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April 8, 2003

Thanks to PGI, 22-yr-old can hear after 18 years

From: Chandigarh Newsline, India - Apr 8, 2003

Express News Service
Chandigarh, April 8: AFTER 18 years, 22-year-old Gurpreet Singh can now hear, thanks to the first cochlear implant performed in the ENT department of PGI today. Singh, a businessman from Panipat, had lost hearing power when jaundice struck him at the age of four.

The surgery was conducted by a team of surgeons comprising, Dr Mohan Kameswaran from Chennai and Dr Naresh Panda, head of the department of ENT at PGI.

Dr Panda said, the cochlear implant is an electronic device, a part of which is implanted in the cochlea of a deaf person by surgery. The implant stimulates the hearing nerve as a result of which the person experiences sounds with the help of a speech processor worn by the patient. But, the patient will require an extensive speech and verbal therapy after surgery, he added.

The surgery can be conducted only on patients who are congenitally deaf.

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