Heard the news?

L.N. Revathy

FOR inspiration, one needs to look no further than the story of Hellen Keller. Despite the loss of sight and hearing as a toddler, she overcame many obstacles to lead a life that continues to inspire generations of people. Today, sophisticated healthcare facilities lend a helping hand in bolstering the self-confidence of physically-disadvantaged people. Right from diagnosis to treatment, technological advances are ensuring greater accuracy levels and qualitative solutions. However, despite these technological advances, problems relating to sensory organs such as the ear and throat have largely remained undefined in India.

`Deafness’ — the most common and perhaps the most distressing disorder affecting humanity — has been attributed to genetic disorders. The incidence of profound hearing loss has been estimated at one in 1,000 live births worldwide, of which half is attributed to genetic origin. According to the Deaf World Ministries statistics, India has an estimated 90 million hearing-impaired people, which is the highest in the world. China is close behind with 73 million.

But how do we tackle this problem? Is a hearing aid the only solution to the problem? “Until now, it was thought so. But with implantable hearing aids gaining in popularity, the traditional hearing aid could be a thing of the past,” says Dr Aruna Visvanathan.

On the other hand, though cochlear implants are becoming popular, the procedure is still not within the reach of the common man. Though these technology-driven procedures are perceived to be risk-free and high-precision, not many ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinics are equipped with necessary gadgets. Even today many specialists use the `Bulls Eye Lamp’ for diagnosing disorders.

Recent developments in operations management software provide tools for assessment and planning the surgical process. The endoscopic laser technology helps track the passage in the ear and nose to the minutest detail. Just recall your last visit to an ENT clinic for a routine nasal examination. The specialist, till about two years ago, would not have been able to `really’ see the middle turbinate. Dr Aruna recalls instances of patients who come to her after having undergone 15 procedures elsewhere. “Some of their structures even go missing. But with optical instruments such as nasal telescope, the inner structures can be examined in detail. It acts as a magic wand, captures the images and highlights it on the screen,” says Dr Aruna.

A medical video-camera is attached to the tip of the slender nasal telescope. This optical instrument, when placed near the nasal passage, captures the image and the same is recorded on a special video monitor. The visualisation tools such as computer monitors, video monitors, head-up displays and the microscope’s oculars span from pointer-systems to real navigators and a surgical telepresence demonstrator, thus implementing the majority of available patient-to-image referencing strategies.

Lasers are available in different wavelengths. The KTP 532 (Potassium Titanyl Phosphate) laser, for instance, acts selectively on tissue and maps the exact effect of deafness or block in the nasal passage. Bloodless and scar-less keyhole surgeries of the ear and nose are performed with the KTP laser, says Dr Aruna.

The bionic ear (cochlear implant or inner ear implant) has been a great breakthrough. Correction is possible even in new-born babies. A tiny chip is fitted in the ear to restore hearing. Though such implants are very costly, they have been proved to restore hearing. The computer-aided procedure has helped the medical fraternity to achieve higher precision.

But one disease found to be more common in South India is `Tosclerosis’. There are no symptoms or signs of this disease until the person enters his teens. “But now, we are able to restore the power of hearing. In such cases the bones get fixed. Now we perform a simple procedure to correct it,” says Dr Aruna.