Why do some of you folks insist on beating yourselves up over domes? Get properly vented custom molds and be done with it!
Iām wondering why the Audis just donāt do that from the start. With the advances in 3D scanning and 3D printing, it should be a no brainer. All they really need is a scanner. Take a mold and scan it, the files can be uploaded, printing done overnight and shipped out to Audi the next day. Scanners are cheaper than the printers. The precision required for soft tissue is less than hard tissue, you donāt need a fit within microns like a dental crown or implant. Correct me if I am wrong, but the fit does not even need to consider muscle movement.
Ack, the truth is, not all audis have that kind of 3D scan-to-manufacture technology. It is still sadly a pretty old-fashioned way for making earmolds: mix up the goop, squirt it into the canal, either CHEW or DO NOTHING (Iāve had both directions given to me), and then hope the molds are turned into a hard plastic case that fits half-decent.
In the 30+ years Iāve had hard plastic molds made for my aids, Iāve NEVER EVER had both right and left aid fit perfect. Never. One of them is leaky-squeaky and causes constant, low-level feedback and leakage till the day I replace them. No audiologist seems to want to re-make the mold! I donāt see why laser imaging plus 3D manufacturing canāt be used to make molds, but maybe the cost of the aids would be prohibitive?
Itās just a far from perfect fitting scene today as things stand.
I hear you. I know that in Dental similar cost barriers exist. Some offices had the scanner & milling units for ceramic crowns. Unless they were high volume producers for the technology, by the time they paid for the units they were outdated. The current trend is for in office scanning and sending out for 3D printing or milling. Here is a 4 year old article that explains the different formats used in dental.
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[quote=ā1Bluejay, post:18, topic:25609, full:trueā]
snevetsm: It would be interesting to know if there is any time-line link between your dadās and father-in-lawās dementia and when they finally bought their hearing aids. Iāve read - and seen first-hand! - how dementia can set in if hearing issues arenāt addressed. [/quote]
Iāve done a lot of clinical work with dementia patients and Iām confident thereās no causative link between poor hearing and dementia - whether or not the hearing issues are addressed, dementia will āset inā anyway if itās going to.
I definitely believe that poor hearing can lead to pseudodementia, feed depression, cause social withdrawal, and even contribute to psychosis.
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^^^^ Yes, I am no medical professional, but it sure seemed that my aunt (momās older sister) progressed down the path of dementia. She was hard of hearing for years before getting the lowest cost aids possible (almost to DENY the issue existed) when she was in her late 80s. But her dementia could well have had a genetic component.
As for my dadās hearing situation: he was fit with aids in his early 30s, and had NO dementia. My father-in-law grudgingly got aids in his late 80s, and also had NO dementia.
Perhaps the situation can arise if there is a genetic pre-disposition AND the person is losing their hearing over time, thus starting the downward spiral of anti-social withdrawal, paranoia, and then possible psychosis.
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There is no causative link between hearing loss and dementia. They both happen to be more common with age and hearing loss causes depression which can look like dementia and communication problems which make testing for dementia difficult.