Presenting Initial Findings of the Community Hearing Aid Feasibility Study at the IALP Congress 2026
In June 2026, the research team of the Community Hearing Aid (CHA) project — a collaborative feasibility study between Anton Schlesinger GmbH, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and FATEC São Paulo — presented intermediate results at the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) Congress in Belém, Brazil. The congress provided an important academic and clinical forum to discuss our investigation into open-source, decentralized hearing care models within the specific context of the Amazon region.
Analyzing the Structural Context in Brazil
Our presentation first outlined the demographic and structural parameters framing the study. With a rapidly aging population, presbyacusis is a primary concern, affecting a significant portion of the 10.7 million hearing-impaired Brazilians identified in the 2022 IBGE census. The study observes that Brazil possesses a nationwide network of trained audiologists and strong local translational research hubs (such as UFPA and UEPA in Belém). However, broad patient access remains hindered by a "locked market" structure. This market oligopoly relies on closed ecosystems (often functioning as "black boxes" for users and local technicians) and high entry barriers due to strict intellectual property regimes. Consequently, populations in remote or low-resource settings face systemic barriers to adequate care.
Methodological Approach: Frugal Innovation and Open Source
To explore potential solutions to these systemic barriers, the CHA project evaluates the feasibility of developing an open-source, standalone medical device designed to complement the public healthcare system (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS). The conceptual framework of the study incorporates the principle of frugal innovation and draws upon the Brazilian practice of gambiarra — understood in this context as a systemic capacity for localized, community-led maintenance and repair. The overarching research question is whether state-backed cooperative manufacturing can effectively sustain local audiological infrastructure.
Real-Time Prototyping as a Research Tool
At the congress, we demonstrated our current real-time prototype, which serves as a sandbox to study hardware and software requirements rather than a finalized medical product. Built on a Rock Pi S and utilizing an 8-microphone MEMS array, the prototype implements the open-source software framework openMHA (developed by the University of Oldenburg) and an MVDR beamformer. Key technical hypotheses currently being tested include:
Latency Mitigation: Utilizing a strictly wired design to systematically avoid the latency issues associated with Bluetooth transmission.
Speech Intelligibility: Optimizing a 4-microphone beamforming array to support various degrees of hearing loss.
Environmental Resilience: Evaluating design criteria to meet an IP55+ rating for tropical climates and testing sustainable power architectures (solar/USB charging) to eliminate battery dependency.
Investigating Regulatory and Economic Viability
The presentation also addressed the regulatory complexities inherent in open-source medical hardware. We outlined theoretical approaches to automate regulatory management by exploring synergies between the EU's Medical Device Regulation (MDR) and the Brazilian ANVISA frameworks using AI-driven tools. The prototype currently functions as a test environment for this proposed digital compliance infrastructure. Furthermore, we introduced our working economic model: a Cluster-Based Public-Common Partnership (PCP). This model hypothesizes that local production, when integrated directly with public healthcare networks, can eliminate intermediaries and secure sustainable local value creation under strict regulatory compliance.
Next Steps: Empirical Fieldwork
The primary objective of our participation at the IALP Congress was to initiate the next empirical phase of our research, designated as "Meet & Listen". To ensure that the CHA is developed as a co-design process, we are currently distributing targeted questionnaires to patients, professional ecosystem stakeholders, and fablabs. This data collection aims to deeply understand local conditions and integrate researchers, audiologists, ENT specialists, and cooperative members into the ongoing development process.
Transparency Note: The Community Hearing Aid (CHA) project is currently in the phase of a funded feasibility study. In the spirit of our open-source philosophy, we consciously share insights into our development process, methodological workshop reports, and early conceptual prototypes in a "Work in Progress" status. The technological and design approaches presented here serve the purposes of research, discussion, and co-design. They do not yet represent a finalized, medically certified end product. We publish transparently to actively seek early dialogue with the clinical community, researchers, and future cooperation partners.
