SYSTEM

ULTRA LOW COST BATTERY TESTER FOR HEARING AID USERS

REQUIREMENT

Hearing impaired persons use hearing aids, There are a variety of hearing aids from low cost to very high cost. Hearing aids require a battery to operate. The low cost hearing aid is popularly known as the 'Body level hearing aid', this aid uses a AA size battery. In India the economically weaker section use the body level hearing aids due to its low cost and ease of use. Normal batteries when being used in this hearing aids slowly exhaust over a period of time and become weaker and weaker and finally stop working, but after a days of rest it works again for a minutes this leads to confusion to user weather his aid is defective ?? he then rushes to a service centre for a check up. The hearing aid is an important part for the user's living and the breakdown or a defect of it effects him greatly leading to wastage of time, his daily wages and service charges. An innovation indicating the status of the battery being used is 'ok' or 'no', in just a simple color band was innovated. Through some additional innovations the battery tester was designed to be very cheap enabling every user to posses one. the innovation helped save a lot of time, effort and money to the hearing aid user.

TARGET AREA / POPULATION

The target population is the economically wealer section who use hearing aids, school children and young adults specially from rural areas.

INNOVATION and DESIGN FACTOR

The innovation factor in the system are ;

• Design of a simple meter

• Design of color band to indicate battery condition even to the illiterate.

• Meter system with matching load to simulate exact conditions of hearing aid.

• Ultra low cost

• Ergonomically easy to use.

ROAD AHEAD

Design a ultra low cost system to measure button cells used in hearing aids.