Wireless is More?

John Cariola, Director of Product Management, Beltone

I have very sophisticated hearing aids that are supposed to take care of noise and wind and loud sounds. Why do I need a wireless accessory on top of that?

Good question. Wireless accessories can help patients in more challenging listening situations and provide added performance capability to their hearing instruments. Beltone’s latest wireless accessory is called myPAL, or Personal Audio Link™. myPAL wirelessly streams sound directly to the Beltone True hearing aids via a 2.4 GHz signal, without the need for a relay device. Perhaps the best way to answer your initial question is to tell you what myPAL can do.

The Beltone myPAL is a wireless microphone that can be used in several ways. It can be given to a significant other in the car or at a restaurant, for example. The significant other wears it on their shirt or blouse and their voice is picked up by the microphone and sent straight to the hearing aid; without the need for any relay device. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio for the wearer and helps to compensate for distance and noise.

Beltone myPAL also has a 1/8-inch jack for plugging in mp3 players or any kind of sound device. The patient can connect their mp3 player to the myPAL and go jogging or walking while listening to music directly through their hearing instruments. That has been a very popular application.

The myPAL can also serve as a portable version of the Beltone TV Link. The TV Link is powered through an AC adapter, so it is basically stationary. The audio output jacks from the television connect to the TV Link, and then the audio signal is sent to the hearing instrument. With the myPAL, you can go to a friend's house and put the myPAL in front of the speaker of their television and the sound would be sent to the hearing instrument.

All of these options offer the patient better hearing performance in certain environments than would be expected with the internal instrument microphones alone. This creates a more enhanced listening experience for any hearing aid user and keeps you in better contact with the world around you.

Editor’s Note: This Ask the Expert was taken from an Interview published on 2/6/2012. To access the complete interview, please go here: www.audiologyonline.com/interview/interview_detail.asp?interview_id=615

John Cariola, Au.D., Director of Product Management, Beltone
For more information, visit Beltone at www.beltone.com or visit the Beltone web channel on AudiologyOnline.