In the centuries since, the goal behind hearing aid technology has stayed the same whether it be the introduction of microphones, electronics, or plastic in-the-ear devices.

Until now. Today's new dime-sized digital hearings aids are imbedded with microchips small enough to fit inside the inner furrows of a finger tip. They are programmable. They feature breakthrough technology to filter out background noise and accentuate conversation, even the soft words of a child. And they can be tweaked by audiologists for the unique needs of each patient.

"We've come a long way from mere sound amplication," says Andrew Raguskus, president and CEO of Salt Lake City's Sonic Innovations, the No. 7 hearing aid maker in the world. "These new digital aids are improving quality of life for a whole new population of people with hearing disabilities."

Hearing aids of the future could use wireless technology and be integrated into cell phones and handheld computers. Other models may include the option of automatic recording of conversations, a TiVo for the hard-of-hearing.

"The future of the hearing aid is how close we can drive the technology toward [restoring] 100 percent of the hearing of your youth," he adds, noting the latest digitals have tested near 80 percent in that category.

"We're not there yet, and we have a long way to go, but that's our industry's Holy Grail."

The current priority for hearing aid developers is to solve the problem most hearing aid wearers experience: Understanding conversation in a noisy room.

Researchers have addressed this by tinkering with the algorithms - or signal recognition programs - of digital microprocessors. In a complicated melding of auditory physiology and psychophysics, digital aids attempt to target sound directions and to focus hearing by mimicking the brain's own hearing translation abilities.

The mini in-the-ear computers subtract unwanted sounds over the range of frequency bands, while extracting and clarifying conversation for the listener.

There is a downside, though. These marvels of miniaturized circuitry can retail for $2,000 to $3,500 - for each ear. (By comparison, the older analog amplification aids go for $500 to $600 new.)

Add to that the reluctance of insurance companies, even Medicare and Medicaid, to routinely cover hearing-aid costs, and soon-to-retire boomers on fixed incomes could be priced out of the digital hearing-aid market.

Raguskus blanches at the mention of how pricey the latest in hearing technology has become. It cost Sonic Innovations less than $300 to produce one digital aid, he says. That same aid is then sold to hearing care professionals for around $700. The rest of the markup comes from fitting fees, testing and service contracts.

"In an age when consumer electronics prices are going down, prices on hearing aids just seem to keep going up," Raguskus laments.

Rex Scott, owner of Audiology Associates, agrees his industry is not without unscrupulous retailers trying their best to turn a disability into their own golden opportunity. But he insists that with common sense and careful shopping, hearing aid buyers can be satisfied with service and product.

Generally, a person will accomplish more by going to their doctor and asking for a referral to an audiologist, he says.

"An audiologist may dispense hearing aids, but that is not all they are concerned with. They can find specifically what areas of hearing loss there are, and how to help."

By Bob Mims, Salt Lake Tribune