Profoundly deaf people can now enjoy music and hear clearly even in noisy environments thanks to MED-EL Corporation, which has developed a novel Fine Hearing technology.

The OPUS Speech Processors offer the smallest internal implant, and the thinnest and lightest externally-worn speech processor available.

"The MAESTRO has created a tremendous capacity for patients to hear, they can filter out certain noises, and they can exist in environments that used to be not really well tolerated by people with cochlear implants. The new system has enabled recipients to hear much better than in the past," said Dr. Harold C. Pillsbury, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Experts behind this invention used a questionnaire to assess patients participating in a clinical trial of their new system.

Sixty-five per cent patients reported improved enjoyment of familiar music, while 59 per cent reported improved enjoyment of unfamiliar music.

Ninety-one per cent said that music sounded pleasant with their cochlear implant, while 82 per cent reported listening to music every week, if not every day.

More than 50 per cent reported improvement in speech understanding while listening in group-like situations, and 60 per cent said that they could understand both male and female voices better in everyday noisy environments.

The novel speech processor is being described as a milestone achievement in engineering.

It offers unparalleled comfort, battery life, hands-free capability, and remote access to controls.