A hearing aid instrument of the in-the-ear type (and preferably CIC)
provides a plate member with electronic hearing aid components mounted
thereto. The plate member is preferably of a harder material such as hard
plastic. A soft polymeric body is bonded to the plate member and
encapsulates preferably a plurality of the electronic hearing aid
components. The body is soft and is shaped to conform to the ear canal of
the user. The soft polymeric body and encapsulated electronic hearing aid
components define a soft structure compliant to the ear canal during use
and that is substantially solid and free of void spaces between at least
some of the components and the ear canal. This combination of soft
compliant structure and encapsulated electronic hearing aid components
addresses problems of peripheral leakage, poor fit, pivotal displacement
that occurs with jaw motion and internal cross talk of components housed
in prior art hollow type hearing aids.
