A microchip that fits in the eye of the needle is the computerized brain behind the latest digital technology for the heairng impaired.

The Senso hearing aid - the only programmable digital hearing aid that fits completely in the ear canal - became available in the Valley last week.

"It's literally like putting a computer in the ear, almost as fast as the fastest computer," said audiologist Cathy Kurth of the Audiology and Hearing Aid Center in Scottsdale.

Brent Kailing of Scottsdale, a 48-year-old district manager for Smith's Food and Drug stores, had been waiting anxiously for the Senso's arrival. The hearing aid, manufactured in Denmark, eliminates the annoying whistling and feedback of conventional hearing aids and is so small it's hardly noticeable in the ear.

Kailing said he began losing his hearing about seven years ago and the transition to hearing aids was both frustrating and embarassing. Not only were the larger conventional hearing aids too visible, but he still struggled to understand conversations in business meetings and on the telephone.

"I was always fighting with the volume," he said. "Sometimes you just end up shaking your head."

Since switching to digital aids, Kailing said he's able to concentrate at work. But he still noticed other people looking the hearing devices in his ears.

"You're just conscious of it, at least I am. That's why I always want to go smaller and smaller," he said, holding the tiny Senso aid between his fingers.

Kailing suffers high-frequency hearing loasss, which means he has a difficult time hearing consonants. That makes it difficult to pick up sounds in normal conversations.

"It's like Wheel of Fortune," Kurth explained. "If you can get the consonants and can fill in the vowels, you can get the words. But if you only have the vowels, it's difficult to fill in the consonants."

Kurth said many people can't tolerate conventional hearing aids because abrupt sounds can be painfully amplified. A fork dropping on a table or the crinkling of paper could be unbearable.

The computer-programmed digital hearing aids, which can cost from $2,100 to $2,600, can be customized to the individual's hearing loss. They can be fine-tuned for volume and and adjusted as hearing changes. Kurth said they can last five to ten years, nearly twice as long as conventional aids. The improvement in sound quality is compared to the difference between old vinyl records and compact discs.

Kurth said microchip audiology is opening new doors for people who otherwise have shied away from hearing aids.

"People don't make judgements about people who wear glasses, but I'm still afraid they make judgements about people who wear hearing aids," she said. "People who might have been a little hesitant to try hearing aids before and want the digital kind have the best of both worlds."

Kurth cautioned, however, that although digital hearing aid technology significantly can improve hearing, it doesn't restore hearing loss.