ORCA Europe - A new research centre in Stockholm

Widex has opened a research centre, ORCA Europe, in Stockholm. Under the supervision of Dr. Karolina Smeds, a research team is to conduct relevant clinical research on the technical rehabilitation of hearing impaired people.

ORCA stands for the “Office of Research in Clinical Amplification”, and research projects will be carried out partly by the laboratory in Stockholm and partly in cooperation with hearing clinics in Sweden and other countries. Modern test facilities have been established in the centre, which is situated in the charming old part of the Swedish capital.

Projects

In the spring of 2007, a series of studies will be initiated. The studies will all aim at exploring how hearing aid users manage with their hearing aids both in laboratory experiments and in their daily lives. The experiments will not only focus on the benefits which can be obtained with new hearing aid technology - the possible negative effects of hearing aid use will also be examined.

Finally, the centre will establish a database of hearing impaired people willing to participate in various research projects.

Positive experience

In addition to ORCA Europe in Stockholm, another ORCA centre already exists in Chicago.

“Our experiences from the activities in the US have been extremely positive,’ says the Manager of Audiological Research at Widex A/S, Carl Ludvigsen. ‘We have been trying for the last couple of years to find the right person with the right background and qualifications to run a similar enterprise in Europe. When Karolina Smeds accepted to lead the centre, we decided to place it in Stockholm.”

Widex expects that the new centre will provide valuable information which will be utilised in future hearing aid development.

ORCA Europe

Karolina Smeds holds a master’s degree in engineering physics and a PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In addition, she has a master’s degree in audiology from the University of Southampton.