The device, Sohum, has been developed under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India supported (SIB)
The indigenously developed newborn hearing screening device – SOHUM was formally launched by the Minister of State for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, YS Chowdary, in New Delhi. The newborn hearing screening device developed by School of International Biodesign (SIB) startup Sohum Innovation Labs India.
The innovative medical device has been developed under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India supported (SIB). SIB is a flagship programme of the DBT aimed to develop innovative and affordable medical devices as per unmet clinical needs of India and to train the next generation of medical technology innovators in India, it is a valuable contribution to the Make in India campaign of the Government. This programme is implemented jointly at AIIMS and IIT Delhi in collaboration with international partners. Biotech Consortium India manages techno-legal activities of the programme.
Sohum is a low cost and unique device which uses brainstem auditory evoked response, the gold standard in auditory testing to check for hearing response in a newborn. As of now, this technology is prohibitively expensive and inaccessible to many. Start-up Sohum has made the technology appropriate for the resource constrained settings and aims to cater to nearly 26 million babies born every year in India.
The portable Sohum hearing screening measures auditory brain waves via three electrodes placed on the baby’s head. When stimulated, they detect electrical responses generated by the brain’s auditory system. If there is no response, the child cannot hear. The battery-operated device is non-invasive, which means babies do not need to be sedated, which is the current, and risky, testing in process at present. Another key advantages over other testing systems is the patented, in-built algorithm that filters out ambient noise from the test signal. This is important because health clinics can be incredibly crowded and noisy. The device has been installed in five clinical centres who are currently running the hearing screening programme. The aim is to screen two per cent of hospital-born babies in the first year, before scaling up. The project has ambitious plans – to help every baby born in India be screened.
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