iPhone App

UC Irvine doctors and a medical student are preparing to release the second version of EarTrumpet – the only iPhone hearing assistance application that combines adjustable volume controls with a hearing test that lets users tailor sound enhancement to their needs.

The idea grew from a lecture Dr. Hamid Djalilian gave about hearing aids last spring in Dr. Brian J.F. Wong’s biomedical engineering class. Noting the high price of hearing aids, Djalilian and Wong chatted afterward about the need for a low-cost alternative and how iPhones, iPads and iPod touches are stigma-free fashion accessories.

Wong met with medical student Allen Foulad, who saw the potential in such a device and had the computer skills necessary to develop it.