FDA Approves MED-EL's Next Generation Technology for the Hearing Impaired

DURHAM, N.C., PRNewswire/ -- MED-EL, a medical device company on the cutting edge of Cochlear Implant technology, has received U.S. FDA approval for the advanced COMBI 4O+ Cochlear Implant System. This allows severe to profoundly hearing impaired people to gain immediate access to the new advances of MED-EL technology, which includes the first FDA approved modular ear level speech processor -- TEMPO+. This device has performance
characteristics equal to body worn processors, which allows up to 4 days of battery life. 'I suffered for more than 20 years with severe hearing loss and a year ago, I woke up one morning in total deafness,' states Paul Knaub, a cochlear implant recipient. 'Thanks to MED-EL, today I can pick up a phone at work and take customer orders. I can go to stores and shop by myself. I can even understand the lyrics to songs again. I call it my miracle.'

'MED-EL has a reputation of bringing advanced Cochlear Implant technology to patients who rely on quality and innovation. MED-EL Cochlear Implant recipients have in the past, and will continue to benefit from each progressive generation of new implant products, such as the TEMPO+ BTE speech processor,' says Dr. Ingeborg Hochmair, founder of MED-EL and CEO of MED-EL Worldwide. Dr. Richard Miyamoto of Indiana University School of Medicine states, 'At IUMC, we have had tremendous success using MED-EL Cochlear Implants with our patients. MED-EL's products are well researched and designed to meet the needs of hearing impaired patients.'

'With FDA approval, we now have an open gateway to bring innovative MED-EL solutions to the severe to profoundly hearing impaired,' says Chris Bertrand, CEO of MED-EL Corporation, North America. 'With MED-EL's unique design of the modular behind-the-ear speech processor, we can easily meet the needs of infants, children and adults alike.' MED-EL provides a complete family of products and services to support the various needs of Cochlear Implant patients and their medical professionals.

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 has implanted over 6,000 implants in over 258 clinics in 54 countries worldwide. To date there are over 5,000 advanced TEMPO+ BTE speech processors in use.

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