to intermittent claudication pain: a randomised crossover trial

Publication date: Available online 22 September 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Alastair R. Jordan, Garry A. Tew, Stephen W. Hutchins, Ahmed Shalan, Liz Cook, Andrew Thompson

Abstract

Background

Intermittent claudication (IC) is a symptom of peripheral arterial disease where a cramp-like leg pain is exhibited during walking, which affects gait and limits walking distance. Specifically-designed rocker-soled shoes were purported to mechanically unload the calf musculature and increase walking distances until IC pain.

Research Questions

Do three-curve rocker-soled shoes increase walking distance and what are the biomechanical differences during pain-free walking and IC pain-induced walking, when compared with control shoes?

Methods

Following NHS ethical approval, 31 individuals with claudication (age 69 ± 10 years, stature 1.7 ± 0.9 m, mass 83.2 ± 16.2 kg, ankle-brachial pressure index 0.55 ± 0.14) were randomised in this cross-over trial. Gait parameters whilst walking with rocker-soled shoes were compared with control shoes at three intervals of pain-free walking, at onset of IC pain (initial claudication distance) and when IC intensifies and prevents them walking any further (absolute claudication distance). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA were performed on gait variables.

Results

When compared with control shoes, rocker-soled shoes reduced ankle power generation (mean 2.1 vs 1.6 W/kg, respectively; p = 0.006) and altered sagittal kinematics of the hip, knee and ankle. However, this did not translate to a significant increase in initial (138 m vs 146 m, respectively) or absolute (373 m vs 406 m, respectively) claudication distances. In response to IC pain, similar adaptations in temporal-spatial parameters and the sagittal kinematics were observed between the shoe types.

Significance

The three-curved rocker shoes, in their current design, do not augment gait sufficiently to enhance walking distance, when compared with control shoes, and therefore cannot be recommended for the intermittent claudication population.

Clinical Reg No. (ClinicalTrials.gov): NCT02505503

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Gait tests in Multiple sclerosis: Reliability and cut-off values

Publication date: Available online 22 September 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Pierre Decavel, Thierry Moulin, Yoshimasa Sagawa

Abstract

Background

Gait limitation is one of the most common disabilities in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies have used gait parameters to determine the effects of different therapies. However, few studies have determined their reproducibility, also the therapeutic effects could be overestimated.

Research Question

To examine the reproducibility in gait measurements during short and long distances.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study we recruited a group of MS patients and compare it to a control group. The participants performed the following tests in a fixed order: a 25-foot walk at a comfortable speed, at a fast speed and during a dual task, a timed up-and-go test (TUG) and a six- minute walk test (6MWT). Two measurements were conducted a week apart. Systematic error was evaluated by the Student t test, reliability by the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and agreement by the minimum detectable change (MDC₉₅).

Results

A total of 58 people with MS and 19 healthy people were included. The absence of systematic error was only found for the fast speed condition. The reliability of the gait parameters had moderate to high ICC values (ICC > 0.7) except for the dual task cost (DTC) which was 0.45. The MDC₉₅ was higher in people with MS compared to healthy people, and it was higher in people with MS for gait speeds in all conditions (> 34%). For the TUG and 6MWT, the MDC₉₅ were 51.5% and 31.7% respectively. For people with MS the smallest MDC₉₅ was found for the stance time for all conditions (6.8%), whereas the highest was found for the dual task cost (158.7%).

Significance

The MDC₉₅ values were higher than the cut-off point based on the minimally important clinical difference (MICD) proposed in previous studies. Thus, the MDC₉₅ should be used as a cut-off rather than MICD values.

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Three-curve rocker-soled shoes and gait adaptations to intermittent claudication pain: a randomised crossover trial

Publication date: Available online 22 September 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Alastair R. Jordan, Garry A. Tew, Stephen W. Hutchins, Ahmed Shalan, Liz Cook, Andrew Thompson

Abstract

Background

Intermittent claudication (IC) is a symptom of peripheral arterial disease where a cramp-like leg pain is exhibited during walking, which affects gait and limits walking distance. Specifically-designed rocker-soled shoes were purported to mechanically unload the calf musculature and increase walking distances until IC pain.

Research Questions

Do three-curve rocker-soled shoes increase walking distance and what are the biomechanical differences during pain-free walking and IC pain-induced walking, when compared with control shoes?

Methods

Following NHS ethical approval, 31 individuals with claudication (age 69 ± 10 years, stature 1.7 ± 0.9 m, mass 83.2 ± 16.2 kg, ankle-brachial pressure index 0.55 ± 0.14) were randomised in this cross-over trial. Gait parameters whilst walking with rocker-soled shoes were compared with control shoes at three intervals of pain-free walking, at onset of IC pain (initial claudication distance) and when IC intensifies and prevents them walking any further (absolute claudication distance). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA were performed on gait variables.

Results

When compared with control shoes, rocker-soled shoes reduced ankle power generation (mean 2.1 vs 1.6 W/kg, respectively; p = 0.006) and altered sagittal kinematics of the hip, knee and ankle. However, this did not translate to a significant increase in initial (138 m vs 146 m, respectively) or absolute (373 m vs 406 m, respectively) claudication distances. In response to IC pain, similar adaptations in temporal-spatial parameters and the sagittal kinematics were observed between the shoe types.

Significance

The three-curved rocker shoes, in their current design, do not augment gait sufficiently to enhance walking distance, when compared with control shoes, and therefore cannot be recommended for the intermittent claudication population.

Clinical Reg No. (ClinicalTrials.gov): NCT02505503

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Gait tests in Multiple sclerosis: Reliability and cut-off values

Publication date: Available online 22 September 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Pierre Decavel, Thierry Moulin, Yoshimasa Sagawa

Abstract

Background

Gait limitation is one of the most common disabilities in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies have used gait parameters to determine the effects of different therapies. However, few studies have determined their reproducibility, also the therapeutic effects could be overestimated.

Research Question

To examine the reproducibility in gait measurements during short and long distances.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study we recruited a group of MS patients and compare it to a control group. The participants performed the following tests in a fixed order: a 25-foot walk at a comfortable speed, at a fast speed and during a dual task, a timed up-and-go test (TUG) and a six- minute walk test (6MWT). Two measurements were conducted a week apart. Systematic error was evaluated by the Student t test, reliability by the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and agreement by the minimum detectable change (MDC₉₅).

Results

A total of 58 people with MS and 19 healthy people were included. The absence of systematic error was only found for the fast speed condition. The reliability of the gait parameters had moderate to high ICC values (ICC > 0.7) except for the dual task cost (DTC) which was 0.45. The MDC₉₅ was higher in people with MS compared to healthy people, and it was higher in people with MS for gait speeds in all conditions (> 34%). For the TUG and 6MWT, the MDC₉₅ were 51.5% and 31.7% respectively. For people with MS the smallest MDC₉₅ was found for the stance time for all conditions (6.8%), whereas the highest was found for the dual task cost (158.7%).

Significance

The MDC₉₅ values were higher than the cut-off point based on the minimally important clinical difference (MICD) proposed in previous studies. Thus, the MDC₉₅ should be used as a cut-off rather than MICD values.

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