BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2015;81(5):576
www.bjorl.org
Brazilian
Journal
of
OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY
LETTER
TO
THE
EDITOR
Addendum
to
the
history
of
cochlear
implants
in
Brazil
夽Reparo
na
história
dos
implantes
cocleares
no
Brasil
DearEditor,
Iwould like tocongratulate BJORL for the excellent
edi-torialpublishedin issue 81, number2, by Prof. Dr.Pedro
MangabeiraAlbernazonthehistoryofcochlearimplantsin
Brazil.1
ProfessorPedroMangabeirawasthepioneerinthis
tech-nique in our country, having been honored at the last
Ibero-AmericanCongressofCochlearImplants.
ItsohappensthatintheEditorial,Idonotknowwhether
duetolackofspace,somethingofextremehistorical
impor-tancewasomitted:theinitiative,in1990,tomanufacturein
Brazilthefirstnationalcochlearimplant,developedentirely
in theBioengineering Department of Institutodo Corac¸ão
(theHeartInstitute)of HCFMUSP, withthe cooperationof
the FMUSP Otorhinolaryngology Discipline, which won an
award at the time from the Inter-American Development
Bankasthe bestscientific projectof 1989.The firstwork
aboutitwaspublishedinthisrespectedjournal,the
Brazil-ianJournalofOtorhinolaryngology.2
Twopatents weregenerated basedontheseworksand
several patients were successfully implanted (Patent INPI
no.910.5546-6;on12/16/1991).3
夽 Pleasecitethisarticleas:BentoRF.Addendumtothehistoryof
cochlearimplantsinBrazil.BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2015;81:576.
TheresearchersinvolvedinthisprojectwereRicardo
Fer-reira Bento,Aroldo Miniti, Adolpho Leiner,Carlos Alberto
Nunes,MiltonOshiro,MariaValériaGoffiGomes.
Only five countries have developed cochlear implant
devices,includingBrazilwiththisdevice.Thelatteriscited
inmorethan1000publicationsonCIaroundtheworldasa
pioneerinitsconcepts.
Conflicts
of
interest
Theauthordeclaresnoconflictsofinterest.
References
1.AlbernazPL.Historyofcochlearimplants.BrazJ Otorhinolaryn-gol.2015;81:124---5.
2.BentoRF, MinitiA, Leiner A,Sanchez TG, OshiroMS, Campos MIM,etal. Oimplantecoclear FMUSP-1:apresentac¸ãodeum programa brasileiro e seus resultados preliminares. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol.1994;60:1---16.
3.Bento R.F. Implante Coclear com transmissão ótica através damembrana timpânica.Brasil patenteBR910.5546-6; 1991, December16.
RicardoFerreiraBento
DepartmentofOtorhinolaryngology,Faculdadede Medicina,UniversidadedeSãoPaulo(USP),SãoPaulo, SP,Brazil
E-mail:[email protected](R.F.Bento).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2015.05.005
