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Hearing loss is a prevalent issue, one that can impact very young children in the early stages of development who are unable to communicate the issue. Without adequate hearing testing, children can potentially experience developmental delays in areas such as speech, social development, and academic performance. The lack of affordable access to hearing tests and screening makes it very difficult for families to ensure the hearing health of their babies, especially in Guatemala, where 400,000 babies do not have access to screening, and thus are prone to experiencing these difficulties. 

With the help of a US$5,950 grant from EPICS in IEEE, a team of students at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, USA and Babson College, Wellesley, MA, USA have collaborated through their joint Affordable Design Entrepreneurship program to create a device to make a difference. 

Sonrisas Que Escuchan: Smiles that Listen

To successfully complete this project, the university team worked alongside the non-profit, Sonrisas Que Escuchan, and their director, Dra. Patricia Castellanos, based out of Guatemala. “The idea is that this device could be produced and used in countries like mine where we have few audiologists, but we are working on baby screenings. The equipment cost is insane, and the default language is mostly English. It’s not easy for people that do not speak English to get used to the equipment.” The device that the university team is creating hopes to close this barrier, and ensure people from all areas of the globe have access to this type of audiological healthcare. “We wanted to make something user-friendly to make it more accessible to other countries.”

The engineering students displayed empathy and professionalism in their work with Dra. Castellanos and Sonrisas que Eschuchan. Dra. Castellanos explains, “We face issues in Guatemala that may not be experienced in the US. It can be difficult for students who have not worked in our country to see what our difficulties are, and how limited things can be working in the hospital, especially financially and with limited access to certain equipment. But with these students, they are listening.” 

A Rewarding and Educational Experience

The team has learned a lot creating this project, even getting to travel and attend a conference with their prototype. Andrew Chang, a student at Olin College, described his experience, “We got to go to a conference last semester called the CGHH conference [Coalition for Global Hearing Health] that was held in Los Angeles. We got to interview audiologists from all across the world and other audiological professionals and that was an exhausting but very rewarding trip.” The team received feedback on their prototype, and interviewed audiologists to gain knowledge from their expertise in the field. What they learned helped to improve their prototype and get even closer to delivering a new step in audiological health care.

The team recently applied for additional funding from EPICS in IEEE for year two of their project. In year one the team focused on feasibility of getting a standalone system to work, in year two they will focus on making a standalone system that is safe and effective enough to use with humans. 

The funding for this project was made possible by the Jon C. Taenzer Memorial Fund established by the IEEE Foundation in 2019 with a generous bequest from the Estate of Mr. Taenzer, an IEEE Life Senior Member. The fund supports Mr. Taenzer’s wish of providing breakthroughs in aid for the disabled. 

For more information, visit EPICS in IEEE.  Interested in helping EPICS in IEEE expand its reach and support more worthy projects? Contact Danny DeLiberato, CFRE at d.deliberato@ieee.org, call him at +1.732.562.5446

Photo: Andrew Chang (right) conducts a usability evaluation of several hearing screening device prototypes with audiologist Titus Ibekwe (left) at the Coalition for Global Hearing Health meeting.