Catalonia to host the first edition of the international IHI 2026 conference on hearing implants
The Innovations in Hearing Implant Research Conference (IHI 2026) will bring together hearing specialists from 30 September to 3 October to discuss the latest advances in hearing implants, from basic research to clinical applications.
Barcelona and Sant Feliu de Guíxols will become a meeting point for hearing implant research with the first edition of IHI 2026. The conference, promoted and organised by the Hearing and Neurotechnology Group (HNTG) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), will take place from 1 to 3 October 2026 at the Hotel Roc in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, with a pre-conference event on 30 September at Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona. The organising team includes experts in hearing research from several European universities.
Under the theme “Shaping the future of hearing implants: From basic science to clinical applications”, IHI 2026 aims to bring together the latest research on hearing implant technologies and the results arising from this work. The programme combines keynote lectures, scientific presentations and poster sessions, and is open to the international community working in this field.
From basic research to clinical practice
The conference will cover a broad range of research areas, including implant types, binaural and bimodal stimulation, electroacoustic stimulation and sound-coding strategies, among others.
Artificial intelligence and signal processing will also feature in the programme, alongside biological therapies, objective measures, diagnosis, plasticity and auditory development. The conference will also address topics related to perception, listening in everyday-life situations, human factors influencing outcomes, computational models, big data, and the perception and processing of music.
A pre-conference event at Hospital de Sant Pau
Before the official start of the conference, on Wednesday 30 September, Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona will host a pre-conference event from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. entitled “The Impact of Hearing Technologies and Audiology on Education, Clinical Practice, Technology, and Society”. The session will focus on the impact of hearing technologies and audiology on research, clinical practice, technology, education and society.
The event will also include demonstrations, networking opportunities and visits to the facilities of the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau and the modernist complex of Hospital de Sant Pau.
Three days of scientific debate in Sant Feliu de Guíxols
The main programme will begin on the afternoon of 1 October and continue until midday on 3 October.
“With this first edition, IHI aims to establish an international forum specifically dedicated to sharing knowledge on hearing implants and connecting the different stages of the innovation process: from fundamental research to technological development and its application in the clinical setting,” explains one of the organisers, Dr Waldo Nogueira, ICREA Research Professor and Professor in the Department of Microelectronics and Electronic Systems and at the Institut de Neurociències de la UAB, as well as a researcher at Institut de Recerca Sant Pau, Hannover Medical University and the Hearing4all Cluster of Excellence.
More information and registration are available on the conference website: https://www.ihi2026.com/