Two-year old toddler gets bilateral Cochlear Implantation using the world’s most advanced sound processors and wireless off the ear’ technology
Chennai: MGM Institute of ENT, Head & Neck Surgery under MGM Healthcare, a multi-specialty quaternary care hospital in the heart of the city today announced that it has successfully conducted bilateral simultaneous cochlear implantation surgery of a 2-year old toddler from Odisha. The toddler is the youngest recipient of this device simultaneously implanted bilaterally with the most advanced sound processor technology with wireless (off the ear) speech processors in Tamil Nadu. This is the 3rd consecutive successful bilateral wireless cochlear implantation surgery post the official launch of MGM Cochlear Implant programme 3 months ago at the hospital.
The toddler, Arabinda was diagnosed with congenital deafness during a routine screening of speech and hearing assessment after birth. He was monitored at regular intervals and no improvement in his hearing was observed despite the use of best available hearing aids. The family then consulted the experts at MGM Healthcare and after the primary examination, Dr. Sanjeev Mohanty and his team informed the family that cochlear implantation was the only viable remedial option to avoid complete deafness with impairment of speech and communication.
This is one of the most advanced available technology today and comes with up to 3 tesla MRI compatibility, wireless sound processor (off the ear), is functional under water, equipped with Bluetooth connectivity and can be operated with rechargeable batteries. These implants eliminates the hassle of changing batteries, wearing the speech processor behind the ear and cables which used to be the case in the earlier models of implants.
Prof Dr. Sanjeev Mohanty, Senior Consultant & HOD - ENT, Head & Neck Surgery, MGM Healthcare Chennai shared his views on the case and said, “After a detailed examination of the toddler, we advised the surgery and post the parents nod, we successfully implanted implants code named, Cochlear profile 632 perimodiolar slim series with wireless (off the ear) Kanso 2 speech processors simultaneously in both ears of the young kid. It will enhance the quality of sound that the patient can hear and understand and aid him in his day-to-day activities. Bilateral cochlear implantation in the very young child, is a proven procedure that can improve a patient’s hearing and quality of life. In this case, there was significant hearing loss in the toddler’s ears and hearing aids didn’t have the desired impact on the child’s hearing. Through this surgery, the implants overcomes the problem by interacting directly with the auditory nerve, capture the sound, process and electrically stimulate the nerves.”
He further added, “The toddler has recovered well post-surgery and will undergo programmed auditory verbal therapy sessions to aid him in improving his communication and speech abilities in due course of time. We would like to express our gratitude to the benevolent donors and philanthropists who organized a crowd-funding program to meet the requirements of the entire treatment.”
