Med-El Corporation
Most people in the hearing loss community know that
Advanced
Bionics and Cochlear Corp manufacture
cochlear implants. However, many don't know that Med-El is the third
major supplier. Their unknown status (in the US) is due to the fact that
they have only recently begun distributing their products in this
country. Please see the following stories to learn about this CI.
November 2001
- FDA Approves MED-EL Cochlear Implant
January
2002 - MED-EL Announces Bilateral CI Study
July
2002 - MED-EL Introduces Remote Support System for CI Programming
April 2007 - MED-EL Announces
BRIDGE Aural Rehab Program for CI Users
May 2007 - MED-EL
Introduces Hybrid Implant
May 2007 - MED-EL Implant Update
July 2007 - FDA Approves the MED-EL
SONATA Cochlear Implant
September 2007 - MED-EL Announces
First U.S. and Canadian SONATA Cochlear Implant Surgeries
April 2008 - MED-EL announces FDA
approval for the new rechargeable DaCapo battery and charging system
April 2008 - The Opus 2 Cochlear
Implant Processor by MED-EL
May 2008 - MED-EL's OPUS 2 Speech
Processor Receives FDA Approval
May 2008 - FDA Approves MED-EL
Rechargeable Battery System
July 2008 - MED-EL's New MAESTRO(tm)
Offers Hearing in "High Definition"
July 2008 - Med-El expands headquarters
to handle sales growth
July 2008 -
Med-El Launches Electric-Acoustic System Clinical Trial
August 2008 - MED-EL Claims Superior
Performance in Noise
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor: Cochlear Corporation makes Cochlear Implants (CIs). So does
Advanced Bionics. Did you know that Med-El also makes CIs. Long a major
supplier to the rest of the world, they have recently received FDA
approval to distribute their CI in the US. Here are excerpts from their
press release.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MED-EL, a medical device company on the cutting edge of Cochlear
Implant technology, has received U.S. FDA approval for the advanced
COMBI 4O+ Cochlear Implant System. This allows severe to profoundly
hearing impaired people to gain immediate access to the new advances of
MED-EL technology, which includes the first FDA approved modular ear
level speech processor -- TEMPO+. This device has performance
characteristics equal to body worn processors, which allows up to 4 days
of battery life. "I suffered for more than 20 years with severe
hearing loss and a year ago, I woke up one morning in total
deafness," states Paul Knaub, a cochlear implant recipient.
"Thanks to MED-EL, today I can pick up a phone at work and take
customer orders. I can go to stores and shop by myself. I can even
understand the lyrics to songs again. I call it my miracle."
About MED-EL
Nearly 25 years ago, researchers who later founded MED-EL developed
one of the world's first cochlear implants. Today, MED-EL is growing
faster than any other cochlear implant company and is the global leader
in innovative technology in this field. MED-EL products are the result
of collaborative efforts by MED-EL engineers, surgeons, audiologists,
therapists and, of course, implant users.
MED-EL has 14 regional offices worldwide including a North American
Headquarters in Durham, North Carolina and Worldwide Headquarters in
Innsbruck, Austria. MED-EL has implanted over 6,000 implants in over 258
clinics in 54 countries worldwide. To date there are over 5,000 advanced
TEMPO+ BTE speech processors in use.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor: One of the complaints we hear from CI recipients in rural
areas is that they have to travel so far to their implant center for
programming adjustments. That may soon change, as MED-EL has recently
announced a remote support system for programming their CIs. Here are
portions of the press release.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, for the first time, an expert team of audiologists, including
Suzanne Hasenstab, Ph.D., from the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals
and Carol Gilmer, M.S., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, will use a new high- tech development known as the "Remote
Support System" to assist an audiologist in Columbia, South
America, in programming a cochlear implant patient.
MED-EL, the first to develop the hybrid multi-channel cochlear
implant, has introduced the "Remote Support System" to enable
cochlear implant teams to collaborate with patients and health care
providers around the world. "This video conferencing based
system," says Suzanne Hasenstab, "is needed in areas of the
United States and around the world where support is limited. It links
clinicians with highly trained experts in the field of cochlear
implants."
Cochlear implant users and audiologists work together in regular
fitting sessions to program the device to best meet the individual needs
of the user. Using special software, the audiologist fine tunes the
cochlear implant system to optimize sound quality and speech
understanding. The "Remote Support System" will make it
possible for audiologists to receive direct support from expert
audiologists worldwide - regardless of location. If, for example, a
question arises during a fitting session, the audiologist uses the
Internet to dial-up a "remote" expert audiologist who can see
the patient and all programming information on screen in real-time. The
remote audiologist can then provide recommendations to the on-site
audiologist to perfect the patient's program.
In addition to working with adults, audiologists and speech
pathologists must find creative methods to work with children in order
to program their cochlear implant systems correctly. Most of these
children have never before heard a sound, and as this is a completely
new experience for the child, reactions and responses may vary.
"This new technology", says Bertrand, "is a great tool in
such instances as it allows the audiologist to contact other
audiologists and trained professionals worldwide to assist in monitoring
a child's responses and facial expressions in order to provide an
optimized program."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2007
Improved microchip technology makes it possible for us to design
highly flexible and energy-efficient circuits. Implants can now
stimulate at very high rates — beyond 50,000 pulses per second, with
different pulse shapes and various stimulation modes. Thus, you can
deliver more information per time unit to the auditory nerve. We also
have seen major advances in electrode design. With MED-EL electrodes,
which are capable of being inserted deeply into the cochlea, we have the
ability to stimulate the entire length of the inner ear. As a result,
there is a better matching between a person’s natural tonotopicity and
the physical location of stimulation. This results in a faster learning
curve in speech understanding with the cochlear implant. Better and less
traumatic electrodes also leave the door open for new concepts, such as
combined electrical and acoustic stimulation (EASTM). Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2008
MED-EL has received approval by the US Food and
Drug Administration for its new rechargeable DaCapo battery and charging
system. The DaCapo system was developed for the MED-EL OPUS 1, OPUS 2 and
TEMPO+ speech processors. MED-EL speech processors continue to be the
lightest and slimmest available. The DaCapo system additionally reduces
the weight by another 20% without limiting performance. DaCapo is an
environmentally friendly and very convenient alternative to the existing
battery options. The system is shipped with a charging unit and three
PowerPacks, rechargeable batteries each lasting for 10-12 hours. It is
compatible with most FM systems and other external hearing devices (e.g.
Bluetooth(r) with OPUS 2). DaCapo is available in all six frame colors for
a perfect match with existing MED-EL speech processor colors.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2008
MED-EL's OPUS 2 is the smallest, thinnest and most
lightweight speech processor currently available. As a worldwide first,
the OPUS 2 is designed without any switches for making adjustments. It is
operated entirely by a remote control unit, the FineTuner. This design
feature permits easy adjustments without interruption of hearing and
prevents users from changing settings unintentionally. The OPUS 2 is
designed to take full advantage of MED-EL's powerful next generation I100
cochlear implant electronics. It features an integrated telecoil and a
standard audio input jack for e.g. wireless FM systems, Bluetooth(r) etc.
connection.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
MED-EL has received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for
its new rechargeable DaCapo battery and charging system.
The DaCapo system was developed for the MED-EL OPUS 1, OPUS 2 and
TEMPO+ speech processors. MED-EL speech processors continue to be the
lightest and slimmest available. The DaCapo system additionally reduces
the weight by another 20% without limiting performance.
DaCapo is an environmentally friendly and very convenient alternative
to the existing battery options. The system is shipped with a charging
unit and three PowerPacks, rechargeable batteries each lasting for 10-12
hours. It is compatible with most FM systems and other external hearing
devices (e.g. Bluetooth(r) with OPUS 2). DaCapo is available in all six
frame colors for a perfect match with existing MED-EL speech processor
colors.
About MED-EL Corporation
Since its founders developed one of the world's first cochlear implants
in 1975, MED-EL has set new standards in hearing implant technologies,
developing and manufacturing technologically advanced hearing solutions
for people with varying degrees of hearing loss. MED-EL hearing implant
systems, currently used in 70 countries, combines the latest scientific
advances, engineering and manufacturing techniques for performance, safety
and reliability. For more information, visit www.medel.com or call
888-MED-EL-CI (633-3524).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2008
Med-El Corp., one of the world's largest
hearing-implant companies, is expanding its North American headquarters in
Durham after sales of its newest device, approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration in April, spurred an uptick in market share
internationally . . . . . Med-El has captured about 15 percent of the $725
million worldwide market for cochlear-implant devices, or about $108
million in sales a year, according to a recent study by the Neurotech
Reports research firm in San Francisco. As for the U.S. market, Med-El had
just a 5 percent share as of July 2007, says Colin McGrath, the company's
vice president of sales and marketing. But since the launch of Opus 2 and
the latest version of its titanium Sonata implant device, Med-El's market
share has grown to 10 percent.
Full Story
