MED-EL

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MED-EL GmbH

logo
legal form Company with limited liability
founding 1990
Seat Innsbruck , Austria
management Ingeborg Hochmair , managing director
Number of employees over 1,600
Branch Medical technology
Website www.medel.com

MED-EL develops and produces implantable hearing systems ( cochlear implants , middle ear implants , bone conduction implants and hearing systems with electro-acoustic stimulation). The international medical technology company based in Innsbruck , Austria , was founded in 1990. MED-EL is privately owned and is managed by the managing partner Ingeborg Hochmair .

background

The Austrian scientists Ingeborg Hochmair-Desoyer and Erwin Hochmair developed the world's first microelectronic multi-channel cochlear implant . The implantation in 1977 marked a milestone in the treatment of deafness . In 1990 the couple founded MED-EL in Innsbruck , Austria . Since 2003, the US physiologist and inventor Geoffrey R. Ball has been the technical director (CTO) of the MED-EL affiliated company VIBRANT MED-EL.

Awards

In 2004, the Hochmair couple received an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Munich as “pioneers of deaf technology” for developing the first multi-channel cochlear implant with hybrid technology. In 2013 Ingeborg Hochmair received the Lasker-De Bakey Clinical Medical Research Award in New York .

Research & Development

The area of ​​research and development is particularly important for MED-EL, not least because Ingeborg Hochmair, managing partner, is also the company's technical director (CTO). In August 2013 a new building was erected especially for this area in Innsbruck.

MED-EL world premieres:

  • 1977: microelectronic multi-channel cochlear implant
  • 1991: Behind-the-ear processor
  • 1994: Electrode carrier that can stimulate the entire length of the cochlea
  • 1996: bilateral implantation for bilateral hearing
  • 1996: miniaturized multi-channel implant (4 mm thin)
  • 1999: modular behind-the-ear processor design; a processor no longer has to be worn on the body
  • 2005: EAS system that combines acoustic and electrical stimulation for the first time
  • 2006: switch-free processor design with remote control
  • 2006: FLEX electrode carriers, which enable a maximally atraumatic introduction
  • 2006: FineHearing technology to provide the fine structure information of the sound
  • 2007: FLEX EAS for patients with partial hearing loss
  • 2008: Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear implant system with extended indication for conductive and combined hearing loss
  • 2009: Approval of the middle ear implant system for children
  • 2012: Bonebridge, active bone conduction implant system
  • 2013: Introduction of the RONDO® audio processor, the first single-unit processor for cochlear implants
  • 2013: CE certification of MED-EL cochlear implants as the only available cochlear implants for the treatment of unilateral deafness in both adults and children
  • 2014: SYNCHRONY cochlear implant with MRI safety up to 3.0 Tesla for patients without magnet removal
  • 2017: ADHEAR bone conduction hearing system for people with conductive hearing loss

MED-EL operates in more than 100 countries worldwide, including a. in Europe, America, the Middle East and Asia. The headquarters are in Innsbruck, Austria.

Products

MED-EL develops, produces and sells various hearing implant solutions for the treatment of different types of hearing loss.

  • SYNCHRONY cochlear implant system : For people who suffer from severe to profound inner ear hearing loss. Hearing aids provide little or no relief for this type of hearing loss. A CI is the only medical solution that can restore the sense of hearing. This bypasses those parts of the inner ear that no longer work, and instead stimulates the nerve fibers in the cochlea directly with electrical impulses.
  • SYNCHRONY EAS hearing implant system : Electro-acoustic stimulation is for people with partial hearing loss who cannot hear high-frequency sounds properly. This can happen in both children and adults. EAS combines two technologies: a cochlear implant for hearing the high-frequency sounds and a device for acoustic stimulation of the low-frequency sounds. In combination, these two technologies can cover the entire hearing spectrum.
  • Vibrant Soundbridge : Middle ear implant system for people who have been diagnosed with mild to severe inner ear hearing loss or with conductive and combined hearing loss.
  • BONEBRIDGE : Enables sound transmission via bone conduction directly to the inner ear. This makes it a suitable solution for people in whom the sound cannot be passed on to the inner ear via the outer and middle ear. The Bonebridge is a partially implantable hearing system in which the implant is completely under the skin.
  • ABI (Auditory Brainstem Implant) - brain stem implant : This implant is for people who have a damaged auditory nerve. Hearing impulses can be transmitted directly to the brain using a brainstem implant.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MED-EL employs over 1,500 people worldwide , WebSite MED-EL
  2. ↑ [1] , WebSite MED-EL
  3. ↑ Honorary doctorate for pioneers of deaf technology , press release from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich
  4. ^ Lasker Foundation
  5. ↑ World premieres , WebSite MED-EL
  6. ^ MED-EL Offices Worldwide , WebSite MED-EL

Coordinates: 47 ° 15 '44.9 "  N , 11 ° 22' 26.4"  E