Monthly Archives: December 2014

Doctors put chip in brain to make deaf children hear

Science & Technologies

Chennai :

Parents of two-year-old Guhan and five-year-old Beninal had only one dream – to hear them talk in their lifetime. The children, hailing from two poor families, were born deaf, and hence couldn’t speak too. While Guhan’s father was a farmer in Thanjavur district, Beninal’s was a house painter in Aranthangi in Pudukottai. Both, struggling to make ends meet, couldn’t afford the huge treatment costs.

The state government’s health insurance scheme came to their rescue. A team of city doctors performed complex surgeries, which involved implanting the hearing device , on the children, who are now on the path to recovery. The surgeries that cost 18.25 lakh for each child were performed free of cost, making these the most expensive surgeries the government has ever paid for.

Guhan and Beninal were both deaf since birth. While 99% of children with deafness can be treated with a cochlear implant, these two fell in the 1% bracket as they were born without a cochlea. “So we had to perform a surgery and implant the hearing device directly in the brain, which makes this procedure complex ,” said Dr Mohan Kameshwaran of Madras ENT Research Foundation, who performed the surgery.

Explaining the procedure, Dr M C Vasudevan, a neurosurgeon from Voluntary Health Services, said, “It involves opening the skull and planting the chip in the brainstem. It is a critical procedure as the brainstem has the nerves responsible for all the vital activities of the body.” The chip bypasses the absent cochlea and directly stimulates the hearing nerves that are present in the brain. Once the wound heals, an external device is fitted three months after the surgery. The children would also be made to undergo rehabilitation to gain speech, the doctor said.

The procedure which took more than five hours was performed jointly by ENT and neurosurgery teams. “TN has the highest deafness rate with 6 in 1,000 children born with hearing loss. The main reason for this is consanguineous marriage.” said Dr Kameshwaran.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / December 03rd, 2014

After 15 Miscarriages, 40-year-old Neyveli Woman Gets Bundle of Joy

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies
S Abhirami along with her newborn baby girl | express
S Abhirami along with her newborn baby girl | express

Chennai :

After suffering 15 prior miscarriages, a 40-year-old mother delivered a healthy female baby at a private hospital in the city recently.

S Abhirami (40) and G Sridhar (44), hailing from Neyveli, were married in 1995. Abhirami became pregnant that very year. However, a miscarriage occurred when she met with an accident. The couple did not realize, at the time, that the accident was not the cause of the miscarriage but what doctors would call “cervical incompetence.”

During the years 1996, 1997 and 99 Abhirami conceived, with all pregnancies miscarrying.  Abhirami approached a private hospital in Cuddalore to help her deliver a healthy baby.  The Cuddalore doctors put a surgical suture at the mouth of the uterus in an attempt to avoid a miscarriage and make the uterus capable of holding the baby. Several attempts to deliver of a healthy child with the surgical suture failed and the mother lost four more foetuses to miscarriage.

“Then she approached a private hospital in Coimbatore, who followed the same procedure for four more pregnancies unsuccessfully. Without losing hope and with determination, Abhirami approached the Aakash Fertility centre for help in 2011.”

After a few more miscarriages while being treated by the Aakash Fertility clinic (now adding up to 15) Dr K S Jeyarani, director of Aakash Fertility Centre, said on Saturday, “16th time I did not want to make any mistakes and we wanted to save the baby of the mother. After much diagnostic assessment, I sutured just above the mouth of the uterus using laparoscopy procedures, during the pre-conception period. After Abhirami conceived on February 2014, she was kept under observation, delivering a healthy, girl child, by caesarean section, weighing 2.5 kg, on November 27. It all happened because of the sheer determination and the confidence of Abhirami.”

Abhirami, visibly elated with her baby in her arms said that she did not want to use the services of a surrogate mother or even adopt a baby as she had no problem conceiving naturally. “All my babies, I conceived naturally, and again I was worried about the words of the society. People talk about a woman negatively and do not treat them nicely, if a woman cannot deliver of a baby. I had to face all these throughout my ordeal of delivering a term baby. I took up the challenge and succeeded in it,” added the mother.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / November 30th, 2014

A Trip down history lane for school students

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Coimbatore :

R Rajeshwari, a Class 9 student from Selvapuram had never been on any trip, not even to VOC Park in the city. But all that changed on Wednesday, when she was taken to six places of historical importance in the city.

She was not alone. Sixty other children from various schools run by the city corporation also went on the trip. But what made the trip more memorable was the fact that Archana Patnaik, district collector, A K Vishwananath, commissioner of city police and K Vijayakarthikeyan, corporation commissioner accompanied them on the bus.

“We are not taken on trips like other private schools. I was surprised that Coimbatore had so many heritage buildings,” said Pandi Selvi, a Class 9 student. The trip was organised as part of the Coimbatore Day celebrations by the city corporation.

Students visited the Athar Jama Masjid that was built in 1904, Durglal Pickles which is an 80 year old shop, the clock tower built in 1928 on the big bazaar street, the residence of Rao bahadur and A T Venkataswamy Mudaliar which is now the Tamil Nadu Merchantile Bank on Big Bazaar Street, Delite Theatre on Variety Hall road and Coimbatore cloth merchants association training school on Raja street.

The bureaucrats seemed to have as much fun as the children as they interacted with them, cracked jokes and got to know more about the city. Many were surprised to know that south India’s first movie theatre was the variety hall theatre in the city. “It is now called the Delite theatre,” said C R Elangovan, city based historian and a writer, who was their tour guide.

For Madhan of Class 11, it was an experience of his life time, travelling with the top officials of the city and learning about its heritage and culture. “These officials are my inspiration. I have got their autographs and will definitely frame them,” said Madhan.

A photo exhibition aimed at recalling the city’s vivid 200 year history was also inaugurated at the corporation office. Industrialists, members of non-governmental organisations, government officials and the children visited the exhibition. The exhibition showcased pictures of Swamikannu Vincent who brought electricity to the city. He also built the Delite theatre.

Pictures of Rao Bahadur ATT Mudaliar, member of the first family of Coimbatore and municipaality chairman, M G Arogayaswamy Pillai, Coimbatore chairman from 1830 till 1891 and Moses Gnanabaranam Pillai, who built the first eye hospital in the city, were also displayed at the exhibition.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore /  TNN / November 27th, 2014