30 years of cochlear implant (CI) care at UMMD.
The University Hospital of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Magdeburg, as a long-standing site of cochlear implant care and cochlear implant research, will hold a celebration symposium for its 30th anniversary on September 9, 2022.
The symposium will take place from 11:00 to 15:00 in the central lecture hall (house 22), on the campus of the University Medical Center. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Vorwerk, acting head of the ENT clinic, will give a welcome address followed by State Secretary Wolfgang Beck, Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Equality. Afterwards, renowned experts from all over Germany, who have been part of the UMMD CI team during their careers, will talk about their research. The University Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery is celebrating this symposium with the Magdeburg CI self-help group, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Photo: Cochlear implant in an infant.
Photographer: Sarah Kossmann/UMMD
On December 1, 1992, the first patient was fitted with a cochlear implant at the University Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, then still the Medical Academy of Magdeburg. This operation enables people who are deaf or profoundly hard of hearing to hear and understand speech again. The cochlear implant is thus the first functioning sensory prosthesis to find its way into clinical routine. This inner ear prosthesis is used when the sensory cells in the cochlea have failed and neither recovery nor better understanding of speech can be expected with a classic hearing aid. The age of the person plays only a minor role. People of all ages, from infants to very old adults, can receive a cochlear implant. In addition, people can also be fitted who only have this hearing disorder on one side as well.
Different hearing disorders require appropriate care with conventional or bone-anchored hearing aids, active middle ear implants or even with a cochlear implant. The decision about the type of fitting is made at the Cochlear Implant Center of the University Hospital for Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Magdeburg by an interdisciplinary team with a high level of clinical and surgical experience, together with the affected people and their relatives.
Critical to the success of a cochlear implant fitting is ensuring intensive rehabilitation with hearing and speech therapy, during which hearing and speech understanding must be learned.