Powered Hearing Aid ( 1898 ) | Hutchinson's invention lends power to the hard of hearing

 Although hearing aids have probably been around for centuries, they are first mentioned in Giambattista della Porta's Magia Naturalis ( 1598 ). These early devices were made from wood and were carved to resemble the ears of animals known to have acute hearing.

By the late 1700, ear trumpets were widely available in an array of different shapes, size, and materials. These devices all served to passively gather sound waves and direct them to the ear canal. However in 1819, F.C. Rein made an acoustic throne for King Goa of Portugal. It had carved lion's head for arm rests and concealed in the heads were resonating chambers that lead to a hearing tube by the king's head.

This battery-powered hearing aid, made in c. 1929, has an
 earplug and hook for hanging over the ear

In the 1890s there were numerous attempts to develop a powered hearing aid, using the recently invented storage battery. The first commercially successful powered hearing aid was the " Akoulallion " developed in 1898 by Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison ( 1876-1944 ), and patented in 1899. This early model was bulky, being designed to sit on a tabletop, and very expensive. Battery life was very limited, as was the range of frequencies. It produced only modest amplification, restricting it to those with only mild to moderate hearing loss. In 1903, he had developed the portable " Acousticons ".

Hutchison is also known for developing the electric klaxon horn, which saw widespread use in early automobiles. This has led some to quip that he invented the horn to deafen people so they would have to buy more Acousticons.