The
hearing aid, in all its various forms, has been helping people suffering from
hearing loss down through its history. Ever since its original inception, back
in the late 1600`s. The first type of hearing aid was the classic ear trumpet.
It was a funnel-shaped or tubular implement, used to gather sound waves which
ended up in the ear. They were fashioned from wood, silver, sheet metal and,
animal horns and snail shells. Ear trumpets were ideal for enhancing the impact
of sound energy to the eardrum.
They were becoming commonly
in use by the close of the 1700s. The ear trumpet was first produced by a
company in London in 1800. However, by the end of the 1800s, more and more
people were using hidden hearing aids.
It was after the development of the telephone, by Scottish inventor Alexander
Graham Bell in 1876, that saw the call for a modern hearing aid. It culminated
in the creation of the initial electric hearing aid twelve years later, in
1898. When, by utilising the principles of the telephone, they could enhance
how acoustic signals were changed and received. Hearing aids could utilise the
technology to manage the frequency, distortion and volume of sounds, so they
can be picked up by the ear. This was the effect the telephone had on the
development of the hearing aid.
The original electric hearing
aid was called the Akouphone. It was designed to be a portable device and used
a carbon transmitter. The 1920`s saw the launch of the Vactuphone, the
inaugural vacuum-tube hearing aid, and in the next decade, hearing aids were
becoming increasingly popular to the public.
The Second World War heralded
great strides in the evolution of the hearing aid, especially miniaturization.
Where devices were becoming more compact and portable. The close of the forties
saw the development of transistor hearing aids, to replace vacuum tubes.
Eventually, advances in computer science and the microprocessor, as well as
high-speed digital-array processors used in minicomputers amongst other
elements, helped herald the rise of the digital hearing aid.
We have seen the evolution of
hearing devices through history, and Darroch Hearing Clinics has
always been on the cutting edge of technology. For the choice of the most up to
date hearing devices available, look no further.
Worried about your hearing? Book an appointment with
Darroch Hearing Clinics today and we will help you to find the
right innovation for you.
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