RG Kar performs successful cochlear implant on 3-yr-old
Kolkata: The family members of Suraj Bhuniya, a 3-year-old deaf and dumb boy from an obscure village in South 24-Parganas, had almost lost hope that their boy would ever be able to utter a word again.
They saw a ray of hope when the doctors of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital informed them that the boy would be able to speak following a cochlear implant surgery, that too without spending a penny from their pockets.
The doctors had performed necessary tests on the boy and confirmed that the surgery can be performed. The boy is a resident of Mahendranagar village of South Gopal Nagar in the district.
A team of doctors of the ENT department of the hospital on Thursday successfully conducted the cochlear implant on the patient at completely free of cost. It was not possible for the family members of the 3-year-old boy to conduct the surgery from a private hospital as it would cost them anything between 7-12 lakh. It was never possible for a lower middle class family like Bhuniya's to arrange such a huge amount.
Some of their neighbours told Dibyendu Bhuniya, father of the boy to take him to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where Cochlear implant is done.
A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants bypass the damaged hair cells of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain.
According to hospital sources, this is the 27th case where a cochlear implant was done successfully on a patient.
Children below six years are entitled to undergo the surgery at completely free of cost in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and some other state-run hospitals. The scheme is run jointly by the Centre and state government. The Centre provides the device, while the state government bears all other expenses including the medicines and OT charges.
The team of doctors that carried out the surgery comprised Dr IN Kundu, Dr S Ghosh, Dr Kuntal Maity and Dr MK Singh. The head of the ENT department, Prof Dr SK Basu said before conducting the surgery some mental tests were performed on the boy after he was brought to the hospital on Wednesday. The doctors acted promptly and performed the surgery on Thursday. According to Basu, the surgery was successful and the boy will be able to speak and hear in three weeks after going through training.
The patient will, however, be released from the hospital within 7 days.
The cochlear implant technology can help people who have moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears, receive little or no benefit from hearing aids and score 50% or less on sentence recognition tests done by hearing professionals in the ear to be implanted.
