How Does Clinical Support Add to Reliability and Safety?
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 )
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Audio Processor Reliability
MED-EL Podcast
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 to get users hearing again as quickly as possible. Weblinks:
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Why MRI Safety Is Important
MED-EL Podcast
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, diametrically bipolar magnet that is removable when it is necessary to reduce the size of imaging artifacts. Weblinks: Literature Links: MRI Observation After Intralabyrinthine and Vestibular Schwannoma...
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Reliability and Safety of Active Middle Ear Implants
MED-EL Podcast
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 reliability for future implant generations. Weblinks: Literature Links: Long-Term Safety and Quality of Life after Vibroplasty in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Short/Long Incus Process Coupler () Long-Term...
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Reliability and Safety of Bone Conduction Hearing Implants
MED-EL Podcast
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 skin. It has two-point fixation and is embedded in the bone for stability, and is MR-conditional at 1.5 Tesla.* * The BONEBRIDGE bone conduction implant is MR conditional. Recipients with BONEBRIDGE may be safely...
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Pediatric Cochlear Implant Safety and Reliability
MED-EL Podcast
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:
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How Does Electrode Design Increase the Safety of a Cochlear Implant?
MED-EL Podcast
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. Weblinks: Download the full Reliability Report at: Literature Links: An overview of cochlear implant electrode array designs () Review on cochlear implant electrode array tip fold-over...
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Hearing Implant Reliability Reporting
MED-EL Podcast
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: Literature Links: Cochlear implant failures and reimplantation: A 30-year analysis and literature review () Evaluating Reasons for Revision Surgery and Device Failure Rates in Patients Who Underwent Cochlear...
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What Makes a Hearing Implant System Reliable?
MED-EL Podcast
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 explanted devices are also considered when designing new implants. Weblinks:
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What Does 360 Degrees of Reliability and Safety Mean?
MED-EL Podcast
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 preservation and independent safety capacitors. Weblinks:
info_outlineAneesha Pretto, Advanced Rehabilitation Manager, offers an overview of readily available MED-EL resources that rehabilitation professionals can use to assess and monitor progress for adolescent and adult hearing implant recipients.
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