"A neat concept."

Francis Beecher, one of our active SHHH members, recently sent me a preprint of an article he wrote for The Hearing Journal (October 2000). In this very interesting and stimulating article, Mr. Beecher describes the potential contribution of a new development on the wireless scene, the "Bluetooth®" concept. It is a concept that has not yet been applied for people wearing hearing aids but which has the potential to provide hearing aid users with significant benefits.

The term itself comes from an ancient Nordic king who united, that is connected, many tribes to form his kingdom. This is the essence of what the Bluetooth® concept does: it is able to wirelessly connect all types of electronic devices, including hearing aids. Before proceeding further, it is well to point out that this is not a "pie in the sky" proposal. It is a development that is being fostered by a special interest group which includes many giants in the communication and computer fields (Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Toshiba, 3Com, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, and Motorola). There are already some consumer products that employ this technology, such as a cell phone that wirelessly connects to a "hands free" earphone. Further information can be obtained from www.bluetooth.com.

Essentially, what a Bluetooth® system does is wirelessly transmit a detailed set of operating instructions from one electronic component to another (e.g., from a computer to a printer or a monitor) that is received by a companion module. Bluetooth® operates at a globally available very high-frequency radio band and incorporates two power levels, one for small distances within a room and one at a medium power level for use within a structure (house, business, etc.).

Thus, it is aimed at "local" connectivity functions only, not those that entail long-range transmissions (although, presumably, long-range interfaces can be achieved). Currently, the Bluetooth® module is too large to fit in any but behind-the-ear hearing aids, but we can reasonably expect further reductions in size in the future.

This technology offers a number of potential advantages to a hearing aid user Telecoils would be obsolete. All connections to any type of telephone, including cell phones, could be via a Bluetooth® transmitter on the phone and a receiver embedded in the hearing aid. Furthermore, "two-ear" listening to a telephone would be easily obtainable. No more worry about hearing aid compatible telephones or sufficiently powerful telecoils.

The same wireless "Bluetooth®" link would be possible between computers and hearing aids, and between types of assistive listening systems and one's personal hearing aid, as long as a Bluetooth® module was present at both ends. Personal assistive device receivers would therefore no longer be necessary.

As visualized by Beecher, the user wears a wristband that would serve as a command center for the reception of any signal from any source (telephone, wireless microphones, assistive listening systems, etc.). It's a neat concept and he is to be congratulated for seeing its potential applicability for people wearing hearing aids. Now if only some hearing aid company would listen.

From Hearing Loss, March/April, 2001. This column is supported, in part, by GRANT #133E980010 from the U.S. Department of Education, NIDRR, to the Lexington Center.