SPECIAL

MODIFICATION IN
EAR MOLDS
 CONTENT
Introduction to ear Short canal molds

molds Horns

Earmold Libby horns

modification Reverse horns

Vents
Acoustic
Parallel vents
modification in ear
Diagonal or Y vents
molds
Deep canal molds
 EAR MOLDS
An earmold or earshell is molded to fit an
individual’s ear and retains the hearing aid in the
ear.
Pre-molded canal fittings, available in a range of
standard sizes and shapes, are an alternative
way to connect the hearing aid to the ear canal.
THE EAR MOLD
EARMOLD STYLES
ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF
EARMOLDS
The ear mold or ear shell affect the shape of gain
frequency of the aid when it is mounted in the ear.
In an open ear canal, due to natural shape of the
external ear, the incoming acoustic signal will
resonate around 2.7kz.
The resonant boost the mid frequency range of
about 10 to 15 dB, because this natural sound
amplification is present in our ear since birth.
 When ear mold is inserted in the ear, this
resonance will not occur.
Therefore, the acoustic signal arriving through the
ear mold at ear drum will be deprived of the mid
high frequency boost.
This is called the insertion loss.
EARMOLD MODIFICATION
It is technically possible to manipulate the acoustic
characteristics of a hearing aid making modification
in the earmold.
These modification are changes in length and
diameter of the sound tube, the use of ear mold
venting.
Use of dumping etc. sometimes eat mold
modification are also used for the purpose of
increasing the comfort of the subject.
 Venting : considered as second sound path, role in
modifying low fz gain and MPO.
Horns: widens as they progress inward, emphasizes on
High fz enhancement.
REASONS TO USE A VENT
1. To allow amplified air conducted low frequencies to escape.
2. To allow bone conducted low frequencies to escape.
3. To allow unamplified signal to pass
unobstructed to the eardrum.
4. To allow pressure relief.
5. To allow aeration of ear canal.
 VENTING
VENT-Any opening between the inner part of the ear canal and
the free air outside the
ear.
A vent is a column of air surrounded by the walls of a tube. Air,
like any other
substance, has mass and therefore has inertia.
Overcoming inertia is much easier at low frequencies than at
high frequencies and is much
easier for small masses than for large masses.
 Because it can be difficult to predict exactly what size a
vent should be, the clinician may need to adjust the vent
after a preliminary fitting has been made on the aid wearer.
One way to do this is to enlarge the vent diameter by
drilling or grinding or decrease the vent diameter by filling
it with wax or plastic materialsthat cure, and then re-
drilling it if necessary.
Vents can be modified more quickly and easily if they are
ordered with an exchangeable vent insert plug.
The column of air in a vent will not move much
and so not transmit much sound-stimulating
frequency will be high and vents have high
acoustic mass.
High acoustic mass- vents are longer and
shorter.-decrease in venting effect.
Smaller the acoustic mass larger venting effect.
The longer vents transmit less sound than
shorter vents.
Narrow vents transmit less sound than wide
vents.
 Ma-1500 l/d2
Ma equals to acoustic mass in
henrys
L-vent length in mm d- vent
diameter in mm
 ADVANTAGES
Vents enable an exchange between air in the ear canal and the
air outside this air exchange helps avoid excessive moisture
build up.
Used to allow pressure relief- if ear mold is tightly fitted, it build
up a pressure that creates aural fullness vents created to relief
this pressure.
Used to allow ear canal /middle ear aeration: patients with TM
perforation, a vent decrease itching, irritation, infection.
Mainly affects the low frequency response.Vents including
leaks and open fittings affect the low frequency gain by
allowing low frequency sounds out of the ear canal and by
allowing the low frequency sound in to reach the residual
ear canal volume without passing through the hearing aid
amplifier.

What hearing aid vent to use?

https://youtu.be/-hhHfeEMZVQ?si=7gO6gK7F0ELGlTJR
 EFFECT OF VENTS ON THE AMPLIFIED
SOUND PATH
When amplified air vibrations emerge from the sound bore into
the ear canal, they generate sound pressure in the canal.
Residual canal volume- space between sound bore and the ear
drum.
Proportion of vibrations leaving the escape route impedance of
escape route relative to the impedance of residual canal volume.
The vents becomes more attractive as an escape route as
frequency decreases
The vents provides a low frequency cut to the frequency
responses.- depends on the size of the vent.
VENTING AND VENT - TRANSMITTED ACOUSTIC
SOUNDPATH
Vent transmit low frequency sound waves.
Sound waves reaching the head will transmitted
directly to the ear canal.
The sound is totally non electronic.
The range of frequencies affected by venting for the
amplified sound path are same frequencies that are
affected by the vent- transmitted path.
Attenuation of sound occurs -frequency greater than
the resonance frequency of the vent.
EFFECTS OF VENTS ON THE COMBINED AMPLIFIED
AND VENT- TRANSMITTED SOUND PATHS:
The hearing aid is user is not aware of the two distinct
sound paths when combines in the residual canal
volume.
Mixed region or combined region is depend on the
phase difference between two paths (amplified and
vent transmitted path.)
For a given frequency, when one path exceeds other
by 10 dB, the effect of weaker path is negligible.
It affects the maximum output and gain in amplified
sound.
 When ear canal is occluded by the earmold or ear
shell. People with low frequency hearing loss less than
50dB HL, they often complain their own voice sound s
hallow, boomed- occlusion effect.
Occlusion effect is related to SPL
Higher SPL leads to increase in occlusion effect.
The area of vibrating cartilaginous canal, this
decreases the occlusion effect by decreasing the SPL
Occlusion effect induced by the increased SPL can be
reduced by creating a vent.
EFFECTS OF VENTS AND LEAKS ON
FEEDBACK OSCILLATION:
Feedback oscillation occurs when the
attenuation of signal leaking from ear canal and
back to the microphone is less than the forward
gain given to the signal by the hearing aid.
Shape of the vent has effect on feed back
oscillation.
Vents widened at the medial end - reverse horn
This decreases feedback oscillation.
VENTS AND ITS DIRECTIVITY:
Directional microphones have a directional pattern
across the entire hearing aids.
This directivity is only apparent to the user only at
those frequencies where the amplified sound path
dominates over the vent- transmitted sound path.
Directivity depends on cancellation of sound
picked at one microphone by signal pickup at the
other port.
 Vent transmitted sounds can materially decrease
the directivity.
Vents in open and general fittings decrease the
effectiveness of directional microphones.
Adaptive noise reduction relies on electronic
attenuation of sound at specific frequency- hearing
aid transmitted path.
Open fittings decreases the effectiveness of adapted
noise reduction.
The internal noise will be decreased in the low frequencies by
vents. For people with near normal low frequency hearing,
internal hearing aid noise is minimized by making the vent as
large as possible.
Compression is ineffective when the transmitted path
dominates.
Some manufactures deactivate low frequency channels when
an open fitting is selected in order to reduce battery drain.
PARALLEL VS Y OR DIAGONAL
VENTS
PARALLEL VS DIAGONAL VENTS
Alternative way to fit in a vent when space is tight.- Y-
vent, diagonal vent or angle vent. Opposed to the parallel
vent.
#Two serious problems
∆ High frequency sounds partially reflected at the Y-
junction where the sound bore meets the vent tube.
∆ Decreases high frequency gain.Makes high frequency
feedback oscillations more likely.
 If a Y-vent to be used, the sound bore and the
vent tube should intersect as close to the medial
end of the mold as possible. The diameter of the
sound bore medial to the Y-junction should be
widened.- this decreases the impedance of this
section of sound bore and minimizes the loss of
high-frequency energy back up the vent.
 ACOUSTIC HORNS AND
CONSTRICTIONS
Sound bore- provides the path between the receiver
and the residual ear canal volume.
Greater length in BTE hearing aids.
Horn-varying the internal diameter of the sound bore
along its length- that modify high frequency response
of the hearing aid.
Acoustic horn- diameter increases smoothly or varies in
steps.
Two acoustic horns, one stepped and one continuous, each with inlet diameter di,
and outlet
diameter do, and the boost (an increase in gain and maximum output) given to the
frequency
response by the continuous horn.
 If diameter decreases inverse horn, reverse horn, or
constriction. Horn help to overcome the impedance
mismatch between the acoustic impedance of a receiver and
the much lower acoustic impedance of the ear canal.
Acoustic horns increase the efficiency with which high
frequency power is transferred from the receiver to the ear
canal.
Hence increases both the gain and the maximum output in
the high frequency.
It depends on the inlet and outlet diameter of the horn.
Shorter horn -high range of frequencies affected
Horns attached to BTE ear mold much longer than horns
attached to the ITE. BTE- provide boost at 3khz. ITE-
cannot provide any boost below 6khz.
Horns can be built into the ear molds in a number of
ways. A simple method is to insert tubing only a few
millimeters into the earmold.
Fitting of horn has two disadvantages:
The length of the horn always be less than the sound
bore length of the ear mold(15-22 mm).
The tubing is poorly retained in the earmold- glue has to
be applied to the lateral end of the mold, over time it
cause the tubing to stiffen, crack.
 LIBBY HORN
An alternative method to use a molded plastic
horn.
It is very common for BTE hearing aids-
insufficient high frequencies in relative to mid
frequency gain and prescribed frequency
response.
Limiting factor is simply fitting it and if it is also
to fit a vent.
A Libby 4 mm horn (a) fully inserted into the earmold,
and (b) partially inserted, with the mold
forming the final section of the horn. Diameters are in
mm.
 Half tubing constriction method -the horn is
glued to lateral extremity of the ear mold.This
method shortens the life of the tubing.
If horn is squeezed into the small hole high
frequency boost obtained will be less than
expected.
Short horn significantly produce high frequency
boost-adding of horn removed constriction.
 REVERSE HORN
Libby designed injection molding techniques to obtain a one-
piece reverse horn (the diameter of the tube at the tip is
narrower than the diameter of the tube at the ear hook).
It has the opposite effect of horns -decrease the efficiency with
which high frequency power is delivered at the ear canal.
For patients with severe to profound hearing loss, to reduce the
likelihood of feedback for BTE fittings caused by the peaks in
the high frequency region of the frequency response.
The reverse horn reduces gain above 2000Hz and shifts the
energy toward the lower frequencies (8-10db shift in low
frequency).
 MODIFYING VENT
Ear moulds and ear shells can be modified with tools and
materials.Ear moulds are ear
shells are made less occluding by enlarging the vent
diameter,shortening the vent length.
Vent diameter is easily enlarges by drilling are grinding.
Vent length is shortened by the grinding away the mould
are shell,from either end of the
vent-medial end of the vent can be progressively cut
away without affecting the sound
bore.
 SHORTENING THE VENT

An unmodified vent (a) and a shortened vent (b). The dashed lines in (a) indicate the
position of the vent. The dashed lines in (b) indicate potential further stages of
shortening, and the dotted line indicates the original profile.
 REFERENCE:
HEARING AID BY HARVEY
DILLON(2ND EDITION)
THANK YOU!
By Najiya P.J
BASLP IInd year (3rd
semester)