Archive for January, 2012

  MVP halfback, Larry Brown, for the world champion Washington Redskins had hearing aids built into his football helmet upon the insistence of Vince Lombardi (when Brown was with the Green Bay Packers) so that he could hear the plays in the huddle. He was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1972-73 season; second leading Redskins’ rusher of all-time with 5,875 yards; shares the Redskins’ all-time single game record with four touchdowns; appeared in four consecutive Pro Bowls from 1969-1972. Mr. Brown says his greatest accomplishment was being named league MVP and his greatest inspiration was coach Vince Lombardi.

  Star linebacker for the world champion Chicago Bears he finished as the team’s first or second leading tackler each of his last 11 seasons. In his career he had 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defensed, 12 fumble recoveries and 7 interceptions. He was selected as all-pro eight times, all-NFC nine straight years, and to ten consecutive Pro Bowls. He was voted defensive player of the year twice. A constant force on defense, he missed playing just two games in his career with the Bears. He had 13 tackles and a sack in the playoffs leading up to the Bears’ 46-10 defeat of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. The Bears’ league-leading defense held the Patriots to a record low seven yards rushing, while the hard-charging Singletary contributed with two fumble recoveries. Mike and his wife Kim did joint public service announcements on television for BHI to emphasize the point that hearing loss is a family problem; and that often it is the spouse who encourages the person with a hearing loss to get help. Mike says “When it comes to sacking a quarterback, I don’t let anything stand in my way. The same goes for my hearing problem.” Mr. Singletary tackled his hearing problem with hearing aids.

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Larry Brown, MVP halfback for the world champion Washington Redskins, had hearing aids built into his football helmet upon the insistence of Vince Lombardi (when Brown was with the Green Bay Packers) so that he could hear the plays in the huddle.

He was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1972-73 season; second leading Redskins’ rusher of all-time with 5,875 yards; shares the Redskins’ all-time single game record with four touchdowns; appeared in four consecutive Pro Bowls from 1969-1972.

Mr. Brown says his greatest accomplishment was being named league MVP and his greatest inspiration was coach Vince Lombardi.

Star linebacker for the world champion Chicago Bears he finished as the team’s first or second leading tackler each of his last 11 seasons. In his career he had 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defensed, 12 fumble recoveries and 7 interceptions. He was selected as all-pro eight times, all-NFC nine straight years, and to ten consecutive Pro Bowls. He was voted defensive player of the year twice.

A constant force on defense, he missed playing just two games in his career with the Bears. He had 13 tackles and a sack in the playoffs leading up to the Bears’ 46-10 defeat of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. The Bears’ league-leading defense held the Patriots to a record low seven yards rushing, while the hard-charging Singletary contributed with two fumble recoveries.

Mike and his wife Kim did joint public service announcements on television for BHI to emphasize the point that hearing loss is a family problem; and that often it is the spouse who encourages the person with a hearing loss to get help. Mike says “When it comes to sacking a quarterback, I don’t let anything stand in my way. The same goes for my hearing problem.”

Mr. Singletary tackled his hearing problem with hearing aids.

“A hurdler doesn’t stop after the first hurdle“, said Reggie Williams, an athlete, humanitarian and politician who has soared over hearing and speech challenges himself. Mr. Williams was national chairman for the Council for Better Hearing and Speech Month in 1991 and has done numerous public service announcements for Better Hearing Institute as a means  of helping others to overcome the hurdles of hearing loss. He was a fearsome power on the football field for the Cincinnati Bengals for 14 years and has a lifelong record of distinguishing himself as both a fierce competitor and a compassionate public servant. His honors include 1988 National Council on Communicative Disorders public service award, 1987 Sports Illustrated sportsman of the year, 1986 NFL man of the year and 1984 NFL player’s association Byron “Whizzer” White humanitarian award. “School wasn’t much fun. I had, as was discovered in the third grade, a hearing problem that resulted in a speech impediment,” he said. By high school graduation, he had developed his athletic and academic prowess so completely that the third-grader who had been taunted as a “dummy’ set off for Dartmouth College, the first Ivy League player to be drafted into the NFL. After his remarkable football career Mr. Williams served the city council of his adopted hometown of Cincinnati.

“A hurdler doesn’t stop after the first hurdle“, said Reggie Williams, an athlete, humanitarian and politician who has soared over hearing and speech challenges himself.

Mr. Williams was national chairman for the Council for Better Hearing and Speech Month in 1991 and has done numerous public service announcements for Better Hearing Institute as a means  of helping others to overcome the hurdles of hearing loss. He was a fearsome power on the football field for the Cincinnati Bengals for 14 years and has a lifelong record of distinguishing himself as both a fierce competitor and a compassionate public servant. His honors include 1988 National Council on Communicative Disorders public service award, 1987 Sports Illustrated sportsman of the year, 1986 NFL man of the year and 1984 NFL player’s association Byron “Whizzer” White humanitarian award.

“School wasn’t much fun. I had, as was discovered in the third grade, a hearing problem that resulted in a speech impediment,” he said. By high school graduation, he had developed his athletic and academic prowess so completely that the third-grader who had been taunted as a “dummy’ set off for Dartmouth College, the first Ivy League player to be drafted into the NFL. After his remarkable football career Mr. Williams served the city council of his adopted hometown of Cincinnati.

St Louis, Mo — Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene that is required for proper development of the mouse inner ear. In humans, this gene, known as FGF20, is located in a portion of the genome that has been associated with inherited deafness in otherwise healthy families.

“When we inactivated FGF20 in mice, we saw they were alive and healthy,” says senior author David M. Ornitz, MD, PhD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Developmental Biology. “But then we figured out that they had absolutely no ability to hear.”

The results, published online in PLoS Biology, show that disabling the gene causes a loss of outer hair cells, a special type of sensory cell in the inner ear responsible for amplifying sound. While about two-thirds of the outer hair cells were missing in mice without FGF20, the number of inner hair cells, the cells responsible for transmitting the amplified signals to the brain, appeared normal.

“This is the first evidence that inner and outer hair cells develop independently of one another,” says first author Sung-Ho Huh, PhD, postdoctoral research associate. “This is important because most age-related and noise-induced hearing loss is due to the loss of outer hair cells.”

As such, Ornitz and Huh speculate that FGF20 signaling will be a required step toward the goal of regenerating outer hair cells in mammals, the only vertebrates incapable of such feats of hearing restoration.

Beyond a simple on and off switch, Ornitz and his colleagues found that FGF20 signaling (or its chemical equivalent, FGF9) must occur on or before day 14 of the embryo’s development to produce a normal inner ear. Even if FGF20 or FGF9 signaling occurred on day 15 or later, the inner ear still did not develop properly.

“In mice, the precursor cells that can become outer hair cells must be exposed to the FGF20 protein at an early stage,” Ornitz says. “After embryonic day 14, it doesn’t matter if they see the protein. It’s too late for them to become outer hair cells.”

This critical time point does not exist in other vertebrates that retain the ability to form new hair cells throughout their lives. Whether FGF20 plays a role in this regeneration remains an open question.
“We’re literally doing those experiments right now,” Warchol says. “But FGF20 has been shown to be involved in other kinds of regeneration like the regrowth of zebrafish fins.”

Ornitz and his colleagues also see evidence that mutations in FGF20 may play a role in human deafness. A genetic region known as DFNB71 has been associated with congenital deafness in a few human families.

“And FGF20 is right smack in the center of that region,” Ornitz says. “Based on our work, we are predicting that these families will have some sort of mutation in the FGF20 gene. It hasn’t been found yet, but a group at the Baylor College of Medicine is sequencing this region of the genome to look for FGF20 gene mutations.”

SOURCE: Washington University in St. Louis

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Tinnitus sufferers can now find relief in a combination hearing instrument that can help in teaching the brain to ignore unwanted sounds.

Bloomington, MN, September 12, 2011 – http://www.gnresound.com/ – ReSound, the technology leader in hearing aid solutions, has introduced a combination hearing instrument to its Alera® product line.

 Alera TS™ combines an advanced hearing aid with a Tinnitus Sound Generator (TSG).  The TSG is used to administer sounds that make the disturbing tinnitus noise less noticeable, drawing your attention away from it. This is a common approach in Sound Therapy.

“Alera TS™ helps change the way you respond to tinnitus by diverting your attention away from it,” said Michael Piskosz, M.S., ReSound.  “This kind of sound therapy when combined with informed counseling is recognized as a highly effective way of managing tinnitus.” 

Alera TS™ provides flexibility for individualized Sound Therapy.  As each case of tinnitus is unique, hearing professionals can customize Alera TS™ to address the personalized needs of each tinnitus sufferer.

 Tinnitus is the most prevalent physical disability reported by military service members and veterans.  Previously, there were very few devices that could treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in one instrument – and these devices didn’t have the flexibility to adapt to the diverse tinnitus management protocols that are most commonly practiced today.

 Strong benefits in tinnitus management have been reported when using the TSG feature. 83% of VA audiologists reported a significant or satisfactory improvement in tinnitus symptoms after activating the Tinnitus Sound Generator feature.

 “10 – 15% of the World’s population suffers from unwanted sounds associated with tinnitus,” said Piskosz.  “These people now have a flexible solution, and no longer have to live with tinnitus interrupting their daily lives.”

 To learn more about ReSound Alera®, visit www.gnresound.com/alera.

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Featuring an impressive level of water and dirt resistance (IP67) the new Phonak M H2O models are the perfect companion – both indoors, and outdoors, ranging from jogging and cycling to water-based activities. The new housing is designed to be water and dirt resistant, with special attention paid protection of the microphone sound inlet and battery door – all of which support reliable performance in these various environments. This micro-sized hearing aid is equipped with a telecoil, an on-board manual control and is FM compatible (ML15i receiver). Together with all the other performance highlights, the M H2O is the ideal choice for a broad range of applications.

Based on the new Spice+ technology, Phonak M H2O offers a unique performance and feature set. Spice+ delivers significantly enhanced sound quality, a more natural hearing experience in a quiet environment, improved first fit acceptance and a simplified fitting workflow. To cover all needs, the new M H2O is available in three price and performance categories, joining the product families Phonak Ambra (premium), Phonak Solana (advanced) and Phonak Cassia (standard).

“With our new portfolio, we introduce truly reliable hearing solutions that offer outstanding performance and a high level of water and dirt resistance. Users can perform a great deal of sport activities without having to worry about their hearing aids”, says Alexander Zschokke, Interim CEO of Phonak.

The water and dirt resistant portfolio is completed by the introduction of the new Naída S CRT, an external receiver device for those who do not want to compromise when it comes to a powerful, yet discreet hearing solution. Additionally, the new Nios S H2O, also a member of the M H2O product family, is an extremely robust and durable hearing aid of the pediatric portfolio, offering micro-sized housing perfectly suited for small ears.

To see more about Phonak H2O hearing aids, visit http://www.phonak.com/us/b2c/en/home.html

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Sonic is introducing the Flip miniature receiver-in-the-canal (miniRIC). Flip includes a new Sonic Speech Variable Processing platform for fast sound processing and preserving the naturalness of sound along with the subtle nuances of speech. The product also features Speech Priority Noise Reduction, the next generation in Sonic noise reduction algorithms, which also emphasizes speech understanding in noise.

“Our new Speech Priority Noise Reduction works hand-in-hand with our new fast-acting Speech Variable Processing to provide excellent results for Flip hearing instrument wearers,” said Sonic’s president and COO Joe Lugara. “With Flip, we also added an Impulse Noise Reduction feature to increase patient listening comfort by addressing those sudden loud sounds that patients really don’t want to hear.”

The Flip product gets its name from the unique way in which the whole side of the hearing instrument “flips” open. The name is also a call to action for hearing care professionals and patients to “flip your expectations” about the features available in a small hearing instrument.

“Flip is so small, yet rich in mechanical and sound processing features,” said Kathy Landon, Sonic vice president of branding and professional services. “Even with its small size, Flip uses an easy-to-handle size 13 battery, which provides better battery life, is much more convenient for patients with dexterity challenges, and is simple to access because of the flip open case.”

Flip also includes an easy-to-locate push button for changing programs and a large rotary volume control not found on products of this size. According to Sonic, Flip is the only miniRIC available today with both a rotary volume control and a push button.

Visit Sonic’s website for more details.  http://us.sonici.com/

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