In a three-stage intervention, a soft audiometer developed at Variety in Guindy, a center for how residents of Chinnambedu village received investigations, tests and treatment for hearing loss problems?
A fashion industry is built around the retina. Squares, rectangles, Pentagon and so on. Only inches away, the ears perish in relative opacity. The hearing instrument is rarely made. Upon closer examination, this argument is reliable. In any population, people needing a hearing aid will have to move past the Gogoliplex bar while needing glasses.
Asymmetry occurs when the scene is transformed into half-baked communities. Forgive the punishment: The eye camps are out of the ears. However, in these communities, many may live with a degree of hearing loss when they do not have to.
During the lockdown, a pilot project involving an indigenously designed “soft audiometer” from Anna University is a parable.
Rotary Club of Madras Temple City; The MERF Institute of Speech and Hearing (MERF-ISH; in collaboration with the Madras ENT Research Foundation) and the National Hub for Healthcare Instrumentation Development (NHHID) at Anna University took the pilot on a half-hour drive from the Red Hills to Chinnambedu village. .
It addresses two barriers – accessibility and potency for the treatment of hearing disabilities.
Technology part
NHHID, maintained by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has created a software-based audiometer with the protocol of MERF-ISH.
Pro. s. Muttan, Head of Department, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Anna University and Coordinator, NHHID, explains: “Ten years ago, my research student Rajkumar and I started working on a soft audiometer for early detection of hearing defects. We looked at two barriers to early detection – access and affordability. Accessibility is the point of care, which means that the service should reach wherever and at whatever time. “
in the market
- It is being read for the soft audiometer market.
- S. Muttan, Coordinator, National Hub for Healthcare Instrumentation Development (NHHID) Anna University, states that negotiations are underway with potential vendors for commercialization of the product.
- “Anna University, Madras ENT Research Foundation and vendors will hold equal shares in it,” Muttan explains.
- “Soft audiometer will be available on the cloud for people to access it from anywhere, in a pay-per-service model.”
- According to one question, Mutan underlines that it will be used for community-service initiatives, such as those in Chinnambedu.
Soft audiometers are being promoted as a cost-effective alternative to regular hardware-based audiometers. It does the same thing: plotting the audiogram of the right and left ears, he explains.
“We looked at the PC, and through its Sound Blaster card, we developed a similar process. In software form, the device can be loaded into a standalone system – a PC or a mobile. In this way, anyone can test their ear for hearing defects. We wanted to validate our work, and so we worked with the Madras Medical College. Four years ago, we found a good partner in the MERF Research Foundation. Being an audiologist, Ranjith Rajeswaran provided testing protocols for the software and verified and certified it, ”elaborating the mutton.
“There are two versions of the soft audiometer – a professional version that will be used by audiologists. The second is for the general public, which can be used by anyone around the world, as it will be web-based and on the cloud. “
The director of MERF-ISH, Ranjith, says, “The version for the general public has a greater need for machine learning and data, and therefore, we are now launching only the professional version. This version was used for the project in Chinnambedu. ”
Social part
Ranjith recalls that when he approached the Rotary Club of Madras Temple City, with a view to dealing with hearing problems in underprivileged communities, the club sought to know how it could be part of it.
“I told him that I need a village first,” he revealed.
Chinambedu was a straightforward choice as the club’s social activities were already there.
With nearly 360 families, Chinnamedu is actually a hamlet, now called the “Hearing for Life” event organized by these organizations together.
Stents for students in product development
- The National Hub for Healthcare Instrumentation Development (NHHID) was established in 2011 at Anna University, with funding from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to “overcome the problems related to the indigenization of medical devices”.
- “For the last 30 years I have been working in the field of biomedical engineering, and the biggest problem we face is that we develop good prototypes, but lack the manufacturing facilities to bring it to the standards required by the industries. There is a huge last mile disk connectivity, which Anna University wants to bridge through NNHID. The prototype of the laboratory must see the light. The good gadgets we have developed should reach the market, shuffle the products, ”S. Muttan, head of the department, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Anna University and coordinator, says NHHID.
- Mutton explains, “About 10 years ago, the Department of Science and Technology approved 15 million and we developed an antibiogram scope, a device that could detect the right antibiotic for UTI in just six hours.” “We have developed 10 products, of which five are in the market. Some more are in the pipeline. ”
- NHHID takes a multi-disciplinary approach to developing these tools, marshaling resources from various departments.
- Muttan also states that NNHID has collaborated with institutions such as IIT-Madras; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Christian Medical College Vellore and Tanuvas Veterinary College for various projects.
“Screening commenced by the end of November in 2020. We went in person, dressed in appropriate PPE suits, and knocked on the doors of families in the village; We surveyed 320 families. Soft audiometer enables us to test through the cloud. Before that, we had to find out who needed to be tested. In the second phase, we took the equipment (hardware-based audiometer) and software and set up and tested the testing station, and assigned appointments. “Seventy-two individuals were diagnosed with varying levels and forms of hearing loss,” says Ranjith. “Of them, 52 have been diagnosed so far. Some bus medical management is required. Some other, hearing aids. Some surgeries are required. “
He continues: “The Rotary Club of Temple City donated 60 hearing aids, some of which we used in Chinnambedu. A mold is made based on the ear canal of the beneficiary, and is fitted for a hearing aid. The mold making process takes two to three weeks. We brought the necessary materials to make the mold. ”
Ranjith explains that to make a mold, the actual ones – up to 150 – would be soaked from ak 300 to ₹ 400 since it was in the market – and only the actual fee was being charged, and it was sponsored by the Rotary Club Was.
Ranjith continues: “We will ask people who go to the nearby ENT Hospital for surgery. If they cannot do this, we will talk to the ENT specialists of MMC or Kilpuk Medical College or MERF Research Foundation and perform surgery for them. Some children may require cochlear implants. In Tamil Nadu Health System, there is a free cochlear transplant program. “
On cloud
What’s next for Chinnambedu, Ranjith says: “We are playing the role of a self-sufficient model. In late March, we will visit the village to see if a hearing testing booth can be set up. “
From time to time, a small team will go to Chinnambedu to conduct tests at the booth, and the results will be relayed through the cloud to experts in Chennai.
Ranjith says: “The idea is that no one in Chinambedu has the blame to listen.
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