Boys Town Working with Amazon Web Services to Launch AI-Powered Pediatric Hearing Aid Platform
Parents know kids grow fast — even their ears. Children who wear hearing aids need several new earmolds, particularly before the age of 5, to adjust for their growth.
The custom molds are critical because a poor fit can cause feedback or whistling and reduce hearing access. But creating each mold requires visits to an audiologist’s office, which can be especially challenging for families in rural or low-resource communities.
Now, Boys Town National Research Hospital is revolutionizing pediatric hearing care through machine learning that predicts ear canal shapes and acoustics using simple, non-invasive measurements. By combining generative AI with 3D printing technology, they can create custom hearing aid earmolds without uncomfortable ear impressions. This breakthrough reduces the need for frequent clinic visits while delivering precisely fitted hearing aids to children who need them.
“Every child deserves the chance to hear the world around them,” said Rod Kempkes, CEO of Boys Town. “By combining deep learning, 3D printing and cloud computing, we’re removing barriers to care and delivering personalized hearing solutions at scale.”
The platform is being developed with the support of a 2025 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant, a public grant opportunity open to registered charities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Canada and registered 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the United States using technology to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
Boys Town was named a winner in the Go Further, Faster category in December 2025. It recognizes highly innovative projects using advanced cloud services. Boys Town will receive up to $150,000 in unrestricted funding, up to $100,000 in AWS Credits, and support from AWS technical specialists. Awardees were selected based on several factors including the innovative and unique nature of the project, impact on mission-critical goals, and clearly defined outcomes and milestones.
With support from the AWS Imagine Grant, Boys Town’s goal is to scale this solution globally, bringing life-changing hearing care to children everywhere by reducing the financial burden without sacrificing hearing aid fitting quality.
“Boys Town has a long history of leading the world in pediatric hearing research. In fact, technology and protocols pioneered here resulted in the newborn hearing screening and early intervention used globally, helping millions of children each year,” said Dr. Ryan McCreery, Vice President of Research at Boys Town National Research Hospital. “Now we’re harnessing machine learning and generative AI to revolutionize custom hearing aid earmold creation with fewer clinic visits and better outcomes for children. And we’re not stopping there—we’re constantly striving for more personalized, precise, and accessible hearing care for children.”
See more on this story from WOWT 6 News.
