Collaborative project between Danish universities and HA manufacturers

The universities involved in the project, called BEAR, an acronym for Better Hearing Rehabilitation, include the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, the Technical University of Denmark, and DELTA, an independent technology company.

The project will have a budget of DKK 50 million (EUR 6.7 million) with significant contributions from the industry and from the Innovation Fund Denmark. The objective is to improve fitting, comfort, and effectiveness of hearing aids so that fewer people end up shelving their devices rather than getting the most out of them.

BEAR will aim to look for new tools to improve HA fitting and adjustment, moving on from the conventional audiogram commonly used to assess hearing loss and then adjust hearing devices. “The reason we are so focused on audiograms is that right now we can’t put our finger on a specific measurement and say: that’s the test that could enable us to adjust hearing aids better. There are a whole battery of various tests and examinations, but they take time and may require special equipment or training. That is why we need to find out which methods work best,” says Dorte Hammershøi, Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University.

The project has set the goal of developing new standards in HA fitting and adjustment, including the critical role of follow-up care, to provide people with hearing loss the best possible treatment and to optimize resources.

Source: Oticon