Cochlear Implant : Indian ENT Surgeon Develops a Low Cost Hearing Device

There are 40 million people in India who are deaf, however, they too can hear if they undergo a ‘Cochlear Implant’ (CI) surgery. 

Ahmedabad, India based ENT surgeon Dr Vinod Khandhar who presented a research paper on ‘Low-cost Cochlear Implant for the developing countries’ recently received the prestigious fellowship of British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology.

Since a decade now Khandhar is involved in research in developing low-cost cochlear Implant, a device used to help the deaf hear again.

“Most patients here cannot afford Rs 4 to 8 lakh needed for the multi-channel Cochlear Implant device which is used in the market.  My research was aimed at helping the deaf hear again but at lower cost, so that the common man can afford it.  The single channel device costs Rs 75,000.  It is not as elaborate and therefore not able to process all sound frequencies,” says Khandhar.

[Ref: Times of India, 27/06/2003]

New technique in bypass surgery by heart institute in Vadodara, India

In what could be termed as a rare and unconventional surgery, the Baroda Heart Institute and Research Centre (BHIRC) has performed a path-breaking angioplasty procedure, which is the first of its kind in Gujarat, Doctors hope that the new technique can now be applied to other problem areas.

The patient, who had undergone a heart bypass surgery in the US, had come with severe symptoms like chest pain and breathlessness.  The coronary angiography conducted at BHIRC revealed a rare abnormality.

“A large abnormal branch from the graft to a main artery was identified.  This lead to diversion of blood supply from the heart, which is known in medical terms as ‘steal’.  Due to short supply of blood to the heart, the symptoms had recurred,” explains Dr Parvindar Singh, one of the cardiologists who performed the surgery,

The hour-long technique was an innovative, cost-effective one, which saved the patient from a repeat major heart surgery.

“The technique not only relieved the patient of pain, but saved him from undergoing repeat bypass surgery which is usually the norm.  Most importantly, the success of this procedure has opened up new avenues, as it can be applied to other problem areas, needing major surgeries,” adds Singh.

“You may not find the procedure in any text book.  It was a tedious process where a special catheter was manipulated via the graft into the abnormal branch and a specialized coil was implanted to block the abnormal branch.  With this, blood supply to the heart increased, relieving the patient of symptoms,” says Singh, asserting that such occurrences are very rare.

[Ref: Sunday Times, 15/06/2003]

Blood Banks : Govt to ban Private Sector

The government is planning to tighten control on blood banks operating in the county.  It has decided to ban blood banks in the private sector and largely restrict their operation in the government sector.

The government also intends to limit the number of blood banks with private hospitals by stipulating higher operational standards.  There would be an exception to the new norm when blood banks are linked to leading private hospitals that follow specified standards.

It is understood that the ban is prompted by the laxness on the part of the authorities, regarding the manner in which stand-alone private blood banks operate in the country, posing danger to patients.

There are about 1,800 blood banks currently operational in the country, and a substantial number of them belong to the private sector.

A few months ago, the Centre had introduced a system to facilitate rural and pripheral areas’ access to blood banks.  According to this system, blood storage centers could function in such areas if they had direct linkage to an authorized blood bank.

The regulation of blood bank standards has recently been made more strict.  Screening of donor blood is mandatory for a host of pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, syphilis and malaria.  To facilitate the screening process, the government has allowed use of rapid diagnostic kits for screening, because they are as sensitive as other kits.  Rapid diagnostics kits can be used for detection of HIV antibody and hepatitis B antigen in the donor blood.

[Ref: Economic Times, 23/06/2003]