NEW 3D SCAN TECHNOLOGY ENABLES ULTRA-TINY HEARING AID

“Optimal Hearing is proud to announce another ‘first’ in hearing technology,” said Gabe Pitt, doctor of audiology and clinic director of Optimal Hearing. “We now use CAD/CAM (computer aided design + computer aided manufacturing) to produce tiny, canal-size hearing aid shells. The CAD/ CAM technology replaces the labor-intensive lost-wax casting method.”

“The process begins with a well-made impression of the patient’s ear canal,” Dr, Pitt said. “This becomes the original model. The impression is placed into a 3D scanner box and a laser beam scans the impression from every angle. A million data points are created and a “wire frame” skeleton of the impression is generated. The computer finishes the virtual reproduction and a digital image of the impression appears.”

The next step is modeling the virtual shell to contain the components. Everyone’s ear canal is a different volume and shape. It takes careful planning to fit all parts into the tiny hearing aid shell. Using the virtual hearing aid shell, the lab technician experiments with different placements of the digital chip, microphone, receivers, vents, faceplate, receiver tubing, wax guards, and battery. The best possible fit is achieved in this way. “Production of a hearing aid shell is called “3D Printing,” because the computer “prints”out the canal-sized shell layer by layer, 1/10 mm at a time, Dr. Pitt said.

The technician inserts the designed-to-fit component module into the shell. Previously, component placement with the older lost-wax method required hollowing-out the shell with a dental drill until components fit. And thus, there was a limit to how small a hearing aid could be.

The benefits of CAD/CAM hearing aid shell production are: improved comfort, better acoustics, more gain possible without feedback, eliminates the need for additional ear impressions, uniform shell thickness, increased efficiency in production, perfect placement of components without kinks or pinched wires, and accuracy obtaining an exact replica of the patient’s inner ear canal.

The result for the patient is a perfect and comfortable fit.