Phonak makes live link to International Space Station for product launch.
Warrenville, IL (March 30, 2005) - U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin, a member of the first manned lunar landing mission in 1969, provided an enthusiastic endorsement of Phonak Hearing Systems' new Savia technology at the company's launch event earlier this month in the Netherlands.
"When your life has depended on effective communication between earth and the moon, your expectations remain extremely high," said the 75-year-old space pioneer, who was recently fit with the latest digital hearing system. Savia, with Digital Bionics, he said, fulfills his communication needs on planet earth.
Aldrin has severe high frequency hearing loss. His previous hearing instruments amplified background noises almost as much as they did the sounds that he wanted to hear, such as the voices of friends and family at social gatherings. "Since I have been wearing Savia, I love to take my wife to noisy restaurants for dinner. The directional microphones used in the new instrument help separate her voice from the background noise," he said.
An avid scuba diver and snow skier who is busy on the lecture circuit as a book author, Aldrin appeared at the Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency, where Phonak launched its Savia line with a live link to the International Space Station. The audience watched as a Russian Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipow conversed with Phonak CEO Valentin Chapero about Savia's unique capabilities.
"As the leader in digital innovations, Phonak's Savia line achieves the ultimate promise of digital technology, including effortless hearing in countless listening environments, speech understanding in the presence of multiple noise sources and restoration of natural localization abilities. In addition, it provides comfortable communication in reverberant environments, feedback-free unoccluded fittings and intuitive fitting of sophisticated features," said David Fabry, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Research.
Phonak Hearing Systems, with world headquarters in Stafa, Switzerland, is the leader in technologically advanced hearing systems that improve quality of life. Phonak's full line of ITE and BTE solutions for any hearing impaired patient includes Savia™, Perseo™, Valeo™ and Supero™ product lines. Phonak products are dispensed by hearing healthcare professionals in more than 70 countries.
For more information on Phonak products, visit the Phonak website.
