THE $1 HEARING AID

Around the world, more than 500 million people are partially or completely deaf, and that number is rising with the population of seniors. Severe hearing loss also is thought to be a contributing factor in dementia.
Solution: hearing aids. However, only 3 percent of people globally who need hearing aids, and no more than 20 percent in the U.S., have them; the typical hearing aid costs well over $1,000.
But not Saad Bhamla’s hearing aids. They could be made for about a buck apiece.
Frustrated because he couldn’t afford to help his grandparents hear better, the bioengineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology worked with a hearing-impaired colleague to break hearing aids’ cost barrier.
The two soldered a miniature microphone, amplifier, and frequency filter onto a tiny circuit board and added an audio jack for earbuds, battery holder, and on-off switch. The whole thing fits into a container the size of a matchbox and can be slipped into a pocket, under a hat, or hung around the neck on a string.
In tests, the gadget boosted the volume of hard-to-hear, high-pitched sounds without over-amplifying lower pitches. It also screened out much background noise and sudden, loud sounds such as car horns and improved hearing ability overall.
The invention complies with five of the six World Health Organization “preferred product recommendations” for hearing aids.
Manufactured in quantity, the hearing aids would cost about $1 in parts.
Meanwhile, anyone can make their own for no more than $20 and less than an hour’s time using Bhamla’s free plans on GitHub.
Bhamla is angling to qualify the device to be sold over the counter.
TRENDPOST: Much of the world’s population can’t afford hi-tech. A thriving market in low-tech solutions, especially in health, is waiting for innovators to take advantage.