MED-EL boosts the voice of European hearing device firms by joining EHIMA
manufacturers
The Austrian manufacturer MED-EL has joined the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), a guild hitherto comprising GN Resound, William Demant Holding, Sonova, Sivantos, Starkey, and Widex.
The privately-owned seventh member, maker of innovative solutions from hearing aids to cochlear implants, employs some 2,000 people and has 33 offices worldwide with sales in 123 countries. MED-EL CEO, Dr. Ingeborg Hochmair, described her company’s entry into EHIMA as an opportunity “to make a difference in the lives of so many people”.
EHIMA President Søren Nielsen —also CEO of William Demant—welcomed MED-EL, praising the producer as “a technology leader with whom we share the vision that every hearing-impaired person has the right to hear well.”
Since it was founded in 1985, EHIMA has looked after its members’ common interests, boosted awareness and research, set guidelines and standards, and initiated studies such as EuroTrak, since 2009 the biggest comparative multi-country study on hearing loss and hearing aid use.
MED-EL’s origins date back to 1975, when its founders, Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair started developing cochlear implants at the Technical University of Vienna. The cornerstone of the firm’s strong reputation was laid in 1977 when it produced the world’s first microelectronic multi-channel cochlear implant, the basis for this technology ever since.
Source: EHIMA
