Boon box: Bengaluru doctor invents voice box for less than a dollar

Bengaluru: Throat cancer patients who have lost their voice can look forward to speaking again without having to spend whopping sums for an artificial voice box.

City-based oncologist, Dr Vishal Rao, Head and Neck Surgeon, HCG, has innovated a voice box prosthesis, an artificial device made of silicone, that can help laryngectomised patients to speak again.

Unveiling of the voice box in the city on Friday, Dr Rao said, “If air passes through the food pipe in the lungs, it will vibrate and create noise which can be converted into intelligent speech with the coordination from brain. As food or water should not fall into the lungs, it is a one-way valve device,” he said.

“It weighs about 25 grams and is 2.5 cm long and is called as ‘AUM’ device as that is the sound which first resonated across the universe, thus regaining one’s voice is much like a rebirth. The imported prosthesis currently  available in the market costs about $500 dollars (Rs 30,000) and needs to be changed once every six months, which is not viable for many patients. My objective was to design something that is affordable and we came up with this device less than a dollar and gave them their voice back."
 

 

 

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