The world could start sounding a lot clearer to people suffering from hearing loss if ASU researchers succeed in a new project to be funded by a recently awarded $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
An estimated 28 million Americans are experiencing hearing loss, according to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Connection One, an NSF industry-university cooperative research center based at ASU, is developing a microscale digital hearing aid that would closely mimic the way natural hearing organs work.
"Our goal is to understand how the biological system operates - for example, how the eardrum converts vibrations into electronic impulses - and then mimic that system with the seamless integration of a digital hearing device," says Sayfe Kiaei, director of Connection One. "This type of research will enable us to come up with new materials and devices that could seamlessly integrate with biological systems. It could revolutionize the study of biomaterials and bioelectronics."
Kiaei, an electrical engineering professor, is joined on the research team by Bertan Bakkaloglu, an associate professor in electrical engineering, and Junseok Chae, an assistant professor in electrical engineering. Each has a dual role as a faculty member in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at ASU and as a Connection One researcher.
Many hearing loss sufferers choose not to use hearing aids because of the large - and often uncomfortable - behind-the-ear (BTE) devices. Smaller in-the-ear (ITE) or in-the-canal (ITC) alternatives also present difficulties such as short battery life because of the small size of the batteries, and the inability of most children to wear the devices because their ear canals are constantly growing.
The Connection One team is investigating new techniques for improving the performance and comfort of hearing aids by decreasing their size, increasing the sound quality, making the devices more flexible and extending battery life.
The researchers hope to achieve such advancements by using micromachined MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technologies. MEMS technology integrates mechanical elements, sensors, actuators and electronics onto a thin synthetic membrane to place on a silicon chip. The synthetic material is flexible, similar to a human membrane.
This technique can be used to produce a more comfortable device that will expand in growing ear canals, allowing children to wear the hearing aid. The microscale devices will integrate an entire electronic system - including microphone and speakers - onto a 1-millimeter-by-1-millimeter surface.
The initial $200,000 grant will allow the team to develop a prototype of the digital hearing aid. If the prototype succeeds, the NSF could provide additional funding to expand the project. The group could get a $500,000 grant to work with an industrial partner to further develop and test the device. An additional $650,000 grant would allow the research team and a commercial partner to develop a marketable product.
Connection One works closely with private industry and the federal government on various projects in radio-frequency and wireless communication systems, networks, remote sensing and homeland security.
The center's mission is to develop technology for advanced communication systems for a variety of applications, from cellular to environmental and defense uses.
The industry-university partnership combines an academic environment with state-of-the-art research initiatives and real-world applications. Connection One has more than 18 industry members, in addition to four university members: ASU, the University of Arizona, the University of Hawaii and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
Romanoff, with the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, can be reached via e-mail at nicole.romanoff@asu.edu.
Taken from www.asu.edu/news/stories/200607/20060703_hearing.htm
Project Offers Hope to Those with Hearing Loss
Share:
