Batteries?

Hearing Aids
#1

Hey Guys,

Why haven’t the hearing aid manufacturers started using the new battery tech for BTE aids? Lithium rechargable batteries could be custom molded into the aid housings for maximum space with no need for fold out trays to pop removable batteries in and out of? Mini or Micro USB charging connection that you could even plug into an adapter in your car like your cell phone if you needed to? It seems pretty slow of them to hang onto the old metal battery cell technology when the new rechargable lithium batteries are being used in things as inexpensive as $29.95 Bluetooth cellphone earpieces? If they had a lifespan, then have them capable of being replaced with a couple of screws to open the case and pop in the new battery. If you have looked at the batteries in bluetooth devices, they are often somewhat shapeless and kind of like a semi-soft plastic sack with the wires coming out of it. Easy to custom shape and fit into almost any kind of housing? Current use shows days of standby time for power and I am fairly certain that their bluetooth connection uses more power than the average hearing aid? So they should have a good time span between charges just like the changing time span for your hearing aid batteries.
Seems like the only brand that I have seen with the USB bluetooth charging are the low buck units from the “Six Million Dollar Man” advertising on late night TV? HA!HA!

Comments and opinions?

Swiss

#2

http://hearing.siemens.com/en/03-home/index-en.jsp

#3

Thanks, that is one of them! :slight_smile:

#4

One reason could be that rechargeable Lithium (Lithium Ion) batteries have a single cell voltage of 3.3 to 4.2 volts depending on the chemistry. This would destroy a hearing aid designed to operate at 1.4 volts. Also the HA would require additional circuitry to prevent the lithium battery from becoming completely discharged. Discharge to 0 is usually a death knell for lithium batteries.

#5

The answer is ‘Energy Density’ - Zinc/Air batteries provide the a reasonable steady voltage over their discharge life. And once you have a standard size/performance answer it takes a much better solution to take over from it. (why do we all still use qwerty keyboards?)

At some point there will be a change to lithium/polymer based products - but it involves a bit of a re-think in terms of shell design, when there’s a lot of pressure on manufacturers to keep the shell size as small as possible.

The points above are also valid, as it stops the systems from being easily backwardly compatible with products designed for Zinc/Oxide stock.

#6

Designing hearing aids with sealed rechargeable batteries is just about the stupidest idea I have ever heard. If you’re on the go and the battery dies, there is no way to get your hearing aid to work until you return home to recharge it. This is never a problem with replaceable batteries. You can be sure that the rechargeable battery will die right in the middle of an important meeting and leave you up the creek without a paddle. Songbird tried to sell the public on “disposable” hearing aids that had sealed , non-replaceable batteries. How well did that work out? You don’t hear about them anymore, do you? But, if you like aggravation and frustration, then rechargeable hearing aids might be for you. Gerald

#7

Siemens Horgerate GMBH might respectfully disagree with you about this - rechargeable aids are part of their current product range.

There’s also the concept of ‘booster’ devices which can be used to charge aids over the short term.