A NORTH Yorkshire inventor is bracing himself for a battle to market his potentially life-changing advance for people with hearing difficulties.

Simon Carrington, managing director of Aeon Acoustics, of Ripon, has won a DTI Smart award of up to £60,000 to further develop a component for hearing aids which, he claims, will be up to three times more effective than existing ones and cost about a tenth of the price, saving the NHS millions of pounds a year.

But he fears the reaction of established hearing aid manufacturers. "They aren't going to like it. At the end of the day the needs of the hard of hearing take a back seat to commercial considerations. It's sad, but it is the way things are.

"Hearing aids can cost between £800 and £1,000, which is ludicrous. There is no reason why now they should not be available to everyone at between £50 and £100."

Simon's company, based in Littlethorpe Lane, Ripon, won the Smart award with the help and guidance of Business Link North Yorkshire innovation and technology adviser Roger Benson.

For the past ten years, Mr Carrington has been working on the technology for the component - an expanded spiral alloy foil diaphragm which fits into a receiver.

He said: "The French horn uses exactly the same spiral in order to expand sound. Why it wasn't used in the early days of loudspeaker research is a mystery."

He believes its efficiency could mean the end of expensive digital enhancement within hearing aids, so reducing the cost of manufacturing them.

Simon, 51, added: "One in six people globally suffer with significant hearing loss at some point in their lives, meaning the NHS has to spend hundreds of millions of pounds a year on hearing aids for them.

"Most current hearing aids need to be digitally-enhanced because of the low efficiencies of the receivers which are built into them. Our new 'smart material', the size of a matchhead, can improve reception by such an extent that there will be no real need for digital attenuation in future products."

Although he has a degree in furniture design, Simon's other inventions have proved hugely marketable, such as his Spectrum Sticks. As many as 1.2 million of these rainbow crayons, each consisting of a sandwich of six wax colours, have been sold worldwide.

Mr Carrington thanked Roger Benson at Business Link North Yorkshire for his help in winning the Smart award.

"He guided us through all the various stages of our application and I'm not sure if we would have managed it without him."

Mr Benson said: "I am delighted to have assisted Aeon Acoustics. I am sure the company is set for great success with its ground-breaking technology and I look forward to helping it develop in the future."