Artificial Intelligence in Hearing Aids feat. Dr. Achin Bhowmik | Chief Technology Officer at Starkey

About the Hearing Matters Podcast

The Hearing Matters Podcast discusses hearing technology (more commonly known as hearing aids), best practices, and a growing national epidemic of hearing loss. The show is hosted by father and son, Dr. Gregory Delfino, Au.D., CCC-A, and Blaise Delfino, MS, HIS. They treat patients with hearing loss at Audiology Services in Bethlehem and Nazareth, PA.

In this episode, Blaise Delfino speaks with Dr. Achin Bhowmik, chief technology officer at Starkey Hearing Industries.  

Engineering Background

Dr. Bhowmik earned a doctorate in engineering and served as vice president and general manager of the perceptual computing group at Intel Corporation. When Starkey’s president Bill Austin asked Dr. Bhowmik if he wanted to create technology that help make people’s lives healthier, he jumped at the chance. He moved to Starkey.

Computers that Understand the World

At Intel, Dr. Bhowmik’s job was to create machines and computers that recognize a person’s face, his/her voice, the surrounding environment, people, and sounds and make sense of it all. Improving people’s hearing is and always will be the number one priority at Starkey. Improving people’s hearing is and always will be the number one priority at Starkey. He brough that technology and his expertise to Starkey to help people understand each other better and connect with the world. Starkey is tapping into the most advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to do a better job of amplifying sound. The newest hearing technology from Starkey makes 55 million adjustments every hour. The instruments decipher the cacophony of sound waves and turn them into what’s meaningful to the wearer. It also determines what should and shouldn’t be amplified. 

Keeping People Safe and Healthy

In addition to providing the best, most natural hearing possible, these new hearing aids act as a health monitor. Starkey’s newest hearing aids are the only ones that sense when a person falls and subsequently alerts his/her loved ones. It also tracks the wearer’s physical activity and his/her social engagement. Both of these activities help keep a person healthy and cognitive.  

A World of Information

The new hearing instruments can also translate between 27 languages and acts as a personal assistant. The wearer can ask the hearing aids questions and get answers spoken directly into his/her ears. It can also be set to remind the wearer that it’s time to take medication or other important tasks. Starkey is transforming hearing aids into multifunctional devices.

 Ears are the New Wrists 

With the increased awareness of the benefits of physical activity, many people are buying wrist watches that calculate the number of steps taken in a day. The new Starkey hearing instruments also tally the number of steps but there are no false positives. A person wearing a watch often moves his/her arm around and additional steps that weren’t really taken are added to the total.

 The Value of Hearing Healthcare Professionals

Dr. Bhowmik says getting OTC hearing aids is not wise. It takes a trained professional to properly fit hearing instruments. Even the patient’s facial expressions and reactions are important to the professional doing the fitting. It’s also important the wearer learn to use all the technology available with the help of a hearing healthcare professional.

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