

The application of digital signal processing techniques to speech were first applied as simulations of complex analog systems. Many decades of evolutionary progress within the technical domains of electronics, signal processing theory, telecommunications, and low voltage power supply production have all contributed to the arrival of viable, consumer-acceptable digital hearing aids. HISTORICAL WORK TOWARDS DIGITAL HEARING AIDS However, the historic progression of commercial hearing aids from analog to hybrid to digital (DSP) forms is undeniable and should not be dismissed as unimportant.
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Conventional analog, and DCA “hybrid” hearing aids, will receive little further explanation in this paper as it will focus entirely on full digital processing approaches. In terms of audio signal processing, however, hybrid programmable devices maintained the analog properties of traditional non-programmable hearing aids. The DCA programmable hearing aids were sometimes confusing to consumers (and some dispensers) because of the use of the word “digital” in the marketing materials. Agnew (1996a) correctly termed the hybrid class, Digitally Controlled Analog (DCA) hearing aids. Several authors (e.g., Widen, 1987, 1990 Miller, 1988 Levitt, 1993a) have attempted to clarify the differences between traditional analog hearing aids, the so-called “hybrid” class, that incorporated digital program instructions, and those devices that are genuinely digital in terms of their audio processing. Apologies are due to those many investigators not cited in the limited pages here. The number of research efforts that have direct linkages into the realization of commercially viable digital hearing aids far exceed the space available for this manuscript. The intention is to provide, for a wide range of readers, useful information regarding the rapidly developing digital technologies for auditory rehabilitation purposes. The issue will conclude with a brief glance at developments that may follow in the near future. This issue of Trends will explore some of the fundamental challenges of “digitizing” the hearing aid industry, and then discuss specific attributes of some of the early entries into the arena.
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The path to fulfillment of such promise deserves review and study by professionals involved in the application of all types of hearing aids. Indeed, it seems clear that digital hearing aids have not only arrived after a multidecade, often fitful and arduous birthing process, but they are almost certainly beginning to claim their long awaited place as the dominant mode of rehabilitative amplification. Kruger and Kruger (1994) proposed that the late 1990's would be known as the “period of the digital hearing aid,” and indications of the accuracy of that forecast continue to accumulate. Numerous gallant attempts and a variety of disappointments have preceded what appears to be the final emergence of a sustainable class of commercially available digital signal processing (DSP) hearing aids. The promise of such technology has always included advantages such as better fidelity, greater flexibility, improved performance in noise, and greater restoration of function for a variety of perplexing auditory deficits. The introduction of digital signal processing into hearing aids has been heralded with great acclaim and high expectations. The digital transformation in hearing aids is certainly a profound technological “trend” in amplification as this article will illustrate. The current great metamorphosis has the underlying driving theme of “digital.” Indeed, there is the suggestion that a new elite social class is emerging, which the Wall Street Journal (October 28, 1996) has labeled with tongue in cheek, “the digerati.” The obvious implication is that expertise, or at least minimal understanding, of digital developments is an inescapable and essential aspect of the knowledge base for those who intend to “keep up” with the rapid changes that will inevitably continue. Previous technically-driven sociological transformations were coupled to prominent developments, such as the printing press, the internal combustion engine, or television. The effect of this remarkable transformation, including a proliferation of personal computers and greatly improved telecommunication systems, has been to alter the daily lives of most citizens in the developed regions of the world.

As is widely known, the pace of technological change in electronics and computer-related communications has been extremely rapid in the past decade.
