First Remote Support System for Cochlear Implants Addresses Post-Operative Challenges

Computer Technology Will Allow Audiologists to Work in Real-Time

April 12, 2002 (Durham, NC) - Today, an expert team of audiologists from the Medical College of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will, for the first time, provide remote support to an audiologist in Columbia, South America in order to maximize the benefit a patient receives from a new technologically advanced cochlear implant system.

MED-EL Corporation, the first to develop the hybrid multi-channel cochlear implant, has developed a system that enables physicians and audiologists to remotely work together with patients and health care providers. This "Remote Support System" is especially needed in areas of the United States and around the world where support is limited. In Columbia, a local clinic will provide direct support to a MED-EL implant recipient via video conference with the expert remote team in North Carolina.

"The industry is in desperate need for this kind of technology," said Dr. Harold Pillsbury, professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and UNC Hospitals. "On-going collaboration between the patient, the audiologist and the developer of the technology will ultimately benefit the patient by maximizing performance and will allow for further advancements within the field. The community of cochlear implant centers is grateful to MED-EL for being leaders in this area."

"Perfecting the cochlear implant system for each individual recipient can be a tedious process, taking up to a year or more of hard work before the implant recipient can hear clearly," says Chris Bertrand, CEO of MED-EL North America. "Refining the program by using a software system in real-time with support readily available can help make the process more efficient for both the patient and the audiologist. The implementation of the 'Remote Support System' means that the days when audiologists were forced to program the implant without support are over."

An audiologist works with the interactive software program over several weeks to months with the patient's help, fine-tuning and tailoring it to produce the clearest sound for the patient. It is common for patients to hear undistinguishable noises at first. The audiologist plays a key role in adjusting certain parameters of the device to improve the quality of sound over time for better speech understanding. If questions arise during the programming process, the primary audiologist can use the new software system to dial-up a remote expert, who can see the patient and cochlear implant map in real-time. As the software is manipulated, the supporting expert and the primary audiologist can work together to perfect the individual patient program.

In addition to working with adults, audiologists and speech pathologists must find creative methods of working with children in order to map their sounds correctly. Most of these children have never heard a sound, so this is a completely new experience for the child, and reactions and responses may vary. "This new technology," says Bertrand, "allows the remote audiologists and trained professionals to assist in monitoring the responses and facial expressions of children in order to provide an optimized program for the child."

Currently, there are 22 million hearing-impaired persons in the United States and as many as 679,000 are adults who have a severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears.

The cochlear implant transmits weak electrical stimuli to the vicinity of the auditory nerve. This electric stimulus activates the nerve, which then transmits a signal to the brain. The brain recognizes the signal and we experience "hearing". The cochlear implant serves as a replacement to the damaged hair cells of hearing-impaired individuals in that it transforms sound into an electric current that stimulates the auditory nerve. Using this technology, people with severe-to-profound hearing loss once again have the ability to hear and understand speech.

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 is the latest FDA approved cochlear implant in the US, receiving FDA Approval in August 2001. MED-EL has implanted over 7,300 implants in over 295 clinics in 63 countries worldwide. To date there are over 8,400 advanced TEMPO+ BTE speech processors in use. For more information contact MED-EL Corporation or visit our website at www.medel.com.

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