Inexpensive, slow- recover foam earplug hearing protectors have variable effectiveness in a population of people because of variable and often incorrect insertion. Correctly inserted foam plugs block sound more effectively and consistently but this insertion is complicated by the tortuosity of the ear canal. High training costs are expended to overcome this fit issue. Prohibitively expesive, custom-made earplugs are the only available anatomically-matched solution to this problem. An inexpensive earplug of several stock sizes that anticipates canal size and geometry is being proposed. It is based on analyzed digitized images of a test population of ears. The earplug is made of a re-usable segmented core covered with an inexpensive, disposable foam wrap. This self-guiding earplug facilitates insertion by negotiating the first bend of the ear. It is anticipated that the design allows a desired amount of foam to be consistently inserted. With these features, a use could compensate for over or under protection. The proposed earplug will be evaluated relative to two conventional plugs in the same subjects by an independent lab testing under ANSI 12.6-1997. Feasibility will be demonstrated if a notable reduction in the variance of data is achieved for the Phase I device with satisfactory hearing protection
