DIGITAL HEARING INSTRUMENTS- Hearing loss varies greatly with each individual. Until now hearing aids have been unable to meet a user's specific needs.Now however,fully digital hearing instruments can be programmed to achieve this using tiny microchips. Two of these tiny microchips have the processing ability of a powerful personal computer.

According to manufacturers, the development of computers small enough to fit in the human ear,will greatly improve the quality of life for millions of people who have hearing loss. Flexibility in the ability to process sound makes the new hearing aids a true breakthrough.

Most of the problems up to now,like sound distortion,"whistling" feed back and problems understanding speech in noisy locations can be solved by digital hearing devices.As with PC's,mobile cell phones,and portable CD players,advances in microchip circuitry have produced a small hearing instrument,which is more user-friendly.

For the millions of people of all ages, whose vision is so impaired that ordinary glasses don't help them much,come powerful new electronic devices.

These telescopic glasses aren't cheap.One version goes for around $3,600.These glasses help persons with eye problems like macular degeneration,a disorder common to the elderly,which causes light sensing cells in the eye to cease working.These glasses help those so afflicted to resume such hobbies as card playing,and reading.

Likewise,a young person, blinded by congenital cataracts and glaucoma cold benefit greatly from the telescopic glasses, when reading and writing.Those with extremely limited eyesight can show much improvement through using such instruments according to Dr.Ned Witkin of the Emory University Low Vision Clinic in Atlanta.

Another option could be the V-Max,a helmet which contains a digital TV camera,and monitor giving the effect of watching a large screen TV.It is said to be better than telescopic glasses for reading.A video input jack lets you watch TV inside helmet.Cost:$4000.