Ingeborg Hochmair

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Ingeborg Hochmair
Born
Ingeborg Desoyer

(1953-01-17) 17 January 1953 (age 71)
Alma materVienna University of Technology
SpouseErwin Hochmair
AwardsLasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2013)
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical engineering
InstitutionsMED-EL
Thesis"Technische Realisierung und psychoakustische Evaluation eines Systems zur chronischen Mehrkanalstimulation des Nervus acusticus"

Ingeborg Hochmair (born 17 January 1953) is an Austrian electrical engineer and entrepreneur. She developed the first microelectronic, multi-channel cochlear implant in 1977. She is the co-founder and CEO of cochlear implant company MED-EL. In 2013 she received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

Biography

Ingeborg Desoyer was born on 17 January 1953 in Vienna, Austria to Elisabeth and Kurt Desoyer.[1] Her mother was a physicist and her father was Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Vienna University of Technology. Her grandmother was one of the first woman chemical engineers in Austria. After high school, she studied electrical engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. She spent a semester abroad in Karlsruhe, then worked as an assistant at the Institute of General Electrical Engineering and Electronics in Vienna. In 1979 she received her PhD, her dissertation on the "Technical realization and psychoacoustic evaluation of a system for multichannel chronic stimulation of the auditory nerve."[2] Afterwards she researched at Stanford University as a Fulbright scholar.[1]

In 1977 she and her husband, fellow electrical engineer Erwin Hochmair, developed the first multi-channel microelectronic cochlear implant. The implant had a long, flexible electrode that was inserted into the cochlea to stimulate the auditory nerve.[3] It had "8 channels, a stimulation rate of 10.000 pulses per second per channel, 8 independent current sources, and a flexible electrode for 22-25mm insertion into the cochlea." On 16 December 1977, professor Kurt Burian successfully implanted the device in a subject's scala tympani via the round window, though it did not work.[4][5] In 1979 a modified version of the device with four channels was implanted in a test subject. The device was connected to a portable processor and was the first such device to allow open-set speech recognition without lip-reading.[4]

They sought international business partners and in 1981 partnered with 3M. They were disappointed with 3M, which wasn't well-suited to the market, and the partnership ended in 1988.[2] In 1986, the Hochmairs had moved to Innsbruck, where Edwin had secured a professorship.[4]

They co-founded the cochlear implant company MED-EL in 1989 and Ingeborg became CEO.[6] It became the first company to produce a behind the ear (BTE) processor in 1991.[5] As of 2013, the company has 1500 employees and offices worldwide.[4]

Hochmair and fellow cochlear implant pioneer Blake S. Wilson have researched combined acoustic and electric stimulation as well as the benefit of bilateral implantation (for binaural hearing).[6]

Hochmair won the 2013 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award alongside Australian physician Graeme Milbourne Clark and Blake S. Wilson.[7][8]

Awards and honours

Personal life

Hochmair has four children and lives with her husband in Axams.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ingeborg Hochmair - Vorzeigeunternehmerin mit Berufung" (in German). APA-Science. 12 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Riedler, Michael (19 May 2001). "Gutes Gespür für's Gehör". Wirtschafts Blatt (in German).
  3. ^ "Journey to Developing MED-EL's Cochlear Implant: Interview with Dr. Ingeborg and Professor Erwin Hochmair, Founders of MED-EL". Cochlear Implant Online. December 19, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "Our History". MED-EL. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. ^ a b Bondarew, Veronica (2012). The Cochlear Story. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-643-10684-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b "MED-EL Founder and CEO Dr. Ingeborg Hochmair to Receive Prestigious Lasker Award for Development of the Modern Cochlear Implant" (PDF). MED-EL. September 9, 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  7. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (September 9, 2013). "Lasker Awards Go to Five Scientists and Gateses". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Strauss, Evelyn. "Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award". Lasker Foundation. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Großer Ehrungstag der Medizinischen Universität Innsbruck im Zeichen Europas". Studium.at (in German). 15 November 2010.

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