A start-up company based in Glasgow, Scotland, has developed an innovative antenna technology eliminating the electrical interference that can make cell phones impossible to use with hearing aids. Dual-antenna array technology built into the Vortis Technologies Ltd. antenna radiates electrical signals in a figure-eight pattern out and away from the user’s head and hearing aids. The result is not only buzz-free reception through the hearing aids but also lower power consumption and longer battery life, because the phone has to work less hard to deliver a clear signal. It has the added benefit of eliminating radiation directed at the head that some still fear may cause long-term health problems. A Silicon Valley telecommunications entrepreneur, James Johnson, began working on the innovative antenna technology in the ’90s and located the company in Scotland to address the emerging European Union market for accessible solutions. With the U.S. Federal Communications Commission recently mandating cell phone compatibility with hearing aids, Vortis Technologies has its sights set on a major global market. The Vortis antenna is being sold direct to consumers as an attachment to existing handsets, and the company is talking with major manufacturers about the possibility of building the antenna into their phones.