The Government of India (GoI) has launched which low-cost screening device to detect congenital hearing loss in newborns?
Q. The Government of India (GoI) has launched which low-cost screening device to detect congenital hearing loss in newborns?
Answer: Sohum
Notes: The Ministry of Science and Technology (S&T) has launched a low-cost indigenous newborn hearing screening device “Sohum” in New Delhi to detect a congenital hearing loss in newborns. The device has been developed by School of International Biodesign (SIB) startup M/s Sohum Innovation Labs India Pvt. Ltd. The portable Sohum hearing screening device 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. It must be noted that 800,000 hearing impaired babies are born annually across the world, of which nearly 100,000 are in India.

 

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