Hearing care is constantly evolving and incorporating the latest technology for hearing care and restoration. Every year, new techniques are introduced, and old ones are improved. The year 2023 promises many new and interesting things in the field of audiology. What are the most anticipated trends in hearing care? What should audiologists and their patients pay attention to?
TeleMedicine
The unprecedented epidemiological challenges of the global healthcare system in the last couple of years have triggered an avalanche-like process of improvement in approaches to the provision of medical services. An example is remote medical counseling using modern computer and telecommunication technologies. Audiology is no exception.
At a time of increased coronavirus infection, many clinics, including Audiology Island, have offered their clients a remote counseling service without the need for a direct visit to the audiologist. It’s convenient, fast, and safe!
Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids
OTC hearing aids are a new category of sound-amplifying devices that can be purchased without consulting an audiologist. Not long ago, regulators closed the latest controversial discussion and approved the purchase of medical devices without consulting a doctor. Many hard-of-hearing people have a psychological barrier to going to a hearing care professional.
The ability to purchase hearing aids on your own is expected to allow more people to be treated. On the other hand, self-treatment of hearing loss instead of seeking professional help can lead to inadequate hearing care.
The growth of noise-induced hearing loss
Not so long ago, hearing loss was a sign of age. Age-related changes were the main cause of hearing loss. But in more recent times, that cause has changed. Today, people are increasingly affected by noise exposure and pollution in large cities.
Listening to loud music with headphones and going to nightclubs, sports, and rock concerts harm hearing health. More and more young people have hearing loss today. And that number is slowly increasing every year! Hearing loss, unfortunately, is getting younger in cities.
Using AI
More and more manufacturers are adding AI capabilities to hearing aids. AI already does a lot of things. For example, constantly analyzing the surrounding soundscape to automatically adjust settings, using deep neural networks to better recognize a specific person’s speech and health monitoring, preventing accidental falls, and translating from foreign languages in real-time. Manufacturers are promising new features for AI in 2023! Let’s look forward to them!
