The story
Founded by Ingeborg Hochmair in 1990.1
In the mid-1970s, Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair were research scientists at the Technical University of Vienna, working on the development of cochlear implants. In 1977, the first microelectronic multichannel cochlear implant was implanted by Dr Kurt Burian in Vienna.
Testing various sound processing strategies with this device, ranging from single-channel quasi-analog stimulation to more complex patterns, failed to produce open speech understanding. However, when a single broadband channel with analog-style stimulation was tried, the patient showed some rudimentary speech comprehension and lip-reading support. This finding changed the direction of their research program. The Hochmairs decided that their approach in making complex microelectronic implants was premature, and they pivoted to researching simpler passive implants that were easier to construct and modify.
In 1979, a passive transcutaneous four-channel implant developed by the Hochmairs allowed a woman to understand some open-set speech without lip-reading in a quiet environment. However, the speech coding strategy stimulated the best-performing single electrode rather than using multiple channels simultaneously, making this functionally closer to a single-channel approach.
3M/Vienna single-channel cochlear implant
In 1981, the 3M Corporation entered into a licence and support agreement with the Vienna group involving the commercialisation of their cochlear implant system, and the device subsequently became known as the 3M/Vienna cochlear implant. Clinical evaluations demonstrated that some patients could achieve substantial open-set word recognition without visual cues. However, a redesign that replaced the intracochlear electrode with an extracochlear electrode resulted in diminished speech performance, and 3M's commercial involvement ultimately ended. Comparative studies found that, while the Vienna single-channel implant provided meaningful auditory benefit, multi-channel designs from other manufacturers generally allowed users to recognise more environmental sounds and understand speech more effectively in sound-only conditions. The Vienna group subsequently founded MED-EL in order to pursue a multi-channel design incorporating Blake Wilson's CIS-strategy.
In 1989, the Hochmair’s decided to create their own hearing implant company: MED-EL GmbH. As Erwin Hochmair had been awarded a professorship at the University of Innsbruck, they decided to found the company in the city and hired their first three employees in 1990. In 1991, they developed the world’s first behind-the-ear (BTE) audio processor. Instead of being attached to the body, this audio processor was worn behind the ear in the same way as a conventional hearing aid.
In 1995, MED-EL developed the CIS LINK system: an audio processor that allowed users of the Ineraid implant to use the recently developed CIS sound coding strategy, despite the fact that Ineraid had discontinued further development on their implants.
In 2003, the company acquired the Vibrant Soundbridge, a new type of active middle ear implant pioneered by American inventor Geoffrey Ball. It was MED-EL’s first non-cochlear implant product. Further non-cochlear implant products followed with the Bonebridge active bone conduction implant in 2012 and the Adhear non-surgical bone conduction system in 2017.
MED-EL operates in 140 countries worldwide including Europe, America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. There are around 200,000 MED-EL users around the world.
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The company opened its own hearing museum, the Audioversum Science Centre, in 2013. The science centre is located in central Innsbruck.
From Wikipedia’s article on MED-EL, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4