New website - Deafteens.org

A nicely designed website, deaf teens is a new blog where you can share and read stories about hearing impairment, hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc. It provides an opportunity for people to connect with one another through blogging and even chat. There's also a doctor's and parent's corner for commenting.

How the website came to be is an inspirational story of its own. According to the blog Hearing Sparks, David, a teenager with bilateral cochlear implants set out to build a website for an Eagle Scout project. He chronicled the  process on his website: David's Eagle Scout Project. Share your story by emailing him at davidcluff2012@gmail.com 

Here is one particular touching story from the website: “My Story” By JoEllen R., age 18

via Hearing Sparks

Phonak Audéo PFE, Perfect Fit Earphones

Audéo PFE with microphone (left) and Audéo PFE (right)

I have fairly small ear canals and it can be difficult to find standard sized earphones that are comfortable. I currently have a pair of custom earmolds that I fit over standard iPod earbuds and although they are comfortable, they don't provide any noise-isolation features. 

After hearing a lot of buzz about the Phonak Audéo PFE from forums and briefly trying out my professor's pair and finding them very comfortable. I ordered a pair of white ones with a microphone from their website for $159 plus tax. The Audéo PFEs without a microphone retail at $139 plus tax. Available in black or white and with free shipping.

For this price, users have found the frequency quality excellent using the various different audio filters available. CNET reviews gave it the editor's choice in March 2009. 

What's included:

• 1 pair of Audéo Perfect Fit Earphones with microphone
• Audio filter box with 6 audio filters (2 grey, 4 black)*,  and changing tool
• Silicone ear tips – 3 pairs (1 pair S, 1 pair M, 1 pair L)
• ComplyTM foam tips - 1 pair M
• Cleaning tool for ear tips
• 2 silicone ear guides
• Carrying case

Coming up... a full review. 

Science Daily: Structure of inner-ear protein is key to both hearing and inherited deafness

Thousands of microscopic hair cells located in the cochlea of the inner ear are extremely sensitive structures. Stereocilia are hair-like structures located on the hair cells and tip-links are filaments that connect the stereocilia in bundles. These structures are involved in the depolarization process, which ultimately leads to the excitation of the auditory nerve resulting in physiologic percept of sound.

ScienceDaily.com released an article on April 17, 2010 about new studies from the labs of David Corey, professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and Rachelle Gaudet, associate professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The group performed studies on one of two proteins, cadherin-23, that join to form each tip-link. Their studies show how mutations of the protein can make this otherwise extremely strong protein to weaken in its calcium bonding, resulting in inherited deafness. When weak, stress can cause this bond to "break in billionths of a second."

"Still image from a simulation that "stretches" the two end-most segments of the cadherin-23 protein, much as loud noise might do to its real-life counterpart in the inner ear. Such extreme stress can cause cadherin-23 to break in billionths of a second. (Credit: Marcos Sotomayor)"

Read the awesome article: Structure of inner-ear protein is key to both hearing and inherited deafness

via Science Daily

Apple explains the science of sound and listening responsibly

On December 30, 2009, Apple Inc won their appeal for iPod hearing loss lawsuit. The appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show that use of the iPod poses an unreasonable risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Senior Judge David Thompson wrote, "At most, the plaintiffs plead a potential risk of hearing loss not to themselves, but to other unidentified iPod users" (via Reuters). I believe that the lawsuit was originally filed in 2007.

At that time, Apple was under fire and decided to address issues concerning responsible use of their iPod. So, they launched a page on their website called Sound and Hearing and the option to set the maximum volume limit on an iPod. This can be especially useful for parents who want to protect their kids ears from exposure to loud sounds. 

Just remember that exposure to any sound at extremely loud levels can cause damage to the hearing system.

Tips from Audiologists for dealing with noisy restaurants

From that same Wall Street Journal article comes some useful tips from Audiologists. Keep them in mind the next time you dine at a city hot spot. Or share them with someone you know that has difficulty hearing in noisy situations.

Dinner Without Yelling

Audiologists offer advice for finding a quieter dining experience:

• Sit in tables in alcoves, which provide a barricade against sound waves.  
• Avoid sitting by the bar or kitchen.  
• Avoid sitting near large parties, who tend to talk louder.  
• Ask for additional light and look at your dining companion. Without realizing it, we read lips.  
• Ask management to turn the music down, even if you get dirty looks. Not only does this reduce noise, but people will then talk more softly.   
• Look at photos of the restaurant ahead of time. No carpet or tablecloths and boxy dimensions should raise red flags.

via WSJ

Why such noisy restaurants?

Photo by Eric Laignel - La Mar Cebicheria Peruana in SF (source: WSJ)

A nationwide trend for restaurants in larger cities has been to do away with heavy tablecloths, drapery, carpeting, and other elements that tend to absorb reverberant sounds in open spaces. The result: potential for a high noise environment that can make understanding speech difficult. The design components that contribute to excessive noise may include lots of windows, hardwood floors, lack of tablecloths and high-ceilings. The Wall Street Journal article titled, "Pass the Salt...and the Megaphone" provides a perspective on noisy restaurants.

I think the article provides good insight into restaurant designers' ideology and the lack of involving acoustical engineers during the design process to help deal with the sound issues. Based on the interviews by the author with some restaurant goers, it appears as though both younger and older crowds have complaints about noisy restaurants. Good news is that some restaurant owners have recognized the problem at hand and have implemented acoustical treatments to help absorb reverberant surfaces. 

One of the cool features of the article is called "How Loud is it?" where you can listen to noise measured by WSJ at a few restaurants in the U.S., including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and NYC. The samples include noise at the hostess stands and table where the reporter sat. 

There is also an interactive guide that allows you to mouse over different areas of a restaurant in San Francisco to read about critiques by Tom Thunder, an audiologist and acoustical engineer from Northern Illinois University. 

An excerpt from the article about the SF restaurant pictured above read: "The staff of La Mar in San Francisco realized noise was a problem immediately after opening, says general manager Andrew Generalao. It was a "low priority," Mr. Generalao says, until a local reviewer printed that the decibel level was 80—just under the level audiologists consider damaging to hearing after long-term exposure."

Check out the full article for more details, it's worth a read. 


via WSJ