The Cochlear Implant Program at the London Health Sciences Centre and The University of Western Ontario’s National Centre for Audiology have joined 16 world-class centres to create the International Network of Comprehensive Hearing Implant Centers of Excellence.
Dubbed HEARRING, these centres have come together as a globally networked ‘cluster’ to set scientific and clinical standards and raise the quality of patient care.
LHSC’s Cochlear Implant Program started in 1987, the program has treated over 220 adults and 115 children with cochlear implants. Some notable achievements include implanting the first Pulsar (2005) and Sonata (2007) cochlear implant devices.
The National Centre for Audiology in the Faculty of Health Sciences, under the leadership of Dr. Prudence Allen, is one of the largest audiology and hearing research centres in the world.
The cochlear implant program will continue to focus on traditional cochlear implants, hearing preservation surgery and research, says Dr. Lorne Parnes, a professor of Otolaryngology and Clinical Neurological Sciences in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western, and Medical and Surgical Director for the Cochlear Implant Program.
“HEARRING will provide a new and unique opportunity for collaborative research, clinical problem solving and support,” he says.
Member clinics are from Austria, Belgium, Poland, Germany, France, Spain, UK, China, Columbia, India, Australia, Argentina, Russia, and Switzerland. The goals for HEARRING network are to set standards for scientific research, establish training and define interdisciplinary clinical skills sets to meet the needs of the patient throughout the cochlear implant journey.