MED-EL Podcast

Peter Grasso and Florian Feichtner talk to Marcus Schmidt about how the clinical support they provide increases reliability: they work in multidisciplinary teams to aid clinicians along the entire patient pathway, answer questions, make expert recommendations, and provide training. Weblinks: (free professional myMED-EL login required, sign up at https://my.medel.com/) MED-EL Academ

MED-EL’s audio processors have low average monthly repair rates, but sometimes issues do arise. Audiological scientist Katherine Wilson, Peter Konecny, and Manfred Pieber discuss design aspects that keep this number low - such as analyzing weakness in devices that do break and improving them with each new generation - and how devices are serviced reliably when there are problems

MRI is a very common medical procedure for both otological and non-otological reasons, so it shouldn’t have complications or be painful for hearing implant recipients. Dr. Ingo Todt and Dr. Martin Zimmerling talk to Manfred Pieber about the features of MED-EL implants that reduce or eliminate complications - such as magnet dislocation - during MRI: a freely rotating, robust, diam

Prof. Dr. Kristen Rak and Patrick Müller talk to Marcus Schmidt about their clinical experiences with the VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE, the active middle ear implant that has been on the market the longest. They discuss its simplicity and flexibility, the characteristics that ensure its reliability, and the importance of considering feedback from surgeons when refining features to improve

BONEBRIDGE is different from other bone conduction devices. Prof. Georg Sprinzl, Christine Mühlöcker, and Marcus Schmidt discuss how design differences allow BONEBRIDGE to provide outstanding safety and reliability to users, along with what makes it an ideal choice for pediatric patients. The BCI 602 implant has a robust transducer, a low profile, and is transcutaneous for intact

Speech and language therapist Pedro Brás da Silva and Joanna Shepherd talk to Manfred Pieber about the aspects of reliability that are especially important for children with cochlear implants. Receiving quality sound all day is crucial to children’s learning and development, so having a reliable audio processor and implant is therefore essential. Weblinks: Factors Affecting Comm

Prof. Dr. med. Sebastian Schmerber and Dr. Anandhan Dhanasingh talk to Manfred Pieber about how the design features of MED-EL’s flexible, free-fitting, straight FLEX series electrode arrays contribute to implant safety and reliability by reducing the occurrence of common problems such as tip fold-over, scalar deviation, and migration and also preserve intracochlear structures.

Comparing manufacturer reliability data can be difficult. Surgeon and researcher Sumit Agrawal and MED-EL reliability expert Manfred Pieber share their professional insights into this topic with Marcus Schmidt. Clinical studies on reliability can also provide valuable insights into implant manufacturers. Weblinks: Refer to pages 4-14 and 32 after downloading the report from: Reliab

Hearing implant reliability starts with the design process. Dominik Hammerer and Bernhard Jamnig talk to Manfred Pieber about new device development and steps in the manufacturing process that contribute to reliability, including feasibility, hermeticity, impact, environmental, and vibration testing that ensure all requirements are met. Results from thorough investigations of expla

Since reliability is an important topic for hearing implant recipients and surgeons, MED-EL publishes reliability reports regularly. But there is more to reliability than high cumulative survival rates. Manfred Pieber and Marcus Schmidt discuss the aspects of design and technology that contribute to implant and audio processor safety and reliability, including structure preservatio