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INNSBRUCK, Austria, Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Global children's contest launched on World Inventors Day to raise awareness of

hearing loss and the benefits of treatment

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MED-EL, a leading provider and inventor of hearing implant systems, today

launched its annual worldwide search for inventions of the future through a

global children's contest, ideas4ears [

https://www.ideas4ears.org/enter/?utm_source=media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ideas4ears-launch2021

].      

The contest invites children aged 6-12 years old from around the world to

create an invention to improve the quality of life for people with hearing

loss. Entries can be sent via a video, drawing, or sculpture, but the most

important factor is for young people to think big and channel their ideas to

support those who cannot hear.

The inspiration behind ideas4ears and the Head Judge of the contest is Geoffrey

Ball. Geoffrey has an extraordinary life story, when he became deaf as a

toddler, he then went on to invent a revolutionary middle ear implant to treat

his own hearing loss.

"Inventing is often a process of elimination. In the case of the VIBRANT

SOUNDBRIDGE, I had to build and test many devices that didn't work well enough

or didn't work at all until I finally arrived at the design that was perfect.

When I was inventing the components for the middle ear implant back at Stanford

University, people would tell me 100 reasons why my invention wouldn't work,

but I only needed one reason why it would." said Geoffrey Ball, Chief Technical

Officer at MED-EL and inventor of the VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE middle ear implant.

As an accomplished inventor, with over 100 patent filings to his name and many

medical device products developed, Geoffrey has used his life experiences to

act as a source of encouragement to the young ideas4ears inventors, many of

whom are users of hearing implants themselves.

"To all the children out there who have hearing loss and want to find a better

solution for themselves, I say never give up inventing, believe in yourself,

keep trying, go for your dreams, and as Winston Churchill said never give up,

never, never!" Geoffrey said.

The ideas4ears contest celebrates children's creativity and aims to improve

understanding of the challenges associated with hearing loss as well as the

benefits of treatment. Parents interested should visit www.ideas4ears.org/enter

to submit their child's entry. The closing date for entries is midnight on 17

January 2023.

Win fabulous prizes! There's a chance to win a trip to Innsbruck, Austria and

some fabulous prize packs.

All ideas are welcome; the only criteria are that the inventions need to have

the potential to help improve the lives of people with hearing loss at any age.

Follow the ideas4ears Facebook [ http://www.facebook.com/ideas4ears ] page to

be kept up to date on the contest.

About MED-EL

MED-EL Medical Electronics, a leader in implantable hearing solutions, is

driven by a mission to overcome hearing loss as a barrier to communication and

quality of life. The Austrian-based, privately owned business was co-founded by

industry pioneers Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair, whose ground-breaking research

led to the development of the world's first micro-electronic multi-channel

cochlear implant (CI), which was successfully implanted in 1977 and was the

basis for what is known as the modern CI today. This laid the foundation for

the successful growth of the company in 1990, when they hired their first

employees. To date, MED-EL has more than 2,400 employees from around 80 nations

and 30 locations worldwide.

The company offers the widest range of implantable and non-implantable

solutions to treat all types of hearing loss, enabling people in 134 countries

enjoy the gift of hearing with the help of a MED-EL device. MED-EL's hearing

solutions include cochlear and middle ear implant systems, a combined electric

acoustic stimulation hearing implant system, auditory brainstem implants as

well as surgical and non-surgical bone conduction devices. www.medel.com  

www.medel.com/press-room

SOURCE: MED-EL