Learning to Listen
In recent years, there have been great advances in the
technology of hearing aids. Cochlear implants have become
commonplace in many parts of the world, and digital hearing aids
have eclipsed their analogue counterparts in common usage.
Hearing aids have certainly come a long way, from the days of
ear trumpets. The following is a timeline of key developments in
the advance of hearing aid technology.
* 1550 - The theory of bone conduction through teeth was
developed by Girolamo Cardano.
* 1558 - Giovanni Batista Porta described some of the earliest
hearing aids in his book Natural Magick. They are shaped like
the ears of animals known for their acute hearing abilities.
* 1724 - A postmaster from Versailles, hoping to cure his own
deafness, discovered Eustachian Tube Catheterization.
* 1878 - Emil Berthold first described the surgical repair of a
perforated tympanic membrane, which eventually became known as
Myringoplasty.
* 1898 - The first commercial hearing aid is introduced in
America by The Dictograph Company.
* 1912 - F.H. Quix developed a procedure known as
Translabrynthine Labrynthectomy, an early treatment for hearing
loss.
* 1938 - Julius Lempert published the first results of his
Fenestration operation to treat Otosclerosis.
* 1952 - The first transistor hearing aids are developed. These
were hybrid systems with both vacuum tubes and transistors being
employed.
* 1953 - The Zeiss Optical Company introduced the first
microscope specially designed for Otologic surgery.
* 1961 - Neurosurgeon John Doyle Jr. and Otologist William House
performed the first microsurgical acoustic neuroma surgery using
an operating microscope.
* 1984 - The United States Food and Drug Administration approved
the first cochlear implants for marketing to adults.
* 1990 - The cochlear implants are approved for use in children
by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Since the late 1990's, many more advances have been made in
hearing aid technology. There are now many companies that offer
highly advanced digital hearing aids. The technology has become
refined to the point where hearing aids are now contained
completely within the ear canal, and are programmed according to
the needs of the individual user. These developments have given
the gift of hearing to a generation of people. Let us be ever
mindful of the pioneers of this important work, as their
learning afforded many people the opportunity to listen.