Often, when people hear the terms “wireless” or “Bluetooth” they think of state-of-the-art technology but don’t really know how it works, how it could be useful in helping those with hearing loss, or where it came from!

Bluetooth allows communication between different devices without the need for cords and wires through the use of short wavelength radio signals.

Blue-tooth systems allow for the set-up of tiny networks that connect blue-tooth enabled devices over distances from 5 to 100 metres.

The term “Blue-tooth” comes from Denmark’s King Harald Blatand 1st, whose nickname was King Harald Blue-tooth. He was renowned for unifying warring tribes from Denmark and Norway in the early 10th century. Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson thought his name aptly described the technology they developed in 1994 to unify different technologies such as mobile phones and hands-free headsets.

As well as these applications, blue-tooth technology is now used for wireless communication between computers and the mouse, keyboard, printers, wireless controllers for game consoles such as Wii and Playstation systems, digital cameras and GPS (Global Positioning Systems).

Bluetooth is an extremely useful tool in hearing aids as it allows for signals to be sent directly to them from Bluetooth-enabled devices. An interface is required as a go-between the hearing aids and devices. The interface is typically a lightweight device worn around the neck and in some brands it connects directly to the hearing instruments. This allows people to answer mobile telephone calls, listen to music via MP3 players and/or receive auditory input through laptops which is streamed directly to the hearing instruments. Blue-tooth enabled hearing instruments can also receive information from FM (Frequency Modulated) systems.

Siemens introduced a remote control and streamer "TEK," in 2009, and now a smaller version, the "miniTEK," will soon be available. It’s about the size of a matchbox and weighs only 55 grams.

The benefit of direct streaming is that the sound is transmitted with less unwanted background noise and degradation of sound quality.  If hearing aids are worn in both ears, the signal is received in stereo. For devices that are not Bluetooth compatible such as landline phones  and older television sets, an adaptor can be plugged into the unit so that it is then Bluetooth enabled.

Not all hearing instruments are blue-tooth enabled - it is more likely to be a feature available in the style of hearing instruments called “receiver in the canal” and behind-the-ear instruments, though some manufacturers like Siemens also have this wireless feature available in their tiny in-the-canal models. There is often an additional charge involved in purchasing the blue-tooth interface and there is also higher hearing aid battery consumption when they are connected to blue-tooth devices.

Currently, Bluetooth technology is only available in hearing instruments/aids and is not in built into cochlear implant or other implantable device technologies. However, it is often the case that cochlear implant technologies follow trends of the hearing instrument world and that these useful applications will also be available in cochlear implant speech processors in the near future.

No doubt King Harald “Blue-tooth” would be proud to have his nickname associated with such a useful technology 1,000 years after his lifetime. He may be also slightly embarrassed. It is rumoured that his somewhat unusual nickname was given because of Harald’s fondness for blue-berries and his resulting tooth-discolouration!

Main image:  Around the neck hangs the Bluetooth “iCom” system developed by hearing aid manufacturer Phonak. Sound from the laptop and mobile phone streams directly into the hearing instruments.