Cochlear Limited, NSW, Australia and NXP Semiconductors, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, report that they have signed an agreement for the design and manufacturing of IC devices for Cochlear’s future generation implantable hearing devices.

The agreement includes the definition, development, and supply of ultra-low power speech processor and wireless communication ICs to be used in Cochlear’s next generation products.

“NXP and Cochlear teams have been working together successfully for several years and our complementary strengths have been key to the development of our market-leading implantable hearing solutions,” says Jan Janssen, senior VP, design and development at Cochlear, in a statement released by NXP. "The new agreement extends the partnership into the development and manufacturing of our wireless communication technology even further, which is a key component of our future technology developments."

“We are proud to contribute our Ultra Low Power Magnetic Induction Wireless and CoolFlux DSP technology to enable Cochlear’s … hearing implant solutions,” says Rene Penning de Vries, NXP CTO, in the statement. “This long-term partnership with Cochlear is another example of NXP’s strategy to achieve leadership in high performance mixed signal application domains. It also illustrates NXP’s engagement in the medical domain, where we target new applications such as wireless (implanted) sensors, medical body area networks, and personal health care devices.”

Cochlear specializes in implantable hearing solutions for people with hearing impairment. The company has direct operations in 20 countries, and four distinct product lines: cochlear implants, bone conduction implants, implants for electro-acoustic stimulation, and implants for direct acoustic stimulation. 

NXP is a semiconductor company founded by Philips, with operations in more than 30 countries. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions, and software that deliver sensory experiences in TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, mobile phones, cars, and other electronic devices.

[Source: NXP]