Age-Related Hearing Loss: Innovations in Hearing Augmentation.

Age-related hearing loss is a multifactorial condition that affects more than one-third of the aging population. Left untreated it can increase the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, social isolation, depression, and falls. Hearing augmentation devices exhibit improved digital sound processing and Smartphone connectivity. Stigma remains one of the prominent barriers and todays devices offer in the canal models, miniature sizes, and camouflage with the hair or skin color. Although rigorous scientific efforts are made in the research field of inner ear regeneration and some clinical early phase studies do exist, to date, the clinical availability is still some time away.