Etymotic takes CEA Innovations Award for protection developed to save the hearing of deployed troops

Etymotic Research, an innovator in high-fidelity hearing protection, listening and communication devices won an innovation award for its EB-series of electronic BlastPLG Earplugs, developed to mitigate hearing damage and tinnitus sustained by deployed Warfighters.

There are two versions of Etymotic’s Blast Plug. EB15 is for persons who operate some or most of the time around continuous loud noise such as machinery and military vehicles and also need protection against gunfire and explosions. EB1 is for hunters who want to hear naturally and be protected from sudden firearm blasts when there isn’t time to insert hearing protection. 

EB15 circuitry is configured with adaptive attenuation to become a 15-dB earplug when noise levels put the user at increased risk for hearing damage,” said Dr. Mead Killion, founder of Etymotic Research and the inventor of the ER-series Blast Plugs. “Despite risk to hearing from loud machinery and sudden blasts, Warfighters decline to wear hearing protection because it interferes with situational awareness and their ability to localize quieter sounds.” 

Noise-induced hearing loss is a growing public health concern. Many persons are at risk for hearing damage in the workplace, ranging from construction workers to backstage and front-of-house personnel at music venues. Both versions of blast plug are designed to restore sound that is blocked when the ear canal is sealed. Both allow the user to hear naturally, as though there were nothing in the ears. When no loud noise is present, the EB15s return to natural hearing, as if nothing is in the ears to block sound. 

Electronic BlastPLG earplugs are sold on the Etymotic Research website. MSRP is $449 for EB1 (pair) and $499 for EB15 (pair). Included with each pair EB Electronic BlastPLG earplugs is an assortment of ready-fit eartips, a filter removal tool and extra wax filters, headband for wind noise reduction, carrying