The Science & Technology ministry this week rolled out an inexpensive indigenously designed hearing screening gadget for newborn infants. This hearing screening gadget is dubbed as Sohum and will be provided to almost 26 Million newborn infants born in India each year.
This gadget enables screening without needing newborn infants to be asleep. Once the device is available across the nation, it can assist reduce the hearing injury or even overturn the harm.
The non-invasive battery-based Sohum utilizes induced brainstem auditory response technique, which is suggested as top and leading screening option by the National Health Services of UK and the American Association of Pediatrics. At this moment, most of the babies born it the hospital can’t be examined in the non-attendance of any price-efficient gadget. Internationally, 8 Lakh hearing impaired newborn infants are born yearly of which almost 1 Lakh are born in our country. “Sohum is an ideal device to be provided to the Public Health Centers all across the nation. Local producers of such devices are decisive to further lowering down price,” claimed minister of state for technology and science, Y.S. Chowdary. After rolling out the gadget, which is designed by startup Sohum Innovation Labs India Pvt. Ltd. and School of International Biodesign (SIB), the minister had a talk with the media.
“Hereditary hearing loss is an outcome of both non-genetic and genetic factors. These factors are mostly related to countries with poor resources such as India where hearing injury goes unidentified. Consequently, when it is found at the age of 4 plus, it is too late to overturn the harm and this results in issues such as possible mental illness and even impaired communication skills,” claimed the ministry of science & technology to the media.
“The Sohum group has developed a screening gadget to smooth the process of the regular screening of newborn infants,” claimed the ministry while citing that the gadget has previously been set up in 5 clinical centers. These clinical centers are presently operating the screening program.
“The goal is to screen 2% of babies born at hospital in the first year,” claimed the ministry to the media.
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