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City-based oncologist Dr Vishal Rao has developed an affordable artificial voice box for just Rs 50 to help patients, who have lost their voices, talk again.
Speaking at an event organised to launch the device here on Friday, Dr Vishal Rao, who is a head and neck surgeon at HCG, said that similar such devices cost anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000.
“The aim is to make the device available across the State. The device has been conceptualized and made in Bengaluru and we want it to reach all the regional health centres and make it available for the needy. Due to its low cost, I would like to call it the $1 speaking device,” said Rao.
He has also informed Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khadar about the device and his plans to make it available for the needy.
The device is made out of platinum cured silicone and it can be inserted into a patient during a surgical procedure. It has to be removed every six months and the voice quality is equal, if not better, than, many similar and costly variants from abroad, he added.
The inspiration behind the device came about two years ago when a man from a village in Chikkabalapur came to Rao to get his voice back.
“This person went into depression after loosing his voice. The existing devices at that time were not affordable. This is when i started thinking about doing something for people like him,” he said.
Ramkrishna, a security guard from Peenya, who lost his voice after he had to get his larynx removed five years ago due to throat cancer, was the first person to use the device soon after it was developed. Speaking at the launch, he said: “Om Manjunatha- these were the first words I uttered after device was inserted into me. I am extremely grateful,” he added.