New screwdriver applies minimum torque
DEPRAG presents a screwdriving device for reliable hearing aid assembly
DEPRAG follows the trend towards miniaturization in assembly technology
Every 8th adult suffers from hearing problems. But only one third of them in Germany use a hearing aid. However, according to an extended study of impaired hearing, those who decide in favour of a hearing aid experience a indisputably better quality of life. As people are living ever longer the hearing aid market is expected to be a growth market. Due to aesthetics many sufferers have hesitated to use a hearing aid until now. The full digital hearing aids of today are of higher performance and much smaller in size than in the past. Hearing aid manufacturers have successfully endeavoured to miniaturize their products and to lower the inhibition threshold for users.
About 45 000 people in Germany, France and Great Britain have been questioned by the market research company “Züricher Marktforschungsinstitut Anovum” on behalf of EHIMA (European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association). The outcome was the most comprehensive study of hearing, loss of hearing and hearing devices in Europe. With this collection of data, presented under the name “EuroTrak” in 2010, there now exists in Europe a well-founded database for the detection of defective hearing. From a total of 14185 interviewees in Germany, 13.1 percent stated that they were suffering from defective hearing or deafness. Only 31.8 percent of these use a hearing aid. According to the statement of the “Handelsblatt” there are about 4000 retail outlets for hearing aids in Germany employing a total of approximately 10,000 people. In 2009 the hearing aid industry sold about 775,000 hearing aids with a turnover of approximately one billion Euro. The six largest hearing instrument manufacturers are represented by the EHIMA. These are Oticon, Phonak, ReSound, Siemens, Starkey and Widex.
The study implies that two thirds of all people with defective hearing do not use hearing aids. To help combat this trend, the industry has increased its efforts to design and produce the most compact and least visible hearing aids. As a result of digital technology smaller and almost imperceptible hearing aids have been successfully developed for both behind the ear and inside the ear canal. This miniaturization - which can be also found in many other technical areas - represents a special challenge for industrial production.
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