AMHERST – A few years ago, Christine Ingemi set out to find a way to protect her children's hearing while they listened to music on their iPods. Now, the stay-at-home mom has found herself on a list of the top 25 inventors in the country for her iHearSafe earbuds.

Earlier this month, Ingemi's earbuds, earphones that restrict the volume of electronic devices, were named one of the top 25 inventions of 2007 by the History Channel's Modern Marvels: Invent Now Challenge.

The Challenge, which is named for the popular History Channel television show, brought together a panel of inventors, technologists and industry experts to choose the top 25 inventions out of the 2,500 ideas submitted for the challenge.

In May, the History Channel will select the top invention from the pool of 25 semi-finalists.

But though the nod from the History Channel is great, and this mom is proud to be included in a list of inventors that includes some highly trained engineers and scientist, Ingemi's motivation for creating the earbuds was not money or fame. She just wanted to make sure that her children's ears were protected from the effects of excessively loud music.

"I have kids and they have iPods," Ingemi said. "I was worried sick over what was happening to their hearing, but I didn't want to take their music away."

Frustrated by the lack of options on the market, Ingemi took the reins and invented a device to limit how loud the music from MP3 players, Gameboys, and iPods could go.

After meeting with a series of audiologists, engineers, and representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Ingemi learned that 85 decibels was about as loud as the human ear could handle before damage starts happening.

Without Ingemi's special earbuds, music from iPods or other electronic devices can be turned up well beyond the 85-decible range, she said, causing irreparable damage to the listener's hearing.

Ingemi took the information she gathered and developed a set of earphones called iHearSafe earbuds that can be plugged into iPods, CD players or other electronic devices just like a set of headphones, but are designed to restrict audio can go.

"No matter how much you turn the music up, the earbuds keep the sound level from exceeding safe listening levels," Ingemi said.

At a maximum of 85 decibles, the earbuds allow as much sound through as a standard iPod outfit turned up to just above the halfway mark, Ingemi said. The earbuds also allow ambient noise to bleed through so that children can hear important warnings such as a car horn beeping or a phone ringing.

"I don't think it's safe to eliminate all outside noise," Ingemi said.

At first, Ingemi only made a few pairs of the earbuds for her children and for friends and family, but quickly the device became so popular that she decided to market it.

Currently, the earbuds are only for sale online and Ingemi is reluctant to turn over the patent-pending product to corporations for fear that the earbuds will become overpriced.

"I don't want to advertise because I want to keep the earbuds affordable," she said.

The earbuds currently cost $24.99 which doesn't leave much room for profit, Ingemi said, but by eliminating expensive overhead, she's been able to keep the product affordable.

"I look at this as a safety product, a necessity in our children's lives, not something to make money with," Ingemi said.

For more information or to purchase iHearSafe earbuds, visit www.ihearsafe.com.