World's smallest hearing aid designed

LONDON: An international team of researchers has designed the world's smallest hearing aid which is so tiny that it is almost "invisible".

The hearing aid called 'Nanoplug' is meant to be less intrusive than other such devices, less noticeable and less expensive.

The device is just 7.1mm x 5.7mm x 4.17mm, which the team says is half the size of any other hearing aid.

Nanoplug was first conceived by Nevena Zivic and then brought to fruition by industrial designer, Jongha Lee, audio engineer Mladen Stavri and electromechanical engineer Zoran Marinovi.

On its Indiegogo page, the team claims the hearing aid has no toxic chemicals inside, nor heavy metals, Tech Xplore reported.

Nanoplug can be programmed using software running on a computer, the results of which can be downloaded directly to the device via a cable.

People who want to order the device will have to send in their hearing prescription which will be programmed into the device.

Individual preferences for different environments can also be programmed and downloaded onto the device.