From Wired Design:

"Lantos Technologies, a small startup spun out of MIT, has created the first FDA-cleared digital ear-canal scanner. While that may seem wildly specific, and maybe a little gross, it could dramatically improve your grandfather’s hearing aid, Lady Gaga’s in-ear monitor, and mission-critical communication devices used by the military.

The Lantos 3-D Ear Canal Scanner should be rolling out to audiologists by the end of the year and brings much-needed innovation to the 36 million Americans who suffer from hearing problems and spend $6 billion dollars on hearing aids annually.

"The current technology used in hearing aids is great, but we’re using 1950s technology for the molds,' says Dr. Richard Kanor, a Brooklyn-based audiologist with over 30 years of experience. 'The holy grail has always been a more accurate, faster 3-D representation of the ear canal.'"

See and/or hear the video for a more detailed explanation. And more at Wired.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeHTB4ZZ3OI&w=560&h=315]