MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Many people with hearing loss avoid getting help for years to avoid the stigma of the device, but new technologies that pair with iPhones may cast hearing aids in a new light.
Hearing
EarLens pulls in $36M for infrared hearing aid
EarLens said it raised some $36 million in an equity round for the hearing aid technology it’s developing that uses infrared rather than sound waves.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based company, which is led by a former Abbott Vascular honcho, said 22 unnamed investors had participated in the round as of Feb. 24. EarLens is hoping to raise a total of $38.8 million, according to a regulatory filing.
Jury slaps Cochlear Ltd. with $131M infringement verdict
Oticon Medical lands 510(k) clearance for Ponto Plus hearing aid
Oticon Medical this week landed 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Ponto Plus hearing device.
The Ponto Plus is a bone-anchored sound processor, designed to be used with the company’s proprietary OptiFit/OptiGrip implant design concepts. Built on Oticon’s Inium platform, the device features 2.4 GHz bluetooth wireless technology and is designed to deliver better sound quality, less feedback and fewer artificial sounds, Oticon said.
Soundhawk raises $5.7M for hearing aid
California-based Soundhawk said it raised $5.7 million in support of its hearing aid technologies.
The start-up is still in its beginning stages after being in quiet development for several years. Soundhawk secured the new money from leading investors, including True Ventures.
Cochlear lands FDA clearance for Baha 4 bone conduction hearing
Cochlear Ltd. (ASX:COH) said landed 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Baha 4 attract system, a bone conduction hearing system.
Cochlear Limited gets OK’d by FDA advisory panel
Cochlear Ltd. (ASX:COH) said an advisory committee to the FDA this week voted favorably on the Nucleus Hybrid L24 implant system, which combines acoustic amplification of low frequencies and electrical stimulation for high frequencies in a single device.
Cochlear’s hearing implant lands a date with the FDA
General Electric backs Sonitus Medical with $10M loan
General Electric (NYSE:GE) said its GE Capital arm lent $10 million to Sonitus Medical for its SoundBite tooth-based hearing aid.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Sonitus plans to use the funds to expand commercialization of the SoundBite device, which uses bone conduction to transmit sound via the teeth, according to a press release.
New NIH study examines brain implant for treating deafness in children
The National Institutes of Health is bankrolling the clinical evaluation of a brainstem implant that promises to restore hearing in deaf children.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the House Research Institute will coordinate the 5-year trial for auditory brainstem implant (ABI) treatment. ABI was developed at House Research Institute in the 1970s, and the device has already successfully correct deafness in adults.
Cochlear Ltd. wins E.U. approval for tiny hearing device processor
Australian device company Cochlear Ltd. (ASX:COH) touted CE Mark approval in the European Union for the smallest behind-the-ear sound processor to hit European markets yet.