Gruv Button™ Retrofit Wins Global
2024 Hearing Technology Innovator Award
On behalf of millions of hearing aid users who are frustrated with, and irritated by, hearing aid insertion difficulty, we are ecstatic to announce Gruv Button™ Retrofit is the winner of the global 2024 HEARING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD from the Hearing Health & Technology Matters organization.
The award is for Hearing Device Accessories in the Assistive Technology and Software Category.
Gruv Button™ Retrofit, with its universal design, solves the hearing aid insertion problem for ALL receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aid users, especially those with Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Arthritis, Muscular Dystrophy, Stroke, and Diabetic Neuropathy, which can result in tremor and dexterity issues, and other limitations interfering with speaker insertion.
The hearing aid insertion problem is pervasive and widely recognized. It is documented in a groundbreaking
2022 Hearing Industries Association-commissioned MarkeTrak survey which revealed that 40 percent of new hearing aid users find it difficult to insert their hearing aids. That means millions of new users, year after year, continue to experience this problem.
Frustration with insertion causes many to abandon their hearing care entirely, which can lead to social isolation, cognitive decline, and other health, safety, and lifestyle related consequences.
The award-winning Gruv Button™ Retrofit is a small, plastic sleeve that slides over the existing speaker, which is inserted into the ear canal. Crucially, the design provides a positive, no-slip interface – the groove – between the fingertip and the speaker end-surface, thereby facilitating sufficiently deep insertion.
Testing of the Retrofit prototypes confirms that the design is now available for production and distribution by the hearing care industry. Millions could then benefit from the industry’s massive production capacity and extensive networks of retail clinics.
Specifically, hearing aid manufacturers now have the opportunity to produce the plastic sleeves to fit each of their particular speaker designs, just as they do with their retention tails. In fact, Gruv Button™ Retrofit was invented to optionally include a retention tail.
This 2024 HEARING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD will help generate awareness and get through to the hearing aid manufacturers. Each Ear, LLC has been pitching Gruv Button™ to the hearing aid manufacturers for 8 years, but it hasn’t come to fruition. But now, with the announcement of the Gruv Button™ Retrofit, it is much easier for hearing aid manufacturers to solve their basic user experience problem.
Very easily, hearing aid manufacturers can produce and monetize the Gruv Button™ Retrofit assistive device, and distribute it through their worldwide network of hearing aid clinics. Retrofitting hearing aids with Gruv Button™ Retrofit is very simple and familiar to hearing care professionals, just as is adding retention tails.
We shout out a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all those hearing aid users, caregivers, hearing care professionals, disability rights advocates, and human rights advocates, who supported us during this award process!
“The Innovator Awards are designed to shine a spotlight on the visionaries and companies turning groundbreaking hearing technology into tangible solutions,” stated Dr. Robert Traynor, a member of the 2024 Awards judging panel. "Companies like Each Ear, LLC are driving the industry forward with their commitment to advancing technology and improving lives.”
About the Hearing Technology Innovator Awards
The Hearing Technology Innovator Awards™ is a global awards program created to honor and recognize innovation within the hearing industry. Since its inception, the program has helped raise over $30,000 for hearing-related charities. Learn more here.
About Each Ear, LLC
Each Ear, LLC is an advocate for hearing aid users and caregivers by developing and promoting “Universal User Assistive Tools” including Gruv Button™, Gruv Button™ Retrofit, Basic Hearing Aid Training for Caregivers™ and Hearing Test Prep™. These tools are designed to improve the user experience both physically and emotionally, and through positive engagement with hearing care professionals. Each Ear, LLC is also the producer of “Are you among the 40% Who Struggle to Insert Your Hearing Aids?” and is proud to be part of and serve the hearing healthcare industry. To learn more, visit EachEar.com.
About HHTM
Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) provides timely information and lively insights to anyone who cares about hearing loss. Readers and contributors are drawn from many sectors of the hearing field, including practitioners, researchers, manufacturers, educators, and, importantly, consumers with hearing loss and those who love them. By involving all these groups, we hope to bridge the gaps in knowledge that so often divide them. To learn more, visit HearingHealthMatters.org.
See our award submission here.
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