With the aim to screen newborns for hearing loss in resource-poor setting to avoid preventable disability, National Health Mission and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India launched a new innovation in Rajasthan.
The device, launched on Tuesday, termed as ‘SOHAM’ is a compact battery-operated device based on the gold standard brainstem evoked response audiometry and can be used by any ordinary healthcare worker with high accuracy. The device gives automated results and is telemedicine enabled to ensure the patient receives the complete care cycle.
“We are going to use this device in 10 primary health centers and 3 tertiary care centers,” Rajesh Singh, COO of WISH foundation, the development partner of state health department in rolling out the pilot project told DNA. “The aim is to screen 740 newborns during the 3-month pilot. With the help of these devices, we can detect and treat rising incidences of hearing impairment in infants which goes unnoticed usually and later becomes a concern and we cannot do any intervention to improve the quality of life,” he added.
The second innovation launched on Tuesday was ATOM, a mobile app based ECG device to screen patients at primary healthcare level and reduce expenses for the poor people with increasing accessibility and affordability of the healthcare services in remote areas.
“The technology for testing hearing impairment is expensive and inaccessible to many at present. It is estimated that 3.4 crore children are victims of hearing impairment worldwide as per WHO reports. While we launch this in Rajasthan, our objective is to introduce tested solutions into the government PIP programs. This screening test is expected to help the quality of life of the neonates,” said Rajesh Singh.
Compact Device
The device is a compact battery-operated device based on the gold standard brainstem evoked response audiometry and can be used by any ordinary healthcare worker with high accuracy. The device gives automated results and is telemedicine enabled to ensure the patient receives the complete care cycle.
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