Can directional microphones be used with the very smallest hearing aids?
No. Completely-in-the-canal (CIC) instruments are too small and do not extend into the bowl of the ear far enough to use directional microphones. Therefore, the hearing aid wearer that uses these very small and cosmetically pleasing instruments does not get the advantages in background noise environments that can be achieved with directional microphones. Also, CIC hearing aids generally get very poor battery life, and are more difficult to handle for people with vision and dexterity problems. In essence, smaller is definitely not better.
