To Make Hearing Aids Affordable, Firm Turns on Bluetooth

We all know hearing aids are expensive with the average pair costing about $4,000. For something so essential, one would hope they would be more affordable, or at least have a decent amount covered by insurance. With this in mind, Sound World Solutions is working on a way to make hearing aids more accessible, and affordable, to the public.

Stavros Basseas is an electrical engineer from Chicago. He is working closely with patients in a small clinic in order to make these affordable hearing aids. Having worked with deaf and hard of hearing patients, Basseas expressed this had become more than a project. Hearing their experiences and life stories made the success of his project extremely important.

Currently, Sound World Solutions has a prototype they have estimated to sell for about $300. However, before they can sell the product they are trying to overcome one more hurdle. It takes time to set a hearing aid. Basseas and the company are trying to decrease this lengthy ordeal by introducing a solution through a connection with Bluetooth via your smartphone. The device can either be modified manually, or with the help of an app which will provide a hearing test to adjust to your needs. Once completed, the hearing aid can be mailed to your door.

Click here to read the full article by John Ydstie.