Now hear this: invention result of desperation.

• Author: Eulberg, Tyera
• Position: Pulling The Strings; innovation in hearing aids field - Company Profile

WHEN JO WALDRON WAS IN A CAR WRECK earlier this year, she grabbed her wireless phone and called the police, responding easily to their queries about location and possible injuries. So easily, in fact, that the responding officer may not have known she was deaf had she not asked if he had a moustache that would impair her lip reading.

"He asked if I was kidding," Waldron says with a laugh.

"I sad, 'About which part? Yes. I'm deaf and speaking to you on the telephone, and I need to know if we're going to be able to communicate readily when you get here.'"

Her phone is almost identical to any other--except for one tiny chip she has added. It's one millimeter square; anyone else wouldn't even know it was there. But for Waldron. Her micro-technology means the difference between hearing absolutely nothing and understanding every single word.

"The invention arose purely and simply out of desperation," Waldron says. "I have a closet full--a museum, really--of existing telephone devices. None of them work for me."

Waldron, who has spent more than 20 years as a powerful advocate for Americans with Disabilities, formed Able Planet Inc. in August 2002 to test and refine her idea. It took about a year for the company, working closely with Dr. Joan Burleigh and the Colorado State University computer and electrical engineering department, to come up with the versatile design.

The chip interacts with the "T-coil," an essentially archaic technology found in common hearing aids, to create what Waldron describes as a direct wireless link between the hearing aid and the electronic device. As a result, sound clarity is drastically improved. In fact, the micro-technology elicits a 30 percent increase in word discrimination from traditional hearing-aid compatible telephone devices, which use a strong magnetic field to amplify, but not clarify, sound.

"We believe we've created a new industry standard," says Waldron. "People with impairment can literally hear 80 percent better."

And it's not just about phones.

Possible applications are virtually, limitless--stereos, televisions, computers. Ultimately, Waldron hopes the Able Planet technology can create a...