EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
Opportunity for Stakeholder Co-Design of a Novel, Affordable OAE Device to Scale Early Hearing Loss Identification
Over half of the 34 million children around the world with hearing loss can be diagnosed at birth. Dr. Patricia Castellanos, Au.D., Founder and Director of CEDAF notes, “Many countries do not have any technology for newborn hearing screening. CEDAF is the only organization in Guatemala providing newborn hearing screening. Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) is a great starting technology for countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia." We are a team of engineering and business students from Babson and Olin Colleges’ Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship program. Based on interviews with over 30 deaf or hard-of-hearing adults, six technical advisors, and 18 audiologists and clinical experts from ten countries, we created this purpose statement: “By offering an affordable otoacoustic emissions (OAE) device to trained healthcare workers, our team aims to support universal newborn hearing screening and toddler/preschool hearing screening worldwide so that families can gain agency to make informed health decisions in order to improve their childrens’ life outcomes.” During interviews with audiologists, we learned that the cost of devices is a major barrier to implementing universal hearing screening. Through component cost analysis of existing devices, identification of expired patents, and collaboration with the social benefit business Solar Ear, we have discovered there is an opportunity to enable early screening to scale by creating a device that is 10x more affordable with a user interface that can be operated by people with limited medical training. Our next step is to co-create a smartphone-based OAE device with people who provide screening in under-resourced environments. We have already identified speakers and microphones suitable for the design of an affordable, smartphone-compatible OAE probe. Now we seek co-design collaborators experienced in screening newborns and young children in under-resourced areas to provide early concept feedback to guide the design of the first fully functional device.
- New technology innovations in hearing screening.
- Discuss affordability of hearing screening technologies.
- Evaluate undergraduate student team’s progress.
Poster:
23278_13731ElizabethJohansen.pdf
Presenter: Junwon Lee
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David Brown, PhD is a professor and Director of Audiology SIMLab at Pacific University. Dr. Brown has an interest and expertise in diagnostic audiology, speech in noise, otoacoustic emissions, wideband immittance, and hearing screening in a pediatric population. He has numerous publications and presentations on these topics.
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Howard Weinstein is a social entrepreneur and businessmen with experience launching and implementing social businesses, specifically with and for individuals with disabilities. In 2002, he co-founded SolarEar, a solar-powered and affordable hearing aid designed, manufactured and distributed by the hearing impaired, which became the largest non-profit hearing aid company with distribution in 43 countries. He also served as Business Development Director at Camp Hill Community Trust in Botswana, where he launched several sustainable businesses for people with disabilities. Prior to entering the development field, he served as president of a plumbing supply company. He received his B.A. from Concordia University and his MBA from Syracuse University. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese and speaks sign language.
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Elizabeth is faculty with the Olin College and Babson College Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship program, and the founder and principal consultant for Spark Health Design. Elizabeth uses human-centered design to help collaborators develop world-class technologies that lead to better health outcomes globally. As an engineer, product designer, human factors engineer, and program lead, Elizabeth has contributed to seven products launched including Jana Care’s Aina A1c point-of-care diagnostics test app and kit for managing chronic disease in India and SE Asia; and Design that Matters’ Firefly phototherapy device currently treating newborns with jaundice in hospitals in over thirty low- and middle-income countries.
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No relevant financial relationship exist.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.