People have been suffering from partial, complete, congenital, and acquired hearing loss from time immemorial, but the very first attempted solutions even in their crudest form are about 800 – 850 years old. Studies show that the practice of using hollow animal bones as hearing aids began during the 12th Century and it was likely the only solution up until the 1600s.
Even though the hearing trumpets or ear trumpets of old are not exactly anything that can be called a hearing aid in the modern sense of the term, that is where it all began. Therefore, we too will start our brief look back into the history of hearing aids with the ear trumpets.
Ear Trumpets (17th Century)
Ear trumpets worked under the same basic principles as the ancient bone horns did. They acted as an instrument for focusing sound into the user’s ear canals to improve the intensity and clarity of soundwaves. Ear trumpets were certainly in use during the 17th Century, given that both Jean Leurechon and Athanasius Kircher mentioned them in their works in 1634 and 1650 respectively.
However, there were three very specific, collapsible ear trumpets that became famous during the 18th Century. These were the Townshend Trumpet, the Daubeney Trumpet, and the Reynolds Trumpet, named after their respective inventors for their unique designs.
Ear trumpets were commercialized under a brand for the first time by Frederick C. Rein in the 19th Century. By then, he had also developed other, standalone devices like the speaking tube and the hearing fan, which (supposedly) further augmented the ear trumpet’s capabilities.
Carbon Transmitter Hearing Aids (1898)
Miller Reese Hutchison invented the Akouphone in 1898 and it is officially recognized as the first electronic hearing aid. It used a carbon transmitter to electrically amplify soundwaves. The Akouphone and several other electronic hearing aids with carbon transmitters that came soon after were all based on prior acoustic inventions like the telephone and the microphone. Siemens improved on the original Akouphone and started releasing their own hearing aids from 1913 onwards.
Vacuum Tube Hearing Aids (1920)
The first vacuum tube hearing aids were invented and patented by Earl Hanson under the name, Vactuphone. Western Electric was the first in the US to strike a deal with Earl Hanson and start manufacturing the new vacuum tube earphones. This began on a commercial scale in 1923. The same year also saw vacuum tubes being sold commercially for those with hearing disabilities in England.
The vacuum tube was a significantly better electronic hearing aid than the akouphone and it became the standard technology for hearing aids by the early 1930s. Note that by this time, the latest vacuum tubes were significantly smaller, more comfortable, and more portable than the original Vactuphone.
The Acousticon Model 56 was certainly not the first set of hearing aids released by the General Acoustic Company but it is considered to be one of the most prolific products of the time. These new hearing aids resembled the Acousticon Model 28 in almost every way, but the latter model came with two microphones instead of one in 1928.
Transistor Hearing Aids (1952)
Soon after the end of the 2nd World War, the transistor was invented by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain in 1948. It changed everything for not just hearing aids, but the future of electronics itself. Transistors soon after replaced vacuum tubes in hearing aids, enabling the creation of smaller, better, and more portable devices that required less power to function and produced less heat.
Most importantly, the performance of even the first generation of transistor hearing aids were significantly ahead of even the latest vacuum tube hearing aids. The adjustable sound volume could go much higher with considerably less noise. However, it should be noted that for a small time, the transistor hearing aids were at risk of being abandoned as faulty tech well before they could prove their supremacy. The issue was that the transistors started breaking down after being used for just a few weeks and nobody initially had a clue why.
Fortunately, the problem was soon discovered and then rectified for the first time in 1952 by Zenith. They found that the transistors needed moisture protection as they were constantly being exposed to, and eventually damaged by, natural moisture in human ear.
By that time, Norman Krim had stepped into the scene with his brand new junction transistors that were specifically meant to be used in hearing aids. Zenith became one of the first companies to replace the vacuum tubes completely with moisture-resistant transistors in their hearing aids. The Microtone Transmatic and the MAICO Transist-Ear released in the same year and both of them were immensely successful.
Digital hearing Aids (1995 – to the Present Time)
Today, audiologists, hearing care specialists, hearing aid specialists, hearing screeners, and other aural care professionals have a wide range of options to choose from. It’s no longer about the difference in core technology, but all about how well that technology has been integrated into a product’s design. More importantly though, it’s about creating a seamless synergy between the manufacturer, their products, and the various hearing care professionals, so that patients receive the best possible results. If you are an audiologist or a hearing care professional, visit www.phonak.com/en-us/professionals for more information on how this is possible with today’s technology.
That being said, this did not happen quickly. In fact, it took several years. Prior to the availability of microprocessors that were small enough to be used inside hearing aids, they could not be used to create digital hearing aids. However, they were available for the first time during the 1970s, making way for the first hybrid digital hearing aids. It took a long time for the digital hearing aids to become fully digital though.
After decades of research and technological evolutions, the Oticon JUMP-1 was finally invented and officially unveiled as the first, fully digital hearing aid, complete with its own unique platform. The Jump-1 was not a finished product of course, but more of an advanced prototype. Nevertheless, it did start the digital evolution of hearing aids that soon followed. From a consumer’s perspective, Widex Senso is the first digital hearing aid because it was indeed the first product that was commercialized and made available to the public.