Insect Ears?

Many leave their hearing aids at home, by Mary Duenwald, NEW YORK TIMES

'In the pipeline are hearing aids that mimic the hearing apparatus of a kind of parasitic fly, Ormia ochracea, which has a keen sense of where sounds come from.

This insect's ears are connected by a platelike structure that senses both vibrations and pressure in such a way as to act like a tiny directional microphone, said Lynn Luethke, an audiologist and neurologist at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in Bethesda, Md.

Hearing aids patterned after the fly's ear are expected to be ready in the next three to six years, Luethke said.'