Phonak's Premium Hearing System Savia Wins Prestigious Medical Design Excellence Award. Savia recognized as an innovative product that changes the face of heari

STÄFA (Switzerland) 12th April (PROTEXT/ots) - Phonak, aleading player in the worldwide hearing healthcare market,announced today that its newly launched revolutionary premiumhearing system, Savia, has won the 2005 Medical Design ExcellenceAward (MDEA). Representing the greatest revolution in hearingsolutions since the introduction of digital technology, the Saviaproduct family integrates no less than ten world firsts.

Savia with Digital Bionics is the first hearing system everto implement the unique capabilities of biological systems usingstate of the art digital technology. A unique group of featuresbased on this bionic principal join forces to bring the hearingimpaired the most effective, all-around high performance hearingsolutions ever. Thanks to Digital Bionics, Savia successfullyaddresses the remaining challenges of modern communication. Saviaprovides effortless hearing in all situations, excellent speechunderstanding, even in complex environments, and naturallocalization ability.

"With Savia, we are entering a new era in hearing instrumenttechnology and design," said Valentin Chapero, CEO of the PhonakGroup. "We are honored by the MDEA judges' recognition of Savia.With Savia, based on Digital Bionics, we take another importantstep in our mission to substantially improve the quality of lifeof hearing impaired individuals. Winning the Medical DesignExcellence Award further supports this cause."

The Medical Design Excellence Awards competition is organizedand presented by Canon Communications LLC in Los Angeles, USA,and is the only awards program that exclusively recognizescontributions to, and advances in, the design of medicalproducts. Entries are evaluated on the basis of their design andengineering features, including innovative use of materials,user-related functions that improve healthcare delivery andchange traditional medical attitudes or practices, features thatprovide enhanced benefits to the patient, and the ability of theproduct development team to overcome design and engineeringchallenges so that the product meets its clinical objectives.

A comprehensive review of the entries was performed by animpartial, multidisciplinary panel of third-party jurors withexpertise in biomedical engineering, human factors, industrialdesign, medicine, and diagnostics.

The 2005 Medical Design Excellence Award winners will behonored at a ceremony during the Medical Design & Manufacturing(MD&M) East Conference and Exposition, June 13-15, 2005, at NewYork City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Gold and silveraward recipients will be announced at this time.

Phonak - At the pulse of innovation The Phonak Group (SWX:PHBN), headquartered in Stäfa, Switzerland, specializes in thedesign, development, production and global distribution oftechnologically advanced wireless and hearing systems. As one ofthe top technology companies in the industry worldwide and with aglobal staff of over 2,700 employees, Phonak is a major player inthe hearing healthcare market. By combining its expertise inhearing technology with a strong distribution network in over 70countries, Phonak, along with its customers and businesspartners, makes a substantial improvement in the quality of lifeof individuals with hearing impairment.

For more information, please visit www.phonak.com

Contact:

Phonak AG,

Bernadette Kohler

Laubisrütistrasse 28

8712 Stäfa

Switzerland

Phone: +41 1 928 01 01

www.phonak.com

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