History of Hearing aids in China

Primary stages of hearing aid development and fitting

In the 1940s, Professor Liu Ruihua, a well-known ear scientist in China, introduced foreign advanced audiology-related knowledge to China and created the prototype of audiology for China. After the founding of New China, with the support of the government, Tianjin Hearing Aid Factory produced the first hearing aid in China in 1960. Within the next 25 years, domestic hearing aids were mainly produced by a few domestic hearing aid manufacturers, mainly by Tianjin Hearing Aid Factory. , And mainly box-type, there are few behind-the-ear and in-ear hearing aids. Moreover, at the time, hearing aids in China were mainly sold in stores, and few professionals passed the test. During this period, Professor He Yongzhao, a famous ear scientist in China, edited “Introduction to Audiology” in 1964. This book is China’s first monograph on audiology. In 1979, Professor Deng Yuancheng took the lead in opening the first hearing rehabilitation and hearing aid clinic in the hospital, engaged in hearing the rehabilitation, hearing aid fitting and rehabilitation of the deaf children, and created a new situation in which hearing aids changed from simple commodity trading to professional fitting. At that time, hearing aids were fitted in hospitals, but the types of hearing aids were single, and the level of fitting and equipment were very limited. They were far from being valued by the people in the department and the hospital. They were often regarded as “unfair business”, so this stage can be It is regarded as the primary stage of the development of hearing aids and audiology in China.

The rapid improvement of hearing aid development and fitting level

In the mid-1980s, with the establishment of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, the Chinese government promulgated the Five-Year Work Outline of the Work for the Disabled in China (1988-1992). The outline clearly stipulates that during this period, China will Ten thousand deaf children undergo hearing and speech rehabilitation. The means of rehabilitation are “early detection”, “early hearing aids”, and “early training”. In order to bring a large number of professionals, mainly otolaryngologists, into the clinical audiology and rehabilitation audiology team in China, in the 10 years from 1986 to 1996, with the reform and opening up of China, many well-known foreign hearing aids The company has successively invested in building factories in China. Among them, the first was Danish GN DANAVOX to build a factory in Xiamen. Since then, SIENEMS Hearing Group in Germany and STARKEY in the United States have also invested in building factories in Suzhou. Although the varieties produced by these foreign companies have their own emphasis, they all include a full range of hearing aids such as cassette, back-ear and in-ear. In addition, well-known foreign brand hearing aid companies such as Phonax and Oticon are actively coming to China to promote their products. Germany’s Burer also established a hearing aid factory JINGHAO MEDICAL in Huizhou, China through a joint venture.
When foreign companies promote their products, they have also brought about the popularization of advanced audiology knowledge, such as the acoustic characteristics and production of ear molds, the production of ear-type hearing aids, and the role of air vents. People accepted. During this period, the main fitting staff of hearing aids in China were enough to be the staff of the hospital’s ENT surgeon and the disabled persons’ rehabilitation center.

The digitization of hearing aids and the gradual professionalization and legalization of hearing aid fitting

In the late 1990s, with the development of hearing aids and the gradual promotion of programmed digital hearing aids, professional hearing aid fitting shops (centers) began to appear in China. After I997, professional hearing aid fitting centers continued to appear, which greatly facilitated the hearing impaired to a certain extent, and could provide more convenient and faster services for the hearing impaired, but most of the practitioners did not have professional system training Therefore, there is still a certain distance from providing a higher level of professional and standardized services for hearing aid users. At the same time, the emergence of a large number of foreign new technologies and huge market demand during this period made the sense of urgency of the demand for audiology professionals.

Against this background, China’s first audiology journal, the Journal of Audiology and Speech Diseases, was published in 1995. It is the first professional journal of audiology in China. At the same time, some people of insight in higher education in China pioneered audiology education in China in the late 1990s; in 1998, our education authority and the Australian government organized a two-year audiology course in China. It aims to train our audiologists. Since then, undergraduate and master’s degrees in audiology have been established in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou. Especially by the beginning of the 21st century, the Ministry of Education approved the specialty of audiology as a new specialty in higher education in China, making our specialty of audiology It is officially separated from related majors such as otolaryngology, special education in education, and biomedical engineering, and has truly become an independent new profession. It is believed that with more professionally trained people coming to work, there will be more and more professionals in the fitting of hearing aids in China, and the hearing impaired will also get more and more standardized and professional services.

At the end of the 20th century, the State Food and Drug Administration of the People’s Republic of China in charge of medicines and foods officially issued the “People’s Republic of China Medical Device Management Regulations” (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”). The Regulations clearly stipulate that hearing aids are managed as second-class medical devices, and a licensing system is implemented for their production and operation. Hearing aid fitting is a service industry that has a direct impact on human health and hearing rehabilitation. The Regulations clearly stipulate the minimum requirements for quality and safety and follow-up services and industry access standards. In accordance with the overall requirements and regulations of the Regulations, some provinces and cities have separately formulated individual operating rules for hearing aid fitting shops (centers) in various places, which specifies the number, qualifications, and basic equipment of hearing aid fitting shops (centers). Configuration, site area and various rules and regulations. Although there is still a large gap between the above regulations and industry requirements compared with foreign countries, after all, great progress has been made, which indicates that the important task of hearing aid fitting is starting from a simple natural occupation to Professional industry prospecting and licensing system transition. However, at present, there are very few audiologists in China, so it is impossible to hold the professional qualifications of an audiologist or audiologist or audiologist to a person engaged in hearing rehabilitation and hearing aid fitting as a licensed physician or licensed pharmacist. Certificate post. Therefore, it is hoped that the country will introduce relevant policies and regulations on vocational certificate training and examinations in this field as soon as possible. Only by making continuous efforts in this direction can China’s hearing and hearing aid fitting be able to shorten the gap with developed countries faster, bring more professional and better services to our hearing impaired, and also promote our hearing Learning develops rapidly and healthily.