How Do You Future-Proof a Hearing Instrument

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Earlier this year, ReSound extended the Alera® wireless hearing aid product line to include a configurable behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing instrument that addresses the issue of future-proofing for changing patient needs. Future-proofing a hearing aid involves addressing patient concerns that their hearing aids will be a good investment for them in the future, even if their hearing losses should change.

The Alera 77/87 BTE is the only standard BTE that can be easily converted to a high power instrument through a simple reconfiguration process in the fitting software and the change of a tone hook. In addition, this BTE also provides all the wireless capabilities, nanocoating technology and processing capacity of the Alera line. The user benefit is peace of mind that the hearing aid will be useful over several years, even with progressive or fluctuating hearing losses. The clinician benefit is better clinic inventory management, since the large fitting range covered by both the standard and high power configurations can allow for more streamlined hearing aid stock options.

Tammara Stender, Au.D., CCC-A is a Senior Audiologist at GN ReSound, where she plans and conducts clinical trials for newly developed hearing aid technology and prepares documentation for released products. Her research interests include hearing aid benefit and satisfaction, the occlusion effect and spatial localization abilities with hearing aids. She received her Master of Science degree from Vanderbilt University, and her Doctor of Audiology degree from the University of Florida.