Types of Hearing Instruments and Circuits 
        Custom Hearing Instruments, Behind-The-Ear (BTE) Instruments  and Types of Circuits

Custom Hearing Instruments:
Custom hearing instruments are designed and built from an impression of your ear canal taken by your hearing professional. Since every ear canal is different, custom hearing instruments are unique to your ear and can only be worn by you. These custom instruments come in several different models to meet your needs and are available with digital, programmable or non-programmable circuits. Below is a list of custom hearing instruments. Check with your hearing professional to decide which model and circuit is right for you.

In-the-Ear or ITE: Worn in the bowl of the ear. with circuit and ear mold together in a single piece, the      ITE takes natural advantage of the shape of the ear to channel sound down the canal to the eardrum.

Completely-In-the-Canal or CIC: Virtually undetectable when worn dawn in the ear canal. these tiny hearing instruments offer great cosmetic appeal. The physical limitations imposed by very small ear canals may restrict options.

In-the-Canal or ITC: Worn in the canal of the ear. this small cosmetically appealing hearing instrument also takes advantage of the shape of the ear to channel incoming sound directly into the ear canal. Some options may be limited by physical size of the ear canal.

Behind-The-Ear Hearing Instruments
Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing instruments fit outside of the ear canal, behind your ear and are available with digital: programmable or non-programmable circuits. BTEs offer more power than custom hearing instruments. Children and individuals with certain medical conditions may benefit from wearing BTE hearing instruments. Check with your hearing professional to decide which model and circuit is right for you.

Behind-The-Ear (BTE): BTE hearing instruments are designed with miniature size components and offer mare power and features that may be more appropriate. These instruments use a slim tubing that hooks into a custom mold that fits in Your ear canal.

BTE Sizes :BTEs come in two different sizes and require different battery sizes. Standard size BTES are bigger but offer more power and require a #675 battery size. Miniature size BTEs are more popular. offer plenty, of options and require a #13 size battery.
Open Fit BTE :The Open Fit digital BTE is designed with a tiny high precision tubing and soft tip that offers added comfort and is virtually invisible. The Open Fit BTE's unique design enhances speech understanding and reduces background noise.

Types of Circuits Hearing instrument circuits can be described and are chosen based on three amplification systems:
Linear vs. Compression
Linear Circuit:Linear hearing instruments are designed to add the same predetermined amount of amplification to all sounds the hearing instrument receives.
Compression Circuit:Compression hearing instruments are designed to automatically adjust the amount of amplification to your comfortable level, reducing unwanted noise, resulting in a more comfortable listening experience.
Analog vs. Digital
Both Analog and Digital instruments convert acoustic energy (sound) into electrical energy, amplify it and return it to acoustic energy for presentation to your ear. A digital system does this with a series of 1's and 0's. This allows your hearing health professional to adjust the sound to your specific needs while providing you with a virtually distortion free hearing instrument.
Non-Programmable vs. Programmable
Non-Programmable Circuit:Non-Programmable hearing instruments utilize manually adjustable screw-like controls, called potentiometers. Your hearing instrument provider will adjust these controls to meet your individual hearing needs. These controls can be compared to manually changing the contrast or tint of your television picture.
Programmable Circuit: Programmable hearing instruments are adjusted by a computer. This allows your hearing health provider far more potentiometer adjusting, fine-tuning your instrument to your hearing needs.
 There are advantages to each of these options. We can  make recommendations for circuit options based on your specific needs.
Any questions please call 1-843-986-0003 or 1-843-814-8321