The Engineer 6-19 December 2002

August 1977
Prof David Kemp's discovery of physiological phenomenon of sound emission from the inner ear or oto-acoustic emissions (OAEs) at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, now associated with UCL.

December 1977
Paper on discovery declined by Nature.

April 1978
Medical research grant awarded to Kemp. Prototype instrument demonstrated to the National Research and Development Corporation, and patents for hearing test device filed by NRDC.

1978
EC study confirms that more than one in 1,000 babies have hearing problem and 50 percent go undetected for a year.

Sept 1979
International scientific conference called by Kemp to discuss the new auditory phenomenon.

1982
First media interest in the new hearing test from Thames News and Tomorrow's World BBC

1983
Other scientists track down the cell making OAEs

1984
Kemp assists NRDC in presenting prototype OAE instruments to major players in the field. After a long search NRDC/BTG licenses technology to ailing UK company Peters.

1985
Peters instrument AP200 flops: it is not well engineered, the company is technically weak and it goes into bankruptcy shortly afterwards.

1986
NRDC fails to find another backer. No major firm in the field is ready to invest in the 'new' technology.

1987
Kemp and colleagues build new prototypes at RNTNE/UCL based on a PC expansion card that allows anyone with a PC to do the new test.

1988
UCL's technology transfer unit decides it cannot invest or help Kemp find a backer and recommends he markets it privately. Kemp and his wife buy back patent for £15,000 and form Otodynamics. Inital order from France for 20 systems at £3000 each.

1989
Worldwide sales of ILO88 instruments begin from a garage in Hatfield, marketed by word of mouth between specialists. US Food and Drug Agency clearance gained as 'equivalent' to early forms of hearing test.

1989
Otodynamics' ILO88 adopted as key instrument in a major US study of practical universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS).

1992
First attempts at infringement of patent by competitors, a continuing problem and drain on resources until the original NRDC patent expires in 2000.

1993
Otodynamics wins Queen's Award for Outstanding Export Achievement by a small company (£1m per annum with four employees).

1993
NIH in the US recommends all babies be screened using the new technology.

1994
NHS commissions a study of UNHS for UK.

1997
Reports to NHS by MRC recommends UNHS.

1997
Austria buys Otodynamics products and develops a UNHS programme that covers 80 percent of births. USA coverage reaches around 50 percent.

1998
Otodynamics wins Queen's Award for Technology, for Echoport which connects to a laptop computer.

1999
Handheld Echocheck hearing screener selected as a Design Council Millennium Product.

2000
Patent ends and international competition intensifies.

2001
NHS begins selecting instruments for its UNHS programme. Majority of instruments bought by NHS for first phase (20 percent coverage) are Otodynamics.

2002
Economic factors plus growing competition limit sales. Rapid advances in digital technology require revisions of hardware so that all profit has to be reinvested in R&D. Shortages of experienced hardware and software engineers' hampers speed of product development.