Audiodent is a privately owned medical device
company, devoted to the development,
manufacturing and marketing of invisible wireless
hearing devices.
Audiodent is developing a line of hearing-aid
systems that is based on the physiological
principle of sound conduction through the skull
bone and utilizing the teeth as the path to the
skull bone. The hearing-aid device placed on the
tooth and will use bone conduction to deliver
audio directly to the nerves, solving the
discomfort, performance and stigma issues with
current generation of products on one hand and
the need for medical surgery on the other hand.
The World Health Organization estimates that over
120 million people worldwide have a disabling
degree of hearing impairment. However, only about
10% of them are satisfied hearing aids users. In
spite of introduction of new technologies to the
hearing aids market, over 80% of the hearing
impaired people avoid hearing aids due to poor
sound quality, stigma and discomfort. 40% of
those who did purchase a hearing aid are
dissatisfied; 12% of the hearing aids owners do
not use them at all.
Over 6.2 million hearing aids were sold in 2004
at a wholesale value of about $2.5bn. The market
is ranked 5th in growth rate within the medical
device industry, with 13% CAGR (Frost & Sullivan,
2005).
Audiodent's hearing systems use multidisciplinary
technologies including microelectronics, RF, DSP
software and mechanical engineering.
Audiodent developed and tested several prototype
systems that validate the technology and concept.
Patients tested prototypes with all types and
degrees of hearing impairment. and demonstrated
exceptional performances, which were defined by,
market experts as a "revolution in audiology."