14 October 2011

Sentient Medical progresses towards hearing loss relief

A University of Dundee spin-out company has received commercial development funding and further business investment to help develop technology for the relief of hearing loss.

Sentient Medical is developing a miniature Middle Ear Implant (MEI) for the relief of moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss - a type of deafness affecting about 90 per cent of all hearing-impaired persons.

MedEl, a leading international hearing device company, is funding the next development phase of the project, which will take two years to complete. Their six-figure investment in Sentient’s technology will take it a step further towards a future clinical trial. Archangel Informal Investment, together with the Scottish Co-Investment Fund, has also recently provided equity funding of £100,000 for the company.

Up to 10 per cent of the population of the western world suffer from deafness of this type, and the Sentient team believes that its MEI will overcome the technical inadequacies of previous systems. The market for the developed MEI is estimated at being between $1.8 and $2.7 billion per year, and it is hoped the final product will be affordable to most members of the general public.

Sentient’s management team consists of Eric Abel, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University, and investor Chairman David Campbell.

Professor Abel said, 'Sentient Medical is very pleased to be working with MedEl, who are world leaders in hearing implants. This development, together with the continued support from our lead investor Archangel, is an important next step for taking forward Sentient’s new hearing implant technology. Middle ear implants will in the future become a viable alternative to hearing aids for the treatment of hearing loss.'

Hearing aids are limited in the amplitude they can generate and therefore the hearing loss they can compensate for. The Sentient MEI is designed to operate by direct vibration of the bones of the middle ear in response to sound, or the round window of the middle ear, and so can pass much more energy (with high fidelity) to the inner ear than a hearing aid, which must transmit sound through the air of the ear canal.

Sentient will continue to develop the MEI in Dundee, and aims to develop the products through regulatory clearance and readiness for clinical trials with its industry partner.

Notes to editors:

For more information contact: Professor Eric Abel: e.abel@sentientmedical.co.uk.

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