Understanding Infant Hearing Loss

Navigating the early stages of your child’s life is an exciting and sometimes overwhelming experience filled with many important things to learn. One crucial aspect of your child’s development is their hearing health.

Understanding infant hearing loss can be overwhelming, but recognizing the signs and knowing the steps to take if your child is diagnosed with hearing loss can empower you on this journey.

Causes of Congenital Hearing Loss

Hearing loss in infants can be either congenital (present at birth) or acquired (developed later). Congenital causes may include but are not limited to infections, premature birth, birth injuries, low birth weight, lack of oxygen at birth, maternal diabetes, drug or alcohol use during pregnancy, high blood pressure during pregnancy and genetics.

Genetic factors are responsible for 50% of hearing loss cases. These can be syndromic (associated with conditions like Down syndrome or Treacher Collins syndrome) or nonsyndromic (inherited hearing loss without other associated symptoms). Your provider may be able to look at your family history and run a few tests to identify if your child is likely to have genetic hearing loss. While you won’t be able to change the outcome, knowing about your child’s hearing loss ahead of time can help you prepare.

Infant Screenings and Signs of Hearing Loss

In 2020, over 98% of newborns in the U.S. were screened for hearing loss shortly after birth. This early detection is crucial, but parents should also watch for signs of hearing loss developing later, including a lack of response to sounds or delayed language development.

What Are Your Treatment Options?

Depending on your child’s type and severity of hearing loss, their audiologist may recommend hearing aids, cochlear implants or speech therapy:

Hearing aids are suitable for infants within the first few weeks or months. These small but advanced devices work by amplifying sounds to help those with mild to profound hearing loss understand the world around them.
A child with profound hearing loss may be a candidate for cochlear implants at nine months old. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted devices that bypass damaged ear parts to aid those with severe hearing loss who are unresponsive to hearing aids.
Speech therapy is essential for developing communication skills. To help avoid delays in language development, it is best to start speech therapy early.

Learning that your child has hearing loss can be daunting, but know that the experts at Center For Hearing are here to support you through your journey.

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The Future of Hearing Devices: Deep Neural Networks & Artificial Intelligence

February 14, 2025

Hearing technology has come a long way over the years; however, one aspect of hearing loss that many hearing aids have difficulty addressing is trouble understanding speech in noise. Fortunately, some of today’s state-of-the-art devices can solve this problem utilizing deep neural networks (DNN) and artificial intelligence (AI). Sensorineural hearing loss causes difficulty understanding speech in background noise. This type of hearing loss is caused by damage to the hair cells of the inner ear that convert soundwaves into electrical energy, which are then interpreted by the brain. This causes the quality and quantity of the signal sent from the ears to the brain to diminish over time, resulting in the brain expending more energy and effort to make sense of it. DNNs may help improve the transmission of the neural code, making hearing easier on the brain. [1] It’s important to know what DNNs are to understand how they can help. DNNs are a subset of AI. They rapidly analyze large data sets so that they can teach hearing aids and other technological devices how to respond to data like a human would, all while verifying accuracy and making corrections. DNNs are beneficial in hearing technology because they can help with speech enhancement. DNNs can be applied as “time-frequency masks,” meaning select sounds—like speech—are allowed while other sounds are suppressed. DNNs can also identify and separate multiple voices, selecting a primary voice to emphasize and secondary voices to suppress. This feature can help hearing device wearers in a variety of settings. For example, at a restaurant or party, the hearing device can emphasize a conversation partner, allow other nearby voices at a reduced volume and suppress background noises such as dishes clinking. Schedule an appointment to talk to Center for Hearing about our vast state-of-the-art hearing solutions today— (239) 434-0086. [1] Published by Douglas L. Beck. (2021, January 15). Deep neural networks in hearing devices. Retrieved April 2, 2021 from https://www.hearingreview.com/hearing-products/hearing-aids/deep-neural-networks

Startup Aims to Develop the First Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss

February 14, 2025

A Boston biotech startup is attempting to develop the first gene therapy treatment for hearing loss. If successful, it promises to offer new hope to the estimated 300,000 Americans who suffer from gene-based hearing loss—a number that includes more than 4,000 newborns. The timing may not be ideal, but biotech companies have been largely immune from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession. Developing new drugs takes years, so these companies are better able to weather storms. And the efforts of biotechnology companies that are focusing on tools to prevent and treat potentially fatal health threats has resulted in soaring stock values for many of these companies, even in the face of the current crisis. Akouos, the Boston startup, was founded in 2016. Its goal is to develop the first gene therapy to treat hearing loss and is targeting a specific form of deafness that results from mutations in a single gene. They are experimenting with adeno-associated viruses, using them as vectors to deliver DNA that encodes a functioning gene in certain target cells. Around 7,000 people are afflicted with this type of genetic hearing loss. Adeno-associated viruses are considered viable candidates because they don’t usually cause disease and can be customized to treat a variety of genetic conditions. The company has partnered with two influential organizations: Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Lonza, a Swiss manufacturing company that holds contracts with various pharmaceutical makers. Manny Simons, Akouos’ co-founder and chief executive, holds a degree in neuroscience from Harvard College, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. His desire to help those with hearing loss stems from his passion for playing the piano. “It’s easy to take hearing for granted,” said in a Boston Globe interview. “Maybe because music has been important to me, it’s something that I take a little less for granted.” [1] [1] Saltzman, J. (2020, June 22). Akouos, a startup developing a gene therapy for hearing loss, raises IPO value to $125 million - The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 30, 2020, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/22/business/ipo-upped-akouos-boston-startup-working-gene-therapy-hearing-loss/