The History af ICS Medical
In
1981, Delmar F. Bloem and Robert M. Simenson founded ICS Medical and acquired the medical division of
Instrumentation and Control Systems, Inc., which manufactured technology for rhinomanometry and electronystagmography
(ENG).
In addition to inventory, designs and relationships with some prominent physicians, they also took over a small staff of service and assembly personnel as well as some premises in Addison, IL.
Del and Bob, as the two were known, made an effective management team: Del was the technology whiz and Bob the business manager. They shared a management philosophy that was dedicated to creating an inspiring, pleasant and harmonic workplace where the bar for all aspects of quality was set high. And they set enthusiastically about building up a company that would become the world leader in its field.
Collaboration with leading luminaries
in the vestibular world
Right from the beginning, ICS Medical worked closely with
otorhinolaryngologists and research scientists to develop better vestibular testing equipment, and to
train users in how to achieve the best results with their equipment.
Del
and Diana Bloem, Bob and Joyce Simenson
pictured at the office
Christmas party in 1985.
From the former company, Instrumentation and Control Systems, ICS Medical inherited a relationship with a leading expert in the vestibular field, Dr. Cecil Hart, professor of otolaryngology at the Loyola University of Chicago.
Later, Del got to know Charles W. Stockwell, a research psychologist who had specialized in electrophysiology while serving in the U.S. Navy. Stockwell’s research into the vestibular system and the diagnosis of balance disorders led to professorships at the Departments of Otolaryngology at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio and Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
These and other luminaries in the vestibular world joined ICS Medical in developing highly effective training courses in all aspects of balance assessment.
In fact, ICS Medical set industry standards for the quality of its training and support programs.
The
arrival of the microprocessor was changing the technological landscape in the 1980s
By
the beginning of the 1980s, microprocessors and computers were radically changing medical device technology
– microprocessors offered drastic reductions in size and computers provided enormous processing power.
This technology was being harnessed in many medical fields to deliver quantum leaps in performance,
for example, of the processing of electrocardiograms (ECG) and electroencephalograms (EEG).
Major technological advances were also being seen in the hearing industry leading gradually to less bulky testing devices and hearing aids.
ICS Medical harnessed the power of computer technology at a time when it was still in its infancy, and broke new ground in 1985 with the introduction of the first commercial computer-based system for electronystagmography (ENG).
Called
MASTR, the system was constructed around a Victor computer, monitor and strip-chart recorder.
ICS Medical was also the first to integrate computer-controlled optical and caloric stimuli with the recording and analysis system.
Inside
the production area at the company’s first
facility in Addison,
Illinois, 1981-86.
From 1985 to 1994, the company built on the MASTR platform introducing a series of improvements and innovations, and setting the bar for vestibular testing systems. Rhinomanometry was dropped, and all focus was devoted to ENG development and training. In 1991, the company moved to Schaumburg, 20 km closer to Chicago.
Bob
and Del pictured in a newspaper article on ICS Medical
together
with ENG equipment, March, 1993
The
CHARTR
system sets new standards of excellence
In 1994, ICS Medical launched the CHARTR
system, which rapidly became the most recognized brand name in balance disorder diagnostics. The system
included both ENG and VNG (videonystagmography), and offered the option of rotary vestibular testing
(RVT).
By 1997, auditory evoked potential testing was added
to the system – the CHARTR EP was also world’s first Windows®-based EP product. CHARTR became a suite
of products covering balance and hearing assessment.
In 1998, the software for CHARTR ENG/VNG, which was ICS’ flagship product, was reintroduced as a Windows application. This meant that customers had the option of running EP on the same PC as their ENG/VNG application – and with the benefit of a shared database and consolidated patient records.
ICS Medical continued to extend the breadth of applications available for the CHARTR suite of products with the introduction of the CHARTR OAE with Tymp in 1999. By adding otoacoustic emissions testing functionality, they had succeeded in creating a completely integrated system for screening, follow-up and diagnosis of infant hearing loss. 1999 also saw the company move into a modern 30,000 square foot facility in Schaumburg.
With the focus on
infant screening, ICS added PediABR to CHARTR EP in 2001. This was a capability that allowed for fast,
accurate assessment of babies' hearing. PediABR included built-in protocols for infant screening (PediScreen),
bone conducted ABRs (PediBone) and tone burst evoked thresholds (PediTone). It also introduced a PediGram,
plotting tone burst threshold information on a graph similar to an audiogram.
Also in 2001, CHARTR ENG/VNG added another first to the company’s long list of firsts: the ability to store digital video recordings of eye movements as part of a patient's record.
The
company joins GN Otometrics
ICS Medical entered the new millennium with an excellent
reputation, a competitive product line and a dominant position in the vestibular market. Although numerous
other companies had entered this market during the previous decade, ICS accounted for a very substantial
domestic market share. And the company was certainly perceived as the supplier of preference, both by
customers and distributors.
In 1999, ICS had entered into an informal cooperation with GN ReSound to provide MADSEN Capella OAE/Tymp technology for building into the CHARTR system. Not long after, negotiations began between the two parties.
When it was acquired by GN ReSound in December 2000, ICS Medical became part of GN ReSound’s audiological testing division, GN Otometrics. As a leader in balance disorder testing equipment, ICS Medical complemented the other brands in GN Otometrics, which manufactured audiologic instruments and software.
As part of GN Otometrics, the facility in Schaumburg continues to develop balance assessment solutions, and to provide comprehensive support services for customers and for the otoneurologic community, including:
- Equipment training
- Continuing medical education seminars
- Assistance with data interpretation
- Online support of clinical otoneurology around the world
- Literature for the hearing and balance disorder clinician