Phonak and Advanced Bionics to Launch New Microphone Technology

​Phonak has partnered with Advanced Bionics to develop a new microphone technology, MultiBeam Technology, that will help people with hearing aids and cochlear implants hear better in noise. By utilizing multiple microphones in six directions, MultiBeam Technology captures speech from 360 degrees, which is then calculated and compared. The direction with the best signal-to-noise ratio is automatically selected. Phonak said the technological processing complexity is almost 10 times higher than its previous technology, and the power consumption was reduced more than one-third with MultiBeam Technology, which has been in development since 2009. In a study conducted at the University of Dallas involving 10 participants, speech understanding improved up to 61 percent in a group conversation in 75 dBA of noise compared with that when using hearing aids alone in the same setting. Linda Thibodeau, PhD, who led the research, said this new technology will allow people with hearing challenges who have resigned from attending social functions, family gatherings, and business meetings to experience significant improvements in speech recognition. "This could ultimately lead to improved quality of life as they confidently reconnect with others using discreet, convenient, and highly versatile technology," she said. 

Published: 3/9/2018 10:12:00 AM

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