Technology Update SessionSession 2C Since their introduction at the 2004 AAS meeting, Companion Mics clipped to the talker's collar have provided a 12 to 18 dB SNR improvement in noise for up to four talkers. This improvement results from picking up the voice 6" from the talker's mouth instead of 48" across the table. Unfortunately, the audiologist would have to say: "If you have trouble hearing in noise, take off one of your hearing aids and put on this earphone." One recent improvement was the development of an open-ear HearHook sound tube hooked over the ear, to deliver sound to the ear canal or ITE microphone. That worked well for many, but has not been entirely successful in the marketplace. While waiting for the addition of Bluetooth circuits, a new "Top Fire" HearHook has been developed to deliver a clean signal to the microphone of popular "invisible" BTE hearing aids. Probe mic measurements of the CMIC/HearHook signal over the ear, compared to the direct signal at that location, showed improvement in 70 dBA restaurant noise from 0% to 97% intelligibility, with the talker 6" away, using a talker speaking QuickSin sentences in our standard recorded restaurant noise.
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