Abstract: The in-the-canal hearing aid has patient selected physical components and patient selected electronic components. The construction of the hearing aid and the method of providing a hearing aid for a particular patient's hearing impairment are such that a patient may personally select the best suited hearing aid during the testing process and walk away with the hearing aid he or she has personally selected. This is accomplished by allowing the patient to select a form fitting shell with a malleable covering having a hook and twist which precisely conforms to the patient's own ear. The patient then listens to sounds with or without background noise and from various directions using electronic components which conform to the specifications of the hearing aid and personally chooses those electronics which best aid or assist the patient's hearing loss.

Abstract: A battery-powered radio communication apparatus is disclosed which comprises a power amplifier and a power detector for detecting the output power of the power amplifier. A supply voltage detector compares a standard voltage with the output voltage of a battery supplying power to the power amplifier. A gain control circuit controls the gain of the power amplifier in response to the output of the power amplifier and to the output of the supply voltage detector so as to prolong, by a certain time, the communicable state of the apparatus prior to battery depletion.