Romanian Minister of Health Vasile Cepoi with the delegation of representatives of public healthcare of Romania visited the World Hearing Center (WHC) in Kajetany. Minister Cepoi, who came to Poland at the invitation of Polish Minister of Health, Bartosz Arłukowicz, had an opportunity to visit the World Hearing Center of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, directed by prof. Henryk Skarżyński. WHC is a unique first of its kind institution on the international scale.

During the visit, the broad scientific, clinical and didactic activity of the Center was presented to Minister Cepoi. He could also watch the operation performed by prof. Skarżyński – the operation of CODACS implant application. CODACS implant is a combination of two former systems of a middle ear implant, which amplifies sounds naturally, and a cochlear implant supplying the electric hearing. The World Hearing Center is the only place in Poland where such operations are preformed.

Minister Cepoi visited also most important laboratories in the WHC: the only one in Poland Head and Neck Clinical Research Laboratory – an integral part of Education Center and Bioimaging Research Center, the first research centre in Poland and one of few in the world using simultaneousEEG-fMRI registration, combining advantages of both imaging techniques for the evaluation of auditory pathway’s condition.

The delegation was presented the functioning of the first in the world National Network of Teleaudiology – the unique system for teleconsultations and telerehabilitation, as well as the remote fitting of cochlear implant system (Telefitting).
The guests expressed their admiration for the achievements of the Center and mentioned that the cooperation between the countries could bring significant bilateral benefits.