With the help of Microstate and MED-EL, an expert team of audiologists from the Medical College of Virginia and UNC-Chapel Hill have provided remote support to an audiologist in Columbia, South America, in order to maximize the benefit a patient receives from a new technologically advanced cochlear implant system.

The companies say this is the first time this kind of support has been offered onlione.

Microstate, a Raleigh-based provider of professional technical systems since 1995, supplied advanced technology and videoconferencing capabilities to make the firms call a remote-medical breakthrough possible.

MED-EL Corporation, with North American headquarters in Durham, and Microstate, has developed a system that enables physicians and audiologists to remotely work together with patients and health care providers. This “Remote Support System” is especially needed in areas of the United States and around the world where support is limited. In Columbia, a local clinic provided direct support to a MED-EL implant recipient via videoconference with the expert remote team in North Carolina.

“Perfecting the cochlear implant system for each individual recipient can be a tedious process, taking up to a year or more of hard work before the implant recipient can hear clearly,” Chris Bertrand, chief executive officer of MED-EL North America, said in a statement. “With Microstate’s help, we refined the program by using a software system in real-time, with support readily available, to make the process more efficient for both the patient and the audiologist. The implementation of the ‘Remote Support System’ means that the days when audiologists were forced to program the implant without support are over.”

Microstate provided MED-EL, internationally based in
Innsbruck, Austria, with the technical expertise to make the
video teleconference possible. Microstate installed the
equipment, tested the systems and supported the teleconference
as it happened. Both locations were connected in real time over
a high speed Internet line.

“Our expertise in IT technology is enabling MED-EL to provide
cutting-edge medical advances to remote parts of the world,
reliably and in real time,” Tony Kitten, president and founder
of Microstate, said in a press release. “We are very proud of
the role that our technology and support is playing in this
medical breakthrough.”

Microstate web site:
www.microstateinc.com

MED-EL Web site:
www.medel.com