A 7-year-old child with bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss uses hearing aids but still struggles to follow the teacher in a noisy classroom. Which assistive device most directly addresses this specific difficulty?
- A Contralateral routing of signals (CROS) hearing aid
- B Telephone amplifier with coupling pad
- C Frequency modulation (FM) remote microphone system ✓
- D Bone anchored hearing device
Correct answer: C. Frequency modulation (FM) remote microphone system
Explanation
An FM system places a microphone near the teacher's mouth and transmits the signal directly to the child's receiver, improving signal-to-noise ratio regardless of classroom reverberation and distance, which hearing aids alone cannot overcome. Telephone amplifiers address phone use, a CROS aid routes sound from a deaf ear to the opposite side and suits unilateral deafness, and a bone anchored device treats conductive or mixed losses or single-sided deafness rather than degraded signal-to-noise ratio in the classroom.
Reference: Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, 7th ed.
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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.