Will rechargeable hearing aids change the future?
Hearing aids have been using disposable batteries for almost 100 years. When I started as an Audiologist (in 1993!) we were still using batteries that contained Mercury-oxide. Shortly after this time we moved to Zinc Air batteries.
These still contained some mercury but over 1000 times less than the Mercury-oxide type. Finally around 10 years ago a Mercury free battery was developed and these are now in widespread use. But although tiny and to a certain extent able to be recycled they still contribute a great deal to unnecessary land-fill. Even their manufacturers agree they are difficult to fully recycle and often recommend disposal in household waste.
The first generation of rechargeable hearing aids also used zinc as a basis for their batteries. Unfortunately while they were initially promising the batteries performance degraded significantly over a very short time. We now have incredible lithium ion rechargeable technology built into hearing aids like the high-performing Resound LiNX Quattro range. These hearing aids can last up to 30 hours on one full charge and the cells inside are guaranteed for five years. Even their charging case is exceptional with a built in battery that can give three full day’s charge without mains power, perfect for a weekend away.
There has never been a better time to break free from your disposable dependency. Why not book in for your free trial now?