NBMCH plans to introduce cochlear implant service

SNS,SILIGURI, 8 APRIL 2022:  The North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) is planning to introduce cochlear implant services for children suffering from hearing disabilities.

A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf for severely hard of hearing. Unlike hearing aids, the cochlear implant does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlea with an electric field.

According to doctors at the ENT department of the NBMCH, efforts were being made to introduce the cochlear implant. To they said the department gets children who turn up at the outpatient department of the ENT every month, needing cochlear implants.

"Cochlear implant is an electronic device, part of which is surgically implanted in the ear. Many children will benefit if the implant can be introduced at the NBMCH, which has been the principal referral health institute. Many newborns suffer from a severe degree of impaired hearing, which would eventually require cochlear implantation. In this, the sound is converted into electrical energy is transmitted to the brain. 

Early detection is important, because the human brain matures by the age of seven to eight years. But the surgical implantation of the cochlear needs expertise and resources. In absence of the cochlear implant, hearing aids are used to stimulate sound. It will take some time to have the infrastructure ready. We hope it begins soon," said the head of the department of the ENT at the NBMCH, Dr Radheshyam Mahato.

Doctors said human resources needed to be developed for such services.

"We need to develop infrastructure as well as human resources. These patients need post-operative speech therapy for a prolonged period. We need time to develop the whole set-up.

The audiometry therapy, special educator and counselors are required," said a doctor of the department.

The device consists of an external component and an internal one. The internal one is surgically placed with in the skull under the skin, and a part in the cochlea, the spiral cavity of the inner ear containing the organ of Corti that produces nerve impulses in response to sound vibrations.

The mechanical external device is a receiver that processes the sound from outside and converts it into signals that are transmitted to the ear via the skin.