SIEMENS PIONEERS THE WORLD’S FIRST THREE DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE HEARING AID

New TRIANO Product Minimizes Hearing Effort,

Improves Speech Understanding in Noise

Siemens Hearing Solutions, a subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions, recently introduced TRIANO™, the newest generation of digital hearing aids offering the world’s first three-microphone directional technology.  TRIANO was designed to reduce hearing effort and maximize speech understanding in noisy environments, two of the most important challenges hearing aid users face.

“We estimate that 15 percent of the hearing impaired wear hearing aids.  This is a significant number when you consider there are more than 28 million Americans who suffer from hearing loss,” said Dr. Thomas A. Powers, director of Audiology and Strategic Development at Siemens Hearing Solutions.  He explains: “Our commitment to developing advanced technologies to improve the lives of the hearing impaired is evidenced by our increasing investment each year in R&D.  This is only the first of many expected improvements we hope to bring to the market.

All TRIANO hearing aids are developed with the Speech Comfort System™ offering the following benefits:

·         Automatic Situation Detection - Each individual’s listening ability is unique.  Those with complete ability to hear depend on the inner ear and auditory portion of the brain to help identify a listening situation.  Conversely, those with hearing loss depend on hearing aids. The Automatic Situation Detection analyzes the individual’s listening situation automatically by detecting incoming speech signals.

·        Signal Optimization – This system minimizes the individual’s listening effort by classifying the situation into one of many common types of listening situations. The environment’s sounds are then processed in a 16-channel signal processing system to enhance speech and reduce noise specifically for that situation. TRIANO hearing aids adjust to the listening environment within one automatic program eliminating the need for the individual to manually switch programs.

·        Automatic Directional Microphone - The system automatically engages the advanced directional microphone technology to increase an individual’s understanding of speech in difficult, noisy situations. The system automatically amplifies sounds coming from the person in front of the individual wearing a TRIANO hearing aid, while minimizing the competing signals from behind, or around them.

Research has proven that directional microphones improve speech understanding in many different types of noisy situations.  Siemens is the only company currently able to offer TriMic™ three-microphone directional technology to maximize speech understanding by providing the highest degree of directional improvement available today.

TriMic is only available on the TRIANO 3 BTE (Behind-the-Ear) hearing aid.  Other TRIANO hearing aids utilize the proven TwinMic™ two-microphone directional system from Siemens to improve speech understanding in noisy situations.  TwinMic picks up sounds directly in front of the individual or sounds coming from all directions. 

Even if the noise moves or changes its direction, both TriMic and TwinMic‘s adaptive directionality follows the source of noise and adjusts automatically so that speech is understood at its best. 

Available in all styles from the smallest micro CIC (Completely-in-the-Canal) to a super power BTE (Behind-the-Ear), TRIANO offers a complete family of hearing solutions for all degrees of hearing loss for people of all ages.

About Siemens Hearing Solutions:

Headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey, Siemens Hearing Solutions designs, engineers and manufactures advanced digital, digital, digitally programmable, and advanced conventional hearing aids in all custom (ITC, ITE, and CIC) and Behind-the-Ear (BTE) models.

The Company also offers audiological software along with a wide variety of equipment for Hearing Health Care Professionals, hearing aid batteries and a wide array of assistive listening devices (ALDs), such as amplified phones, which help improve the quality of life of the hearing impaired. Visit www.siemens-hearing.com for more information.

The Company operates as a subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions, of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) one of the largest suppliers of healthcare equipment in the world. Siemens AG headquartered in Munich, Germany, is a leading global electronics and engineering company.  It employs some 450,000 people in 193 countries, and reported worldwide sales of more than $74 billion in fiscal 2001 (10/1/00 - 9/30/01).  

The United States is Siemens' largest market, with nearly 80,000 employees and sales of $18.9 billion for fiscal 2001. For more information about Siemens in the U.S., visit www.usa.siemens.com.

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Siemens Hearing in New Zealand

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This press release contains forward-looking statements based on the beliefs of management from Siemens Hearing Solutions.  Actual results for TRIANO hearing aids may vary from those described in this news release depending on a number of factors, including the type and degree of the hearing loss, proper diagnostic testing and the fit of the hearing aid by a hearing health care professional,.  Siemens Hearing Solutions does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.