AIIMS-IIT Delhi partner to develop device to spot hearing loss early in kids

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi is working together to develop a device that can detect hearing impairment early in young children.

Parents usually bring their kids to a doctor at a later stage when treatment options are limited and the children lose hearing completely. The devices that are available at the moment to detect auditory capacity are very expensive. They cost over Rs 3 lakh and can only be used by trained medical practitioners.

AIIMS and the IIT-D researchers have developed a device that can be handled by anyone.
Currently, close to 8% of the population suffer from hearing disability.

The device works on an otoacoustic emission principle and will detect hearing in young children, which is very difficult for parents to know for newborns and toddlers. If a child does not receive hearing aids early, the listening brain is not fully developed and the listening, understanding and acting or speaking cycle is slow.

About 30% kids in rural India are deaf due to malnutrition, while noise pollution is the main cause in urban India.