The Hindu Business Line : Cheap cochlear implants from AP naval laboratory

THE Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) here and the Andhra University College of Engineering have undertaken a joint project to develop an inexpensive cochlear (ear) implant, which will appreciably improve the hearing capacity of even the born-deaf.

At present, the cochlear implant is being imported and grafted into the ear by ENT surgeons. But it is prohibitively expensive, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Both are jointly working to reduce the cost to less than a lakh so that many can avail themselves of this technology.

It is interesting to note that the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, is keen on the project. He worked on this project when he was with the Defence Research and Development Organisation and visited NSTL for this purpose.

Cochlear implant surgeries are being performed on 1,000 to 1,500 patients every year in India, with 200 of them in the South and about 20 in Hyderabad. The surgeries are being done in the hospitals in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Manipal, Mumbai, Delhi and a few other places.

These facts were stated by the office-bearers of the organising committee of the South Zone conference and 23rd AP State conference of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI) at a press conference here on Tuesday. The conference would be held from Friday to Sunday.

``Basically this is an electronic ear and is being called `bionic ear' in advanced countries. A hearing aid like gadget connected to another small gadget, which can be carried in the pocket sends sounds to the ear and the implanted gadget activates nerves to help the person to hear the sounds. The cochlear implant avoids the role of inner ear,'' the ENT surgeons explained.

Use of expensive elements such as titanium and platinum are the reasons for the high cost of cochlear implant. Also, the (sound) receiving technology and the codifying and decodifying technologies are not revealed by the manufacturers of the implant and the Indian scientists are working on these aspects.

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