MED-EL, Medical Electronics, headquartered in Innsbruck is a leading provider of hearing implants worldwide. The family-owned business founded by DI Dr. Ingeborg and Prof. Erwin Hochmair is one of the pioneers of the industry. The world’s first micro-electronic multi-channel cochlear implant developed by the two scientists was first implanted in a patient as early as 1977. The cochlear implant marked a milestone in medical history as, for the first time, it was and remains the only replacement of a human sense, the sense of hearing. Today, MED-EL offers the widest range of implantable solutions to treat the various causes and degrees of hearing loss. MED-EL’s main objective is to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication, opening up a world of sound to people around the world.
There is still a great need for hearing implants worldwide: currently, fewer than ten percent of people who have a severe hearing loss receive a hearing implant. In Central Europe, roughly 25 cochlear implants are inserted per one million inhabitants per year; in other regions the number is only five or even fewer.
