Doctors designs Rs 50 device to give patients their lost voice

December, 2015

Throat cancer patients who have lost their voice can look forward to speaking again, without having to shell out thousands on an artificial voice box.

A city-based oncologist has invented a voice prosthesis priced at just Rs 50. The device weighs just about 25 grams and is seen as a boon for the poor. The prosthesis available in the market costs Rs 20,000 (to be changed once in six months) and is not viable for many poor patients. My objective was to design something that is affordable and can give them their voice back," said Dr Vishal Rao, oncologist and head and neck surgeon, HCG Cancer Care.

The device has been aptly named Aum voice prosthesis. "We decided to term it Aum, as that is the sound which first resonated across the universe. Regaining one's voice is so much like a rebirth," said Rao. He took the help of his friend Shashank Mahesh, an industrialist, to deal with the financial aspect of the project. Though it costs Rs 50, they called it the $1voice box to make it match international standards.

While Dr Rao provided the technical inputs, Shashank brought in the indus trial perspective and looked into the project's feasibility. "We imported platinum cured silicone (two-component high tear strength and flexible mould or casting compounds) from Germany to design the prosthesis. We had to make sure it didn't react with body tissues," said Dr Rao.

So far, the $1voice prosthesis has benefited three patients in HCG. It recently bagged the state innovation award at a recent conference of oncologists. In the next three months, the duo will keep track of its functioning and upgrade it if necessary. The ethical committee and the scientific committee at HCG has given its nod for further research on the device.

At any given point of time, there are over 1.5 lakh cases of tobacco-induced cancer in the state, and one-third of them are of head and neck cancer, which poses the risk of voice box removal.