Last weekend, Sydney Adventist Hospital (the San) ENT Department in collaboration with Advanced Bionics hosted an inaugural international summit on improving access to cochlear implants and advancing technology for women in surgery.
Female surgeons from across the Asia Pacific attended the two-day summit, bringing together ENT surgeons, audiologists, and cochlear implant professionals. Delegates from NSW Health, the Medical Technology Association of Australia, and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons came to the San for the event. Member for Davidson, Matt Cross, was in attendance.
The summit focused around newly released national adult cochlear implant guidelines, developed by the Australian and New Zealand Hearing Health Collaborative (ANZ HHC). Findings show that only 10-11 per cent of Australians who could benefit from cochlear implants have the devices.
‘A major challenge has been a lack of awareness and clear referral pathways for adults who may benefit from cochlear implants,’ says Prof. Payal Mukherjee, ENT surgeon at Sydney Adventist Hospital and co-chair of ANZ HHC.
The summit explored how technologies are transforming both patient outcomes and surgeon wellbeing. These include artificial intelligence-enabled hearing technology that automatically adapts to different environments and noise levels, new robotic and surgical technologies designed with improved ergonomics to reduce workplace injuries for surgeons, and hands-on training using 3D-printed bone models.
‘Historically, surgical equipment and operating environments were not designed with women in mind,’ said Prof. Mukherjee. ‘This summit is about female surgeons leading the change… Advocating for better designed technology to improving access to hearing care for patients across our region.’
Sydney Adventist Hospital (‘the San’) is NSW’s largest private hospital, providing whole-person health for 120 years.
Advanced Bionics develops cochlear implant technology for adults and children, operating in 50 countries.
