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Tulip vs Open Domes

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@Doc_Jake said:

Get properly vented custom molds and be done with it!

I’m wondering why the Audis just don’t do that from the start. With the advances in 3D scanning and 3D printing, it should be a no brainer. All they really need is a scanner. Take a mold and scan it, the files can be uploaded, printing done overnight and shipped out to Audi the next day. Scanners are cheaper than the printers. The precision required for soft tissue is less than hard tissue, you don’t need a fit within microns like a dental crown or implant. Correct me if I am wrong, but the fit does not even need to consider muscle movement.

Ack, the truth is, not all audis have that kind of 3D scan-to-manufacture technology. It is still sadly a pretty old-fashioned way for making earmolds: mix up the goop, squirt it into the canal, either CHEW or DO NOTHING (I’ve had both directions given to me), and then hope the molds are turned into a hard plastic case that fits half-decent.

In the 30+ years I’ve had hard plastic molds made for my aids, I’ve NEVER EVER had both right and left aid fit perfect. Never. One of them is leaky-squeaky and causes constant, low-level feedback and leakage till the day I replace them. No audiologist seems to want to re-make the mold! I don’t see why laser imaging plus 3D manufacturing can’t be used to make molds, but maybe the cost of the aids would be prohibitive?

It’s just a far from perfect fitting scene today as things stand.

@1Bluejay said:

Ack, the truth is, not all audis have that kind of 3D scan-to-manufacture technology.

I hear you. I know that in Dental similar cost barriers exist. Some offices had the scanner & milling units for ceramic crowns. Unless they were high volume producers for the technology, by the time they paid for the units they were outdated. The current trend is for in office scanning and sending out for 3D printing or milling. Here is a 4 year old article that explains the different formats used in dental.

An Introduction to 3D Printing and Laser Sintering

The article introduces new technology in 3D printing and laser sintering.

In reply to @1Bluejay

[quote=“1Bluejay, post:18, topic:25609, full:true”]
snevetsm: It would be interesting to know if there is any time-line link between your dad’s and father-in-law’s dementia and when they finally bought their hearing aids. I’ve read - and seen first-hand! - how dementia can set in if hearing issues aren’t addressed. [/quote]

I’ve done a lot of clinical work with dementia patients and I’m confident there’s no causative link between poor hearing and dementia - whether or not the hearing issues are addressed, dementia will “set in” anyway if it’s going to.

I definitely believe that poor hearing can lead to pseudodementia, feed depression, cause social withdrawal, and even contribute to psychosis.

^^^^ Yes, I am no medical professional, but it sure seemed that my aunt (mom’s older sister) progressed down the path of dementia. She was hard of hearing for years before getting the lowest cost aids possible (almost to DENY the issue existed) when she was in her late 80s. But her dementia could well have had a genetic component.

As for my dad’s hearing situation: he was fit with aids in his early 30s, and had NO dementia. My father-in-law grudgingly got aids in his late 80s, and also had NO dementia.

Perhaps the situation can arise if there is a genetic pre-disposition AND the person is losing their hearing over time, thus starting the downward spiral of anti-social withdrawal, paranoia, and then possible psychosis.

There is no causative link between hearing loss and dementia. They both happen to be more common with age and hearing loss causes depression which can look like dementia and communication problems which make testing for dementia difficult.

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