Cancer is the deadliest disease which often compels humans to surrender thereto. Scientists around the world have been working day and night for decades on the evil disease; nevertheless they have failed to discover any guaranteed cure. But Indian doctor Vishal Rao has apparently brought about a revolution in throat cancer treatment as he has invented artificial voice shell which will help patients to get their lost voice back.
Dr Rao is from Bangalore and has been working for several years in this area and finally came up with rather a magical device which will change the scenario of throat cancer treatment not only in India but in the whole world. You will be surprised to know that his device is available at just Rs.50 (or $1). The reason behind cheapness is just that the doctor wants cancer treatment affordable to every human being on earth.
“Speaking is a right. When the voice box of patients is removed during surgery, they crave to speak. As if the trauma of the disease is not enough, the shock of having lost their voice takes a toll on them, emotionally.” said Dr Vishal Rao to TOI.
He further points out that a different sort of prosthesis is available in the market but not affordable even by rich people (which has to be changed once in six months). My objective was to design something that is affordable and can give them their voice back.
His work has been named as Aum Voice, “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,”
His friend Shashank Mahesh, who is an Industrialist in Bangalore, helped him financially in this project. Although it costs Rs 50 in Indian rupees, they term it as the $1voice box to make it resemble international standards.
While Vishal work on the technical parts, Shashank looked after the other areas, “We imported platinumcured 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.
A 55 year old watchman, Ramakrishna, from Peenya district was suffering from throat cancer, was the first patient to get of the prosthesis.”He was a beedi addict. He Had been smoking for years to keep awake at night. He suffers from throat cancer and we had to remove his voice box. He was given a western voice prosthesis,” said Dr Rao
“Though it had a shelf life of six months, he used it for two years as he couldn’t afford a new one. He came to me with tears in his eyes saying that food was leaking through the prosthesis. Our device innovation was just about ready and we offered it to him for Rs 50. He regained his speech and returned with a million dollar smile, telling me that he was doing fine. That was the biggest gift for me,” he added
He has indeed done an unmatchable job which will be appreciated by souls of the poor. The global media is appreciating this doctor but our own media is silent. Indian media is busy covering politicians and their speeches.
Information Source: TOI and Dr Vishal Rao’s Website
