MILWAUKEE— A UW-Milwaukee professor is developing a hearing aid that can be sold over the counter.
 
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, only about one in five people who need a hearing aid actually have one. 

Yi Hu is the department chair of Electrical Engineering at UWM. As Hu fit his prototype hearing aid over his ear, he thought of who inspired him.

“I had a very close relationship growing up with my grandfather and when he told me about his hearing loss, that’s when I wanted to do something so I could help,” said Hu.
 
Hu said his grandpa didn’t have access to an audiologist to get a hearing aid.

It led him on the path over the next decade of researching cochlear implants while also learning about electrical engineering and software development.

His project received a big boost in October when the FDA approved the sale of hearing aids over the counter.
 
“We are in the process of commercializing this device to the mass market,” said Hu.

Hu couldn’t have done it without the help of PH.D candidate Santosh Yegnaraman. Yegnaraman is in charge of analyzing the performance of the device.

“The thing about these hearing aids is that while it should help amplify the sounds that people can not hear," said Yegnaraman. "It should not amplify everything across the board. Even sounds that are already quite high enough and that’s why you have compression built in the system."
 
Hu believes a big part of making an over the counter hearing aid is simplicity. That’s why Android and iPhone apps are being developed to be paired with the device.
 
“This idea to develop hearing aid devices was to help my grandpa, but along the way when I worked more on this project, I realized this could help millions of people who have mild to moderate hearing loss and this whole thing is really a joy,” said Hu.
 
Hu noted it could make a big difference because many people who need a hearing aid don’t actually have one. He hopes he can bring his product to market in 2023.