CHENNAI: Digital hearing aids are now available in Chennai. Though expensive, they may be the best available in the market. The device that fits snugly behind the ear or in the ear canal is almost invisible.

GN ReSound, a hearing aid maker, headquartered in Denmark, launched its top end hearing aid, Metrix, in India on Friday. Metrix has a conical 35-degree sound beam adaptability thus reducing atmospheric disturbance. A student sitting in class need not worry about other noises when a lecturer speaks because the device will pick up just the lecturer's speech.

The device separates sound into 17 frequency bands and can monitor each band 1,000 times a second, identify the speech component, remove background noise and give clear and intelligible speech. The device prevents blockage of air circulation and whistling noise, a common problem with analog devices.

Hearing aid users suffer discomfort because of the noise levels, which cannot be filtered like the normal ear, but they are unable to explain it. Metrix has the capacity to store noise for 60 days.

A month after the aid is fitted the user is asked to return for a review with an audiologist. The device is analysed to find out the user's hearing threshold levels. "If you have used a hearing aid for 500 hours we can classify how the aid has been used and programme it," says Vikram Pal, managing director of GN ReSound India.

Options such as the totally invisible inner ear aid and the partially visible plug-like aid fitted in the ear canal are also available. Unlike in the West, awareness about hearing loss and the need for rectifying it is low. Indians fear stigmatisation, says Mr. Pal.

"On average a person with hearing loss comes back seven years after identification. Family isolation and social embarrassment bring him to the doctor," says audiologist K. Ganesh. Metrix devices cost from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.10 lakhs. A range of lower end aids is also available with them.

For details contact: Hearing Aid Centre, Lokesh Tower, 18, Kodambakkam High Road. Ph: 28276945/28273279.

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