The Secret to Making a Reliable Cochlear Implant

Our comprehensive view of reliability means hearing solutions you can count on. And that means more peace of mind for you. Read on to discover five ways we ensure our cochlear implants offer outstanding reliability.

1. Implant Reliability

When you choose a cochlear implant, you want a device you can count on for years to come. We maintain the highest standards of European quality and engineering by producing all our cochlear implants at our headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria.

They are handmade in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities located just next door to our research and design offices. Each implant goes through rigorous testing to ensure that it is free from defects and ready to provide reliable hearing.

2. Electrode Array Safety

The key to closest to natural hearing is the design of the electrode array. The electrode contacts in the array stimulate the cochlea, sending signals to the brain that you perceive as sound.

Some people with hearing loss are still able to hear some sounds. With the right electrode array design, they can keep this remaining hearing—known as residual hearing—while benefiting from the additional access to sound a cochlear implant can provide.

Our soft, flexible electrode arrays make this possible by preserving the delicate hearing structure in the cochlea. The wave-shaped wires in the arrays and spacing between the electrode contacts make the arrays flexible, enabling reliably safe insertion.

3. Safe Stimulation

The independent safety capacitors for each electrode channel ensure safe, precise, and fast stimulation. They block the flow of harmful direct current and balance the flow of alternating current—the safe current used to stimulate the cochlea.

There are 14 capacitors, one for each independent electrode channel and two more for the reference electrodes. Almost half the space inside each cochlear implant is dedicated to independent safety capacitors because they are so important.

4. MRI Safety*

An MRI is a standard medical procedure that most people will need at some point in their life. Some magnets can pose a problem for MRI machines—but not the ones in our cochlear implants. MED-EL cochlear implants are made for MRI.

With our outstanding MRI safety, you can have an MRI without worrying. The unique design of our magnets enables them to rotate, so they don’t need to be removed before a scan. No surgery,** no hearing downtime.

5. Audio Processor Reliability

Our audio processors are also designed for outstanding reliability. They go through rigorous testing to ensure they can withstand the challenges of daily life.

And they are designed to stay in place securely—our single-unit processors have strong magnets, and the design of our latest behind-the-ear processor, SONNET 3, features a flexible earhook.

We prioritize safety and reliability so that nothing gets in the way of you hearing life.