At the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing there are conducted numerous various World’s,  Europe’s  and Poland’s first hearing improving surgeries. On 26 June 2012 Prof. Henryk Skarzynski carried out first in Poland, and forth in the World, CODACS implantation surgery.

CODACS is a combination of two prior systems – middle ear implant, which naturally provides amplification of the sound and cochlear implant which provides artificial electric hearing.

This system was designed for patients, who do not benefit enough from hearing aids, their hearing loss is not sufficient for the middle ear implant and simultaneously does not qualify for a cochlear implant. The CODACS device combination opens up new opportunities for the group of patients who can not function now normally, they do not understand free speech, have limited contact with society and communication problems.

– Today’s patient understands, without any restraint, only a few percent of the words coming to her, which in practice means that she is deaf. Because of this she isolates, does not communicate with the environment, and as she says is a burden to everyone. After this surgery she has a chance to hear the world in 100 percent, and this surgery will change her life. – said Prof. Henryk Skarzynski before the surgery

Thanks to CODACS implants hearing will not be artificial, it is a natural amplification of the information that reaches directly the inner ear. Rehabilitation and learning process will be shorter than after typical implantation into the inner ear.

Today’s surgery which lasted for more than two hours, and ended up being successful, was one of the most difficult, which was so far carried out at the Institute. It required the cooperation of many specialists on the operating theater and great precision of Prof. Skarzynski who performed it. Intraoperative examination, performed by the use of a very gentle laser beam systems, confirmed that the system is working properly – there are appropriate responses to a given acoustic stimulus. This means that the patient will hear properly immediately after device fitting.

At the World Hearing Center, departmental unit of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing there are daily carried out dozens hearing improving surgeries. Now, the implantation program will be enlarged by the CODACS implants.

– It is difficult to assess the precise number of patients who can qualify for these procedures. Ahead of us there is exchange of experiences with international research centers i.a. in Hanover, Bern and Nijmegen, as well as numerous clinical trials that will assess the scale of the problem. I think that thousands of people will report to us. For sure, there will be a large group of patients over 60 years of age, among which are many people with various hearing impairments. – said Prof. Skarzynski.