Treatments for loss of hearing ability, either congenital or accidental have come a long way. The latest addition to these hearing aids is gene-therapy based cochlear implants, wherein gene-therapy is delivered via electrodes. This helps regenerate auditory nerve and restores hearing ability.
Around 360 million people worldwide use cochlear implants. To understand how regular cochlear implants are different from gene-therapy based cochlear implants, let us first understand the working mechanism of regular implants. As explained in an article on technologyreview.com, “the devices are implanted in patients who are profoundly deaf, having lost most or all of the ear’s hair cells, which detect sound waves through mechanical vibrations, and convert those vibrations into electrical signals that are picked up by neurons in the auditory nerve and passed along to the brain. Cochlear implants use up to 22 platinum electrodes to stimulate the auditory nerve; the devices make a tremendous difference for people, but they restore only a fraction of normal hearing.”
On the other hand, gene-therapy based cochlear implants help regenerate (not just stimulate) auditory nerves. Along with picking up speech, speech reproduction dynamics and spectral range improve significantly and hearing can be restored to almost normal levels. This is backed by a research published in the journal titled Science Translational Magazine. When neurotrophin-gene injected cochlear implants were placed into the cochleae of deaf guinea pigs; it resulted in nerve regeneration and stronger responses to signals from the implant.
The cost of regular implants cost somewhere between INR 6, 00,000 in India, whereas gene-therapy based cochlear implants cost significantly higher than these. The range goes even higher in Western countries. That’s why many patients from developed countries are now choosing to get these implants in India. On the other hand, in developing nations where ontologists and neutrologists still have to work on gene-based cochlear implants; India turns out to be a favourable destination to get the latest auditory treatment at an affordable cost.
Around 360 million people worldwide use cochlear implants. To understand how regular cochlear implants are different from gene-therapy based cochlear implants, let us first understand the working mechanism of regular implants. As explained in an article on technologyreview.com, “the devices are implanted in patients who are profoundly deaf, having lost most or all of the ear’s hair cells, which detect sound waves through mechanical vibrations, and convert those vibrations into electrical signals that are picked up by neurons in the auditory nerve and passed along to the brain. Cochlear implants use up to 22 platinum electrodes to stimulate the auditory nerve; the devices make a tremendous difference for people, but they restore only a fraction of normal hearing.”
On the other hand, gene-therapy based cochlear implants help regenerate (not just stimulate) auditory nerves. Along with picking up speech, speech reproduction dynamics and spectral range improve significantly and hearing can be restored to almost normal levels. This is backed by a research published in the journal titled Science Translational Magazine. When neurotrophin-gene injected cochlear implants were placed into the cochleae of deaf guinea pigs; it resulted in nerve regeneration and stronger responses to signals from the implant.
The cost of regular implants cost somewhere between INR 6, 00,000 in India, whereas gene-therapy based cochlear implants cost significantly higher than these. The range goes even higher in Western countries. That’s why many patients from developed countries are now choosing to get these implants in India. On the other hand, in developing nations where ontologists and neutrologists still have to work on gene-based cochlear implants; India turns out to be a favourable destination to get the latest auditory treatment at an affordable cost.
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