Widex AK-9 User Instructions

User’s instructions

The AIKIA Series

AK-9

Behind-the-ear

2

The hearing aid, earmould and accessories shown
in these user’s instructions may not look the same
as the ones you have. We furthermore reserve the
right to make any changes considered necessary.

Hearing aids and their accessories
should not be disposed of with normal
household waste. Please consult your
national Widex distributor for advice on
how to dispose of your hearing aid.

3

Contents

Your new AIKIA hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

AIKIA (AK-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Battery type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Inserting the battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Changing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Turning the hearing aid on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Left/right identification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Placing AIKIA on/in the ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Possible settings when turning on your hearing aid . . . . . . . .14

Removing AIKIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Automatic adjustment of loudness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Fine tuning loudness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Listening programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Switching between the listening programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Keeping AIKIA clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Cleaning accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The hearing aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

The earmould . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Caring for your hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Good advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Audio input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

FM systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

In case of malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4

Your new AIKIA hearing aid

Thank you for choosing a Widex hearing aid. AIKIA
is a hearing aid that allows you to be part of the
process of tailoring the sound to your individual
hearing loss and lifestyle requirements.

We recommend that you read the entire booklet to
get full satisfaction from your new AIKIA hearing
aid.

We hope you will be pleased with your new
Widex hearing aid.

5

AIKIA (AK-9)

1. Microphone openings, where the sound

enters the hearing aid.

2. Volume control is available in some AIKIA

models. It makes it possible to fine tune the
automatically adjusted loudness.

3. Program button, which allows you to choose

between different listening programs.

4. On/off switch.

5. Battery drawer with a nail grip for easy

opening.

6. Earhook.

7. Plastic t ubi ng.

8. Earmould.

9. Sound outlet.

10. Relief vent for

aeration of the
ear canal.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

1.

9.

10.

6

The battery

Battery type

The recommended battery type for your AIKIA
hearing aid is:

Zinc Air battery type 13

To obtain replacement batteries, please consult
your hearing care professional. Please note the ex­piry date and the recommendations regarding dis­posal of used batteries on the battery pack. To en­sure proper battery function, do not use batteries
past the expiry date. Because they are Zinc Air type
batteries, they need air to work. Therefore, do not
remove the adhesive tab until just before inserting
the battery in the hearing aid. Once the tab has
been removed, the battery will start functioning
after a few seconds. The battery life will depend on
a number of factors, such as the setting of your
hearing aid, how many hours you use it daily and
the listening environments in which you use it.

7

Inserting the battery

Before inserting a new battery in
your hearing aid, remember to re­move the adhesive tab. Do not use
batteries on which there is a sticky
residue from the tab or other un­wanted substance.

8

Push the nail grip upwards to
swing open the battery drawer.
The nail grip is located on the
opposite side of the on/off switch
at the bottom of the hearing aid.

The plus (+) sign of the battery must face upwards.
If the battery drawer does not close easily, the bat­tery is incorrectly inserted.

9

Changing the battery

If you hear four rapid beep-tones while wearing
your hearing aid, it is an indication that the battery
is nearly exhausted. Once the battery is totally ex­hausted, the hearing aid will be completely silent.
Exactly how long the hearing aid will function after
the beep-tones varies from one case to another.
We recommend that you always have a spare bat­tery with you.

For adjustment of the beep-tone level or disabling
of the function, please consult your hearing care
professional.

Never leave an exhausted battery in the hearing
aid. Exhausted batteries may leak, which could
damage the hearing aid. When changing batteries,
it is a good idea to hold the hearing aid over a table
or a carpet, in case you drop the hearing aid or bat­tery.

10

Turning the hearing aid on and off

The battery drawer is placed
at the bottom of the hearing
aid. The battery drawer also
functions as the on/off
switch.

The hearing aid is turned on
when the switch is pushed
upwards, and off when the
switch is pushed down­wards.

The word “OFF” is clearly vis­ible on the switch when the
hearing aid is turned off.

Please remember to switch
the hearing aid off when it is
not in use. Remove the bat­tery if the hearing aid will not
be used for several days.

11

Left/right identification

If you wear hearing aids on
both ears, your hearing care
professional can put coloured
marks on your hearing aids so
you can easily see which is
for the left ear and which is
for the right ear (red mark =
right and blue mark = left).

12

Placing AIKIA on/in the ear

Insert a battery in your hearing aid. First insert the
earmould in the ear canal while holding the lower
part of the tubing. It may also help to pull the outer
ear backwards and upwards with the opposite
hand.

13

Once the earmould has been inserted, you place
the hearing aid behind the ear, so that the hook
rests comfortably on the ear, close to your head.

14

Possible settings when turning
on your hearing aid

Your hearing aid can be set to start up in two dif­ferent ways. In the standard start-up setting your
hearing aid may whistle slightly while you insert
the earmould in the ear. An alternative is a setting
where the hearing aid actively suppresses whis­tling while the earmould is being inserted in the
ear. Together with your hearing care professional
you can choose the start-up setting that suits your
needs best.

15

Removing AIKIA

Turn off your hearing aid before removing it. First
remove the hearing aid from its position behind
the ear. Carefully pull the earmould out of the ear
canal, while holding the lower part of the tubing. If
it is difficult, it may help to try to move the ear­mould carefully from side to side while pulling it
out. It may also help to pull the outer ear back­wards and upwards with the opposite hand.

16

Automatic adjustment of
loudness

AIKIA adjusts loudness automatically in accord­ance with your sound environment. Several thou­sand times per second, AIKIA analyses the sur­roundings and tailors its sound accordingly. With
AIKIA you do not have to think about adjusting the
volume – it happens quite automatically.

Important: If the volume in your hearing aid is too
loud or too weak, or if the reproduced sounds are
distorted, or you would like any further informa­tion, consult your hearing care professional.

17

Fine tuning loudness

Your hearing aid may be pro­vided with a volume control,
shaped like a small lever. Push
the lever upwards to raise the
automatically set volume.
Push the lever downwards to
lower the volume. Use short
touches for minor corrections
of the volume. Faster adjust­ments are obtained by keep­ing the lever pressed for some
seconds.

Each time you operate the volume control, you will
hear a beep-tone. For modification of the beep­tones or disabling of the beep-tone function or vol­ume control, please consult your hearing care pro­fessional.

Any adjustment of the volume setting will be can­celled when your hearing aid is turned off.

18

Listening programs

Your AIKIA hearing aid may be provided with up to
four listening programs optimised for different lis­tening situations. Your hearing care professional
can help you select the programs that are of use to
you. If your needs change over time, the combina­tion of listening programs can be changed. In these
user’s instructions, the hearing care professional
can list the listening programs that are available in
your hearing aid (see page 20). You can choose
from the following programs:

AIKIA Master: This listening program is AIKIA’s
standard program. In the Master program all the
automatic functions of the hearing aid work to en­sure audibility, speech intelligibility and comfort in
all listening situations.

Acclimatisation program: This listening program
has the same features as the Master program, but
provides slightly less amplification. The listening
program is ideal if this is your first hearing aid and
you want to become used to all the new sounds
gradually.

19

Music: This listening program is ideal for listening
to music.

TV: This listening program is ideal for listening to
the TV.

M+T: In this listening program you listen via the
hearing aid microphone (M) and the telecoil (T).
This listening program allows you to listen to a
specific sound source and still hear surrounding
sounds.

T: In this listening program you listen via the tele­coil (T) and not via the microphone (M) in the
hearing aid. The telecoil can only be used where a
loop system is installed. Activating this program
allows you to listen to a specific sound source and
shut out surrounding sounds.

20

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

21

Switching between the
listening programs

You can switch between
the programs by using the
program button on the
back of the hearing aid. If
you do not want to use the
program button, you can
consult your hearing care
professional to have it dis­abled.

Each time you switch to another program, you will
hear beep-tones. The beeps tell you which pro­gram you have chosen:

• Program 1: One brief beep

• Program 2: Two brief beeps

• Program 3: Three brief beeps

• Program 4: One long and one brief beep

22

The number of different beeps depends on how
many programs you - together with your hearing
care professional - have chosen to have in your
hearing aid. The selected listening programs are
numbered 1-4.

If you – in consultation with your hearing care pro­fessional – decide on other combinations of pro­grams later, these can be written on the blank
forms found at the back of these instructions.

23

Keeping AIKIA clean

Cleaning accessories

The following accessories are available for your
hearing aid:

1. Battery magnet to facilitate insertion of the

battery into the battery drawer.

2. Wax removing tool for cleaning the relief vent

opening and the earmould sound bore.

3. Soft cloth for drying and cleaning the hearing

aid.

Contact your hearing care professional if you need
additional supplies of accessories.

1.

2.

3.

24

The hearing aid

Never wash your hearing
aid with water, cleaning
solutions or other liquids.
Instead, clean your hear­ing aid with a dry soft cloth
after use.

When the hearing aid is not in use, it is a good idea
to leave the battery drawer open, so as to ventilate
the hearing aid and allow it to dry.

25

The earmould

Make sure that your ear­mould is clean and free
of earwax and moisture.
If it is plugged, clear the
openings with a wax re­moving tool.

Disconnect the earmould from
the tubing at least once a week
and wash the earmould in luke­warm water. Rinse the ear­mould thoroughly and allow it
to dry overnight.

26

If there is still moisture
in the earmould the next
time you want to use the
hearing aid, use a small

blower or the like to blow
it dry. Never use alcohol or other cleaning solu­tions to clean your earmould.

If your earmould tubing becomes slack, stiff, yel­low or cracked, replace the tubing. For further sup­plies of tubing consult your hearing care profes­sional.

27

Caring for your hearing aid

With proper care, your hearing aid will give you
years of reliable service. Here are some things you
can do to prolong the life of your hearing aid:

• Switch your hearing aid off when it is not in

use. Should you not use it for several days, take
out the battery to avoid battery leakage.

• Treat your hearing aid as the valuable object it

is: with care. When your hearing aid is not in
use, keep it in its case in a cool, dry location
where it cannot be reached by children or
pets.

• When not in use, do not expose your hearing

aid to extreme temperatures or high humidity.

• In environments with high humidity, a Widex

drying kit may be used daily to reduce the
amount of moisture inside the hearing aid. See
the instructions enclosed with the Widex dry­ing kit.

28

• Do not wear your hearing aid in the shower or

swimming, or when using a hair dryer, hair
spray, or other sprays.

• Never try to open or repair the hearing aid your-

self.

• Do not wear your hearing aid during x-ray, MR

scans, CT scans, short-wave diathermy, or sim­ilar radiation treatments and never place your
hearing aid in a microwave oven. These are
some of the types of radiation that can damage
your hearing aid. Radiation from, for example,
room surveillance equipment, burglar alarms
and cellular telephones, is weaker and will not
damage your hearing aid.

• Widex hearing aids are not certified for use in

mines or other areas with explosive gases.

29

Good advice

• The use of hearing aids increases the risk of ac-

cumulation of earwax. Contact your physician/
ENT doctor if you suspect that a plug of earwax
has accumulated in your ear. Earwax may not
only reduce your own hearing but also the ef­fect of the hearing aid considerably. It is a good
idea to ask your physician to clean your ears a
couple of times a year.

• Please be sure to keep your hearing aid and its

accessories out of the reach of children, who
might place them in their mouths. Also keep
batteries out of children’s reach and discard
used batteries carefully. Do not change batter­ies in front of children and do not let them see
where you keep your supply.

• Never put a battery in your mouth for any rea-

son as you may risk swallowing it. In case of in­gestion, contact your physician immediately.

30

• The hearing aid is made of modern non-aller-

genic materials. Still, in rare cases skin irrita­tion can occur. If you notice skin irritation in or
around your ear or ear canal, contact your hear­ing care professional.

• Please be aware that the use of any type of

hearing aid/earmould may involve a slightly
increased risk of infection in the ear canal. An
infection can arise as a result of inadequate
ventilation of the ear. Therefore, we recom­mend that you take out your hearing aid/ear­mould at night to allow the ear canal to be ven­tilated. Make sure that you clean and inspect
your hearing aid/earmould as required. If an
infection occurs, you should disinfect your
hearing aid/earmould and seek medical ad­vice. Contact your hearing care professional for
further advice on methods of disinfection. Do
not under any circumstances use alcohol, chlo­rine or similar substances to clean your hearing
aid/earmould.

31

Accessories

Audio input

Your AIKIA hearing aid can be furnished with an
audio shoe. This allows direct connection to diffe­rent kinds of accessories (FM and CROS/Bi-CROS
systems), as well as external audio equipment (ra­dio, TV, etc.). In this way the sound from, for exam­ple, a radio or a speaker provided with an FM mi­crophone can be sent directly into your hearing
aid.

32

With an audio shoe connected to the hearing aid,
one or more of your standard listening programs
are replaced by dedicated audio programs.

In the form on the next page, your hearing care
professional can make a note of the audio pro­grams you have access to and where they are lo­cated. When you attach the audio shoe, the hear­ing aid automatically switches to an audio program
(see page 33). If you then wish to switch to one of
the other programs, you must use the program
button on the hearing aid. As soon as you remove
the audio shoe, the usual program order is re-es­tablished (see page 20).

33

Program Program order with audio shoe

1.

2.

3.

4.

34

Important: If your hearing aid is connected to
equipment which is connected to the electrical
mains, this equipment must meet the safety re­quirements stated in the international standard IEC

60065.

Do not connect the hearing aid to sockets that are
labelled with one or more of the following sym­bols:

For more information on the use of audio input
consult your hearing care professional.

35

FM systems

An FM system is an assistive listening device that
can be used as an accessory for AIKIA. The FM
system makes it easier to understand speech in
difficult listening situations. The FM system from
Widex is called SCOLA.

The FM system consists of a small radio transmit­ter with a microphone placed near the speaker and
a small radio receiver clicked onto AIKIA via an FM
shoe. The operating range is approx. 15 metres de­pending on the surroundings. As the SCOLA sys­tem is wireless, both the listener and the speaker
have full freedom of movement within the speci­fied range.

For help to determine whether you could benefit
from an FM system, please consult your hearing
care professional.

36

Remote control

- an alternative way of operating your hearing
aid

A remote control is an accessory for your hearing
aid. It allows you to adjust the volume or switch be­tween the listening programs in your hearing aid.

You can choose between two different remote
control models: A basic model and an advanced
model. For help to determine whether you could
benefit from one of these remote control models,
please consult your hearing care professional.

37

In case of malfunction

The following pages include some quick advice to
follow if you experience problems. Before contact­ing your hearing care professional, please follow
the advice below:

If the hearing aid is dead, it could be because:

• The hearing aid is not turned on. Make sure the

battery drawer, which functions as the on/off
switch, is pushed all the way upwards and that
the word “OFF” is not visible on the switch.

• The battery is dead or does not work. Insert a

new battery. Make sure the battery is inserted
correctly and that the battery drawer is closed
correctly.

• The sound outlet of the earmould is blocked.

Blockage of the sound outlet of an earmould is
often caused by earwax. Clean the blocked
sound outlet.

38

If the hearing aid volume is not powerful
enough, it could be because:

• The battery is nearly exhausted. Insert a new

battery. Make sure the battery is inserted cor­rectly and that the battery drawer is closed cor­rectly.

• The sound outlet of the earmould is blocked.

Blockage of the sound outlet of an earmould is
often caused by earwax. Clean the blocked
sound outlet.

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your

ENT doctor/physician.

• Your hearing may have changed. Contact your

hearing care professional.

39

If the hearing aid whistles continuously, it
could be because:

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your

ENT doctor/physician.

• The tubing is broken. Replace the tubing.

• The tubing is yellow and stiff. Replace the tub-

ing.

• The tubing often comes off the earmould or

hearing aid hook. Replace the tubing.

• The hook or elbow is cracked. Contact your

hearing care professional.

• The earmould is not correctly placed in your

ear canal. Take the earmould out and reinsert it.
It is important that the earmould is placed cor­rectly in your ear canal.

• The earmould fit is too loose. Contact your

hearing care professional.

If the hearing aid performs intermittently, it
could be because:

• The on/off switch is dirty. Push the switch back

and forth a couple of times.

40

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

41

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

42

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

43

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