NEW Starkey Hearing Aids Are WATERPROOF!

Take a deep dive into the research and development behind Starkey’s waterproof Genesis AI hearing aids. In this episode, Dave chats with Brian Dahl, Starkey’s Vice President of Quality and Regulatory about the rigorous testing that went into these devices and why moisture is such a big deal for hearing aid wearers.

The all-new rechargeable Genesis AI product line was engineered from the inside out with the goal of creating a waterproof hearing aid. Our industry-leading improvements to the design assure reliability of the device throughout the entire product lifespan while our continuous dedication to quality and reliability ensures our products can withstand even the most rigorous environments.

Pro8 HydraShield™ Technology for Improved Quality and Reliability:

Pro8 Hydrashield is our proprietary approach to quality design improvements for our rechargeable products. Thorough testing was carried out to ensure Pro8 Hydrashield improvements protect our rechargeable devices from moisture ingress to make them waterproof.* The all-new Genesis AI RIC RT and mRIC R case design benefited from a ground-up re-imagination of quality design compared to our legacy RIC products. Moisture ingress to the battery is the largest concern with rechargeable products, therefore a completely encapsulated lithium-ion battery compartment was instituted, as well as silicone seals for the charging contacts. An Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) compression seal was also added to the RIC receiver connection for an added layer of moisture ingress protection.

Due to their inherent differences in design, our custom rechargeable hearing aids and standard
rechargeable hearing aids have slightly different waterproof* design elements. However, they both
boast more robust circuit sealing, full sealing of case parts, enclosed lithium-ion batteries, internal and external protective coating, and hydrophobic and oleophobic protection of the microphone and receiver ports.

Extended Reliability Tests:

The standard Genesis AI products underwent a series of extended reliability tests in addition to the
tests described above. These tests replicate difficult environments hearing aids face in the real world and validate that Starkey hearing aids will not only survive varied states of moisture conditions in the short term, but will continue to function as expected for the lifetime** of the device. For these additional tests, powered hearing aids are subjected to real-life handling, such as intermittent automated switch activation (user control short press), and charge cycles while in the environmental test chambers. During the tests, the battery voltage is continuously monitored wirelessly to observe for anomalies.

High Humidity +

Hearing aids are heavily exposed to the presence of moisture and humidity due to their location in
the ear canal or over and behind the ear. The extended reliability test in a High-Humidity chamber exposes hearing aids to 95% relative humidity and at 95° F. The accelerated aging test parameters were calculated using the Arrhenius Peck equation (Equation 1) to simulate 5 years real-life use.

Twenty-two Genesis AI RIC RT and twenty-two Genesis AI mRIC R devices were subjected to 365 insertion/removal cycles on the charger and 182 switch presses per test run. Each test run is the full battery life cycle; 51 hours for RIC RT and 41 hours for the mRIC R. Based on the Arhennius equation, the Genesis AI RIC RT devices were tested through 10 full test runs and Genesis AI mRIC R devices were tested through 13 full test runs. All devices continued to perform with no deviation in battery life. Also, not only did battery life continue to outperform industry standards, 100% of the devices tested passed all the post-test functional performance specifications evaluation after each and all test runs.

Sub-assembly Immersion:

While the external housing of the device provides the first layer of defense, Starkey developed novel tests to isolate and evaluate the robustness of different sub-systems and circuit components. Genesis AI RIC hearing aids have added layers of silicone seals and gaskets to further protect the interior components should the external layers of protection be breached. To test these improvements, the external housing of the device is removed while the spine and circuitry are immersed in an artificial sweat solution. With the new Pro8 Hydrashield technology, the device’s battery life lasted longer in the artificial sweat solution compared to control
devices without the design improvements.

00:00 Introduction
00:55 Moisture and Hearing Aid Users
04:25 Zinc Air VS. Lithium-ion Batteries
06:40 Pro8 HydraShield™ Technology and IP68 Rating
09:40 What Took Starkey So Long?!
16:08 Do I Need to Dry My Waterproof Hearing Aids?
16:44 Does IP68 Mean Waterproof?
18:39 Starkey's Quality & Regulatory Testing
21:44 Genesis AI Tips for Hearing Care Providers
23:46 Genesis AI Battery Life
28:27 Conclusion