Profile
After graduation I returned to Greece and enlisted in the Navy to fulfill my military obligations. During the last months of my tenure, I was found in the Acupuncture laboratory of the Naval Hospital of Athens under the direction of Captain Christos Ladas, Otolaryngologist Surgeon. When I was fired in 1989, I undertook with my partner Thanos Tsigos (Electical Engineer, MBA) an inactive family business with the aim of promoting Medical equipment in the fields of Acoustology, Otolaryngology,
Neurophysiology and Medical Rehabilitation. In September 1991 I went for further training at the Department of Dermatology at Providence Hospital Southfield, Michigan in the United States. During this time, under the guidance of Charles W. Stockwell Ph.D. I expanded my knowledge in the evaluation and rehabilitation of cases with balance disorders. During the same period, the companies NeuroCom® International, Inc. Clackamas, OR, ICS Medical, Schaumburg, IL and Cadwell Industries, Inc., Kennewick, WA United States had research collaborations with the department headed by Professor Stockwell. During my training with Professor Stockwell, the above companies offered me to work as an independent partner in application applications (Application Specialist) that would arise in the Eastern Mediterranean region on their behalf. This collaboration offered me significant international experience since for the next two years I did facilities and training of paramedical and medical staff in Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy. Respectively, as representatives, we promoted the products of the above manufacturers in the Greek market with great success.
Over the next ten years, my colleagues and I completed hundreds of installations of Acoustic and Neurophysiological equipment, in Public and Private Nursing Institutions, University laboratories and private clinics. Along with the above medical equipment, the company expanded its activities to other items. In 2010, the company had more than ninety staff with a strong presence in more than ten specialties and a turnover of more than 12E euros. My job now as Sales Manager had high demands both in working hours and studying management strategies, public relations, sales promotion, etc. The financial crisis that our country is going through in the last eight years has forced the company to change strategy. We decided to reduce our positions in product categories that would jeopardize the operation of the company and we gave more weight to activities that we had more experience and know-how. In this context I came
in agreement with the Hearing Aid Academy so that seven executives of the company can attend the study program in the science of hearing aid application. At the same time we decided to upgrade our facilities functionally, aesthetically and technologically to meet international standards. The Director of the Academy Dennis L. Gunn, BC-HIS helped us significantly with his advice and guidance in key points of the training program. He personally instructed me to supervise and supervise the students' dissertations from the moment they were done in Greek while the entire curriculum was in English. At the same time, new state-of-the-art equipment was installed in all stores so that Best Practices can be followed in the application of hearing aids and accessories. In this context, together with my collaborators, we started a research activity in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens on issues in the spectrum of Acoustics and in particular in Acoustic Aid applications. The Greek literature in this field is very poor without any published Guidelines as well as tools useful in the Verification and Validation of the results of the audio aid in general. At the same time, I was present at all the National conferences that had in their subject matter Acoustic interest with free announcements, participation in round tables as well as presentation of a research study at a Pan-European Acoustics conference. Since 2017 I am a member of:
Acoustical Society of America, International Hearing Society, American Auditory Society and Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology.
As an epilogue
The concept of "evidence base medicine" or in the Greek translation Evidence Based Medicine (Th. D. Mountokalakis, Archives of Greek Medicine 2015, 32 (5): 650-660) is the modern philosophy that is now applied in most sciences. The treatment techniques of the various diseases in terms of the therapeutic approaches that will be decided are no longer based on the experience of the specialist or on the established care techniques. Priority is now given to the results of clinical research that evaluates the real success of treatment in real conditions. In order for the expert to follow this path, continuous study, vigilance in technological developments and constant monitoring of the scientific events that specialize in the object of interest are required. My commitment to the above values is a given. My goal is to improve the quality of life of the cases I watch and the best possible restoration of hearing loss in young children with hearing loss. The judge of the results of this effort is only my patients who will recognize or reject my work.
Andreas Dimopoulos
Studies
Research interest
Clinical Acoustics
Techniques for validating the results in Audio Aid Applications in children
1983 - 1986
University of Milan
School for Audioprotective technicians
Acoustic Rehabilitation
Acoustic Rehabilitation Assessment Techniques
Psychoacoustics
Tinnitus treatment techniques
Electrophysiology
Intraoperative follow-up in cases of head and neck
1990
Providence Hospital Southfield, Michigan, USA
Training on diagnosis and treatment of Vestibular disorders