Audioscan is a division of Etymonic Design Incorporated, a company founded 20 years ago by Bill Cole and Jim Jonkman to provide design and consulting services to the hearing aid industry. The two met while designing hearing aid microcircuits at Linear Technology (the forerunner of Gennum Corporation). In the following years, the company consulted for many leaders in the hearing aid industry and designed the world’s first headworn programmable hearing aid, the world’s first headworn cochlear implant processor, and parts for the world’s first digital hearing aid. By 1986, it was apparent that the fitting of the coming generations of hearing aids was going to require inexpensive, easy-to-use real-ear test equipment. With expertise in both hearing aid design and digital measuring instruments, Etymonic Design Incorporated was in an ideal position to develop such equipment. The Audioscan division was established for this purpose and, in 1988, it introduced the RM500, the world’s first truly portable, truly affordable real-ear hearing aid analyzer. Since then, Audioscan has led the field with such innovations as:
- Presentation of real-ear measurement results in dB HL (1989)
- Articulation Index for real-ear measurement data (1989)
- Dynamic speech simulations for the fitting of nonlinear hearing aids (1992)
- Auditory area mapping (Speechmap®—1992)
- Tone-burst testing of real-ear maximum output (1992)
- Integrated DSL fitting method (1995)
- Test box real-ear simulation using measured RECD (1995)
- Integrated RECD and REDD measurement protocols (1995)
| Audioscan 41 Byron Ave Dorchester, Ontario Canada N0L 1G0 Phone (519) 268-3313, (800) 265-2093 (US) Fax (519) 268-3256 www.audioscan.com |
The Audioscan RM500 also brought unprecedented ease of use and reliability. The first user’s guide consisted of 13 pages (including space for notes). RM500s have been run over by cars, dropped down flights of stairs and even survived weekends under 6 feet of water. In fact, the RM500 proved so reliable that we introduced the industry’s first 2-year warranty in 1997.
In 2001, Audioscan introduced a totally new, desktop real-ear analyzer, the Verifit®. It is the first such system to provide:
- Digitized real-speech signals for verification of speech audibility
- Third octave speech analysis to permit direct comparison with audiometric data
- Statistical analysis of speech signals to define dynamic range
- Dual speaker test chamber
- Simultaneous frequency response measurement from two directions to verify directional function
- Dual real-ear measurement channels for faster binaural fitting evaluation
At Audioscan, we are committed to delivering to our customers user-friendly, affordable tools that bring science to the fitting of hearing instruments. The past few years have seen tremendous changes in hearing instrument technology. Digital hearing aids offer unprecedented flexibility and control. All that flexibility provides little benefit to the purchaser if the “first fit” adjustment provided by a manufacturer’s programming software is the only fit. Regardless of the technology, restoring audibility with comfort and clarity in a variety of listening conditions is essential if the potential of new technologies is to be achieved. Unfortunately, the estimates of performance provided by the programming software for many hearing instruments have been proven to be far from accurate predictions of performance on individuals. More than ever before, hearing health care professionals need tools that provide accurate, relevant, and independent confirmation of the value they are bringing to their customers. Audioscan is committed to providing these tools along with the expert knowledge and support that must accompany them.
Audioscan, Speechmap, and Verifit are registered trademarks of Etymonic Design Incorporated.
