Sonitus Medical, Inc., a medical device company developing the world's first non-surgical and removable hearing device to transmit sound via the teeth, today announced that technology it developed was ranked #1 on Cleveland Clinic's Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2010. The SoundBite(TM) hearing system is an investigational new bone conduction device intended initially for single sided deafness (SSD), a usually permanent condition.
The 'Top 10' list was unveiled last week during Cleveland Clinic's 2009 Medical Innovation Summit. Selected by a panel of Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists, the list features a wide range of breakthrough techniques, devices, and therapies that are being developed to treat everything from deafness and Parkinson's disease to pneumonia and sleep disorders.
Among the major criteria that served as the basis for qualifying and selecting the Top 10 Medical Innovations were the following:
- Have significant potential for short-term clinical impact (either a major improvement in patient benefit or an improved function that enhances healthcare delivery).
- Have a high probability of success.
- Have sufficient data available to support its nomination.
"We are thrilled that technology developed by Sonitus Medical came out on top of this broad ranging list of medical innovations," said Amir Abolfathi, CEO of Sonitus Medical. "It is an honor to be recognized by such a leading institution as the Cleveland Clinic. We look forward to our SoundBite hearing system making an impact in the coming year as we plan to complete our clinical trial process so we can better serve the 9 million patients who currently suffer from single sided deafness in the US alone."
Causes of single sided deafness, sometimes called unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, can include sudden hearing loss or sudden deafness, trauma, diseases, infections, or other inner ear problems.
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