T-coil hearing aid: everything you need to know
The T-coil, also known as an induction coil or telecoil, is a small piece of metal that is tightly wound with copper and can receive and conduct electromagnetic signals. The telephone coil takes its name from its original function of facilitating telephone calls. The T-coil converts magnetic energy into electrical energy, which is then amplified by a hearing aid or cochlear implant into a high-quality playback signal.
An inductive hearing system is a way of transmitting signals wirelessly to hearing aids or cochlear implants. Such a system consists of an induction loop system that is laid in the floor or on the wall. This loop is operated by a special amplifier, the so-called loop driver. The loop driver is fed with the desired signals, such as speech, music or announcements, causing a magnetic field to build up inside the induction loop. If a second wire is placed in this magnetic field, a voltage is "induced" in this wire that corresponds to the original signal and can be received by other devices.
The T-coil can be used in conjunction with inductive hearing systems. The signals transmitted by the inductive hearing systems can be received by the T-coil in the hearing aid or cochlear implant and amplified into a high-quality playback signal. This then reaches the person affected without any detours, ensuring low-reverberation and low-noise transmission to the ear.
There are various everyday situations in which the telecoil can be used. More and more public buildings are installing inductive hearing systems. Before an event, you should always ask whether appropriate hearing systems are available and switched on so that the telecoil in the hearing aid or cochlear implant can amplify the audio signals during the event. Concerts, theater, cinema visits and other experiences are thus made fully audible again. In addition, annoying disruptive factors such as poor room acoustics, loud background noise or a long distance to the output signal are attenuated.In summary, it can be said that the T-coil or telecoil in combination with inductive hearing systems offers a very useful option for people with hearing problems to be able to perceive acoustic signals more clearly and without interference. Inductive hearing systems are being installed in more and more public buildings and enable better transmission of speech, music and other audio sources.