Smallest FM listening system.

Hearing aid users who require extra assistance in strenuous listening environments, such as classrooms and conference rooms, no longer need bulky on-the-belt receivers, conspicuous cables, and antennas. Phonak, Inc., introduces the [MicroLink.sup.TM] FM Communication Package, an assistive listening system that incorporates the world's smallest FM receiver into an audio "shoe" that snaps onto any Phonak behind-the ear hearing aid. The result is an unobtrusive amplification solution that is useful for children as well as adults who have resisted FM systems for cosmetic reasons.

Designed to overcome background noise, distance, reverberation, and poor room acoustics, the MicroLink eliminates the receiver box and the box-to-hearing-aid cable connection of conventional solutions, as well as the antenna that protrudes from the receivers of other wireless systems.

The MicroLink delivers the speaker's voice directly to the wearer's ear, conveying speech signals to the receiver via wireless FM from a transmitter stationed at the source. The transmitter can also be plugged directly into a television, radio, telephone, or computer to screen out ambient noise for clearer listening.

The MicroLink is the first system of its kind that operates at a frequency of 216 MHz, virtually eliminating interference from other electronic devices, and the only FM solution to date that can be used with computer-programmable hearing aids.