A team of doctors and scientists from St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences has devised a low cost device called St John’s Rattle for performing the hearing screening of neonates.  This affordable device does not require electricity and helps the early detection of hearing impairments in infants.

   This test can also be administered by anganwadi workers for detecting such impairments.

Based on an article published in The Indian Journal of Pediatrics incidents of hearing impairment in newborns is 5 -10 per 1000 livebirths.  But due to infrastructure limitations universal neonatal hearing screening, a test to find out the hearing impairment in new borns, is yet to become a standard of care in India.

For the last 5 years at St John’s hospital screening for hearing impairment test is done with Otoacoustic emission technology, an equipment imported from UK at a cost of Rs 7,00,000.

Due to its highly exorbitant cost this device could not be recommended for large scale use in rural communities.
Besides an audiologist’s expertise was required for its use.