Perhaps one of the most famous holiday tales is Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. Beloved by many, this story features the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and their effect on Ebeneezer Scrooge and positive change in his fate. While Scrooge may have lived in a time of ear trumpets, hearing aid technology has made and continues to make significant advances to benefit the lives of the millions of individuals with hearing loss.

This holiday season, don’t let a “bah, humbug!” stop you – join us over the next three weeks on this tale of hearing aids’ past, present, and future.

Hearing aids have significantly changed since the early ear trumpets were used to collect speech for those with hearing impairments. The early hearing aids started with inventors and entrepreneurs that were interested in the medical device field as well as the early telephone technology.  One of the earliest hearing aids developed in the US was the result of two hearing aid patents by Miller Reese Hutchinson. In 1898 -or possibly 1899- Hutchinson and James H. Wilson co-founded the Akouphone Company in Alabama, likely the first company specifically formed to manufacture hearing aids. Thus, the honor of producing the first electric carbon hearing aid to see production goes to Miller Reese Hutchinson.¹

At the beginning of the 20^th century, hearing aids began to emerge in Europe. Using the carbon microphones installed in telephone technology, hearing aids were developed using a large tube-based amplifier and headset as shown below.

© Siemens Healthineers MedMuseum

This device had a large battery that needed to be worn or carried to power the device.  An early photo demonstrating the device can be seen below

© Siemens Healthineers MedMuseum

In the 1950’s, Bell Labs in New Jersey developed the first transistor, and soon these were introduced into hearing aids which provided a significant reduction in the size of the device and improved sound quality. The next milestone for hearing aids occurred in the 1970’s with the introduction of the microprocessor.  These increased the processing power of the devices and paved the way for the next major innovations.

As processing technology was developing, so were the form factors (or styles) for hearing aids.  The early body worn devices were replaced with behind-the-ear hearing aids in the 1950’s which now could be worn more discreetly than previous body worn devices.  Also, during the 1950’s, eyeglass hearing aids were introduced with electronics built into the temples of the frame.  This was followed by the custom in-the-ear devices introduced in the 1970’s.  

In 1996, a major breakthrough in hearing aid technology came when the first device with a digital signal processing chip was invented.  It significantly increased the processing power which enabled the hearing aids to divide the audio signal into different frequency bands and amplify certain sounds to the wearer’s unique hearing loss, ultimately enhancing speech understanding.

Hearing aids have been on an incredible journey of innovation, with each decade since the early 20th century bringing major advancements in their functionality and design. Modern hearing aids now boast satisfaction rates surpassing popular consumer devices such as smartphones and televisions. Next week, we move to the Present, where we will explore the cutting-edge features available in today’s technology that offer life-changing benefits for many users.

Eager to learn more about hearing health, hearing aids, and how to connect with a licensed hearing care professional? Visit Hearing.org for more resources.