Mesh networked intelligent ear defenders for the prevention of occupational deafness and control of industrial noise risks

职业性听力损失是工业化国家最常见的职业病，高达24%的听力损伤归因于职业性噪音。这是一个具有重大经济、社会和生理影响的全球性挑战，导致数百万人可预防的健康不良。在美国，超过1000万工人由于工作中过度暴露于噪声而遭受听力损失的影响，英国有110万工人暴露于85 dB以上的噪声中，因此有听力损伤的风险。尽管如此，近几十年来保护设备的技术进步受到严重限制，未能跟上用户需求的步伐。被动护耳器（插头/耳罩）仍然是提供固定保护水平的支柱，但未能解决关键的用户挑战，例如干扰与通常需要移除听力保护装置以进行通信的用户的工作通信--无意中将他们暴露在有害的噪声中，误用产品（研究表明，高达40%的工人因佩戴不当而无法得到耳塞的充分保护）在使用过程中对周围环境的感知有限（安全/警告信号的可听度）。Eartex是一家位于伦敦的中小企业，旨在通过开发第一款护耳器耳机（EAVE）来应对这些挑战，该耳机独特地结合了真实的-通过与BAM Nuttall的合作，我们将噪声暴露的实时监测和报告、个性化听力保护和无线通信整合到一个产品中，并以低成本实现大规模部署。一款无线网状网络耳机，用于动态群组通信，可根据用户自行编程，并可改变环境噪声水平2\。设备内置的实时适配检查和听力测试可指示产品误用3\。噪声暴露的实时映射和个性化报告，包括“风险意识警报”，自动识别正常工作环境中的声音变化，既保护工程，又识别维护问题/资产完整性。在Innovate UK的支持下，需要21个月的研究计划，以提供最终用户在试点研究中验证的原型。如果成功的话，这种组合功能有可能真正颠覆助听器市场，作为一种工业4.0产品，在医疗保健和消费者市场具有更广泛的潜力。纳税人为该项目每投资1英镑，Eartex预计将在运营的前5年内回报10.90英镑。

Occupational hearing loss is the most prevalent occupational disease in industrialised countries with up to 24% of hearing impairment attributed to occupational noise. It is a Global challenge with significant economic social and physiological impacts-that results in preventable ill health for millions of people. In the US over 10 million workers suffer from the effects of hearing loss due to excessive noise exposures on the job with \>1.1M UK workers exposed to noise above 85dB and therefore at risk of hearing damage.Despite this prevalence, technological advancement in protection equipment in recent decades has been severely limited, failing to keep pace with user requirements. Passive ear defenders (plugs/muffs) remain the mainstay providing a fixed level of protection but failing to address key user challenges such as interference with on-the job communication with users often required to remove hearing protection to communicate -- inadvertently exposing themselves to damaging noise, product misuse (studies indicating that up to 40% of workers are inadequately protected by earplugs through poor fitting) with limited awareness of the surrounding environment during use (audibility of safety/warning signals).Eartex, a London based SME, seeks to address these challenges through the development of the first ear defender headset (EAVE) that uniquely combines the capability of real-time monitoring and reporting of noise exposure, personalised hearing protection and wireless communication into a single product and at a cost to enable mass deployment.Through the collaboration with BAM Nuttall the approach offers: 1\. A wireless mesh network headset for dynamic group communication, self-programmable to the user and changing environment noise levels 2\. Real-time Fit Check and hearing test built in to the device to indicate product misuses 3\. Real-time mapping of noise exposure and personalised reporting to include 'risk awareness alerts' that automatically identify changes in sound from a normal working environment, both protecting works and identifying maintenance issues/asset integrity.With support through Innovate UK a 21-month programme of research is required to deliver a prototype validated by end-users in a pilot study. If successful this combined functionality has the potential to truly disrupt the hearables market with global exploitation potential as an Industry 4.0 product with wider potential in Healthcare and Consumer markets. For every £1 invested by taxpayers for this project, Eartex are forecast to return £10.90 within the first 5 years of operation.