Cochlear Implants First Introduced To India In September, 2016.

21 Sep , 2016

(Below is an official news release from a major Indian news source, explaining Cochlear implants for the first time).

HYDERABAD: A child who was suffering from more than 90 per cent hearing loss was implanted with a device, Kanso, which is an off-the-ear sound processor. There will be two parts to the devise, an implant which will be surgically placed under scalp and an external processor which can be worn on the scalp. Both the parts will have a magnet and that is how the external processor sticks to the scalp.

“Kanso is the hearing aid for interfacing with cochlear implants, capturing sounds using two microphones, converting them into a digital signal and passing them to an implant under the skin. The implant delivers these signals to the cochlea where hearing nerve fibers absorb them and sends them to the brain,” according to a press note. The device costs about `13 lakh. *** Note from Maria, (We took a moment on our own to research the conversion of Lakh to US Dollars and this equals $21,359.00 as of September 12th. Monetary conversion rates change frequently, just as the stock market rises and falls).***

The device, which was introduced in India in September, was implanted to a girl child Gunjan. She was diagnosed with severe hearing loss in both the ears when she was around eighteen months old. While hearing aids were used, they did not address the problem. After noticing no improvement, doctors at KIMS suggested cochlear implant surgery.

Dr Shiva Prasad Boddupally, senior audiologist at KIMS, said that Gunjan had negligible hearing power.

As she will be hearing sounds for the first time, they don’t allow 100 pc stimulation. “We adjust it so that she will hear soft sounds and over time the level would be increased,” Dr Shiva Prasad said.

Source: The Indian Express

Image credit: The Indian Express