You’re familiar with physical therapy for bones, muscles and other spots. But what about physical therapy for your hearing?
In today’s “Technically Speaking” report, Local 10′s Gio Insignares walks us through the technology that hopes to make hearing more efficient and the emotional reason behind its start.
Chris Ellis takes his hearing seriously.
He’s the CEO of hearing therapy company, AudioCardio, after all.
But the company’s inception and Ellis’ desire to build a successful business can be traced back to something even more personal -- his experience taking care of his grandfather.
“My grandfather was in the Air Force. He was a hydraulics engineer -- he was next to loud engines and powerful machines his whole life,” Ellis explained.
Ellis says that lifestyle brought on severe hearing loss and eventually, his grandad suffered from dementia.
After doing some research, Ellis found studies that showed an association between untreated hearing loss and a higher risk of cognitive decline.
Specifically, one study from Johns Hopkins tracked more than 600 adults for almost 12 years and found that mild hearing loss doubled dementia risk. The risk possibility increased the more severe the hearing impairment.
In another study, by the Journal of the American Medical Association, a link was found between the use of hearing aids and cochlear implants and a decreased risk of cognitive decline.
Ellis realized all of this was affecting the golden years of his grandfather’s life.
“He just didn’t have that social interaction, because he was frustrated, and then he started to isolate himself,” Ellis said. “And then of course, the depression and cognitive decline kicked in as well. And so that’s why we started the company. I wanted to find a way to provide an easily accessible, affordable solution that didn’t have that negative stigma of wearing a device.”
Started in southern California, and now headquartered here in Miami, AudioCardio is an app, using what’s called “threshold sound conditioning” – a type of sound technology that is meant to maintain and strengthen your natural hearing, while also alleviating symptoms of tinnitus.
The app focuses on continuously stimulating the cells in your ear just below the audible level.
When getting started, the user goes into a quiet room, puts on headphones and performs a self-assessment, allowing the app to find the minimum threshold – the lowest volume you can hear each frequency.
From there, AudioCardio’s algorithm takes over, generating an inaudible sound that plays again and again.
“And by continuously doing this, those pathways become stronger and these cells remember those pathways so you become more efficient in your hearing,” Ellis said. “It’s like physical therapy for your hearing.”
Co-founded with Chief Science Officer Sam Kwak, AudioCardio is a general wellness product right now, with a goal of eventually getting approval from the FDA as software as a medical device (SAMD).
While plateaus, Ellis says, are going to happen with therapy, the recommendation is to continue using the technology in order to impact as much of the hearing spectrum as possible.
Ellis compares the brain to having billions of dirt roads -- the more you take them, the easier they are to find, and the easier it is to reach your destination.
And because it works below an audible level, it’s meant to be kept on in the background as you go about your daily routine.
“You can even listen to music and work out at the same time,” Ellis said. “Some people do it as they fall asleep. We’re still receiving all the signals that are being generated by the app. And because you don’t hear it, they won’t ruin whatever the experience is that you’re doing.”
Ellis hopes AudioCardio is a leader in hearing innovation -- a solution that can work with any company, brand or doctor to help others.
But most importantly, for Ellis, the company carries a legacy and a memory.
“How do you think your grandfather would feel about everything you’ve done so far?” Insignares asked Ellis.
“I think he’d be really proud of me,” Ellis said. “Growing up, with him being an engineer, we always tinkered with things together -- with trying to figure out ways to solve problems. And this is just, a digital way of doing that. And so, I think he’d be really proud of me, wanting to do something that’s going to really help a lot of people.”
AudioCardio is available on both Apple and Android devices, with a free trial before turning into a subscription service.
Subscription prices after the free trial vary between $9.99 a month for the basic plan and $14.99 a month for the pro+ plan.
The app also works with hearing aids, allowing users to stream the sound therapy through those devices.
Right now, AudioCardio is going through FDA-appointed trials to receive that “software as a medical device” designation, with a goal of getting some approvals within the next two to three years.