In recent years, hearing-aids have seen the addition of other technological resources, consisting of: - vibrotactile aids that exploit an "alternative" sensory system to the hearing system, such as, for example, touch.
Today, the hearing-aid can no longer be considered as a simple amplifier of sounds but, thanks to the microelectronics technology, is much more precise and has become a signal processor.
Therefore its electroacoustic characteristics can be adapted to most hearing deficits, thus offering the hypoacusis patient controlled and comfortable amplification.
In case of total bilateral neurosensory or one-sided deafness, when the use of hearing amplification is not technically possible, the sound information can be sent to the cognitive areas.
This possibility is due to vibrotactile stimulation, where the sound picked up by the microphone is transmitted to the skin, in the areas rich in receptors, in the form of vibration, using electromagnetic transducers in such a way as to communicate a limited amount of information suitable for reconstructing the message.
The purposes of this aid are:
- to improve the performance of the classical hearing-aid solution in case of total hypoacusis, facilitating the discrimination of words
- to perceive sounds and background noise, avoiding sound isolation
- to increase perception and autocontrol of speech; to facilitate recognizing certain characteristics of speech, such as rhythm, duration, accent and sonority.
