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Centre for Hearing, Communication & Swallow Sciences
Centre for Hearing, Communication & Swallow Sciences
MIOT Centre for Hearing, communication & swallow sciences is “the first and the only centre in Chennai” to offer comprehensive acute and long-term care to people across age groups, from new born to geriatrics with issues pertaining to hearing, speaking, swallowing and cognitive abilities which are important for the development of an individual. This centre works as a core multidisciplinary team also consisting of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists making MIOT the only hospital in Chennai to provide inter-professional collaborative care to patients. Speech Language Pathologists are highly specialized experts involved in identification, evaluation and treatment of people with all types of speech, language, social-communication, cognitive communication and swallow disorders. Audiologists are experts involved in diagnosis & management of hearing and balance disorders of various origin.
State of the art facilities in MIOT:
Centre for Hearing, communication & swallow Sciences provides hearing health care of the highest calibre to people affected by hearing loss and listening challenges. The specialists are uniquely skilled in addressing the hearing and communication needs of all ages with an upgraded Audiology lab, high end Audiological equipment’s for assessment & habilitation.
State of the Art Audiology Services @ MIOT
- Dedicated Audiology Suite
- Pure Tone Audiometer
- Middle Ear Analyser
- Oto Acoustic Emission
- Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry
- Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials
- 3 T MRI
- Hearing aid Prescription & Programming
- Hearing Conservation/Hearing Protection
- Hearing Implants (Bone Implants, Cochlear Implants)
- Auditory Verbal Therapy
Who will benefit:
With the state-of-the-art technology available, the centre has so far been able to evaluate:
- Hearing loss at birth in babies as young as 1 day old (Universal New born hearing screening program)
- School going children who experience difficulty in focusing in academics due to hearing loss or an auditory processing disorder
- Pre & post operative hearing evaluation for brain tumours
- Baseline Hearing evaluation prior to delivery of Chemo therapy
- Monitoring of hearing loss during chemotherapy
- Annual hearing evaluations for people at risk for developing hearing loss due to noise exposure at work place
- Hearing evaluation post trauma
- Post-viral illness, Diabetes, Kidney diseases, ear infections
- Age related hearing loss
Diagnosis of Hearing Loss & Rehabilitation:
The specialists perform a battery of tests that gives specific information about the nature, site and degree of hearing impairment, which in turn helps in choosing the appropriate modality of treatment across age groups. Tests can range from a basic audiometry to more sophisticated ones to evaluate the hearing nerve’s responses directly.
Hearing Restoration:
The centre provides treatment for hearing loss by evaluating hearing devices with sophisticated software & prescribe hearing aids and also implantable hearing solutions. We offer Bone implants, Cochlear Implantation & Auditory verbal rehabilitation for children with hearing loss at birth and for adults who have acquired hearing loss due to tumours on the hearing nerve, post viral hearing loss, occupational noise exposure, chemo induced ototoxicity to name a few.
Hearing Protection:
The centre is largely involved in prevention of hearing loss by performing regular hearing screening for detecting occupational hearing hazard for individuals working in industries, manufacturing units, pilots, cabin crews. The specialists are involved in delivering hearing health care programs, prescribe hearing protection devices which are custom made for individuals at risk of developing hearing loss.
Advanced Speech, Language, Swallow & Cognition Services @ MIOT:
Centre for Hearing, Communication & Swallow Sciences provides high end care for individuals with multiple issues related to speech, communication & cognitive abilities. Our experts work closely with the Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Oncologists, Gastroenterologists, Otorhinolaryngologists, Cardio Thoracic surgeons, Critical Care Physicians, Internal Medicine Physicians, Paediatricians, Nuclear Medicine Physicians, Spine & Orthopaedic Surgeons. The centre provides services as in-patient, out-patient and on tele mode as clinically indicated.
Deglutology:
MIOT is the only centre in Tamil Nadu to provide comprehensive swallow care with world class facilities for evaluating swallowing disorders. Disorders of swallowing can be extremely debilitating as it can interfere with nutrition, health of an individual and lead to life threatening complications such as recurrent chest infections.
We offer, the gold-standard video-fluoroscopic swallow evaluation (VFSE), a special type of imaging that uses x-rays to create image of your Upper digestive tract. The SLP will assess over 18 parameters while you’re given a specialized meal for the purpose of evaluating your swallow. This specialized procedure gives many additional information about structural problems, muscle disorders, neurological conditions, gastro-oesophageal reflux and many more.
Fibre-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is a first-choice method for studying swallowing disorders. It permits a static and dynamic evaluation of the structures to see if you are having any problems with the part of the process when food and liquid passes through your throat. FEES uses a flexible tube called an endoscope. This is performed by a trained and certified Speech Language Pathologist.
Oro Pharyngeal Scintigraphy is one of the objective assessments of swallowing and helps quantify the impairment in a safe & reliable manner. This procedure uses a gamma camera and radioisotope to measure the severity of swallowing difficulty and longitudinal changes in swallowing in response to intervention.
Our centre works with the following population with swallowing disorders:
- Head & neck tumour/ cancer
- Brain Stroke
- Cardiac surgery
- Head trauma
- Cervical Spine injury/fixation
- Neuro degenerative disorders – Motor Neuron diseases, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Ataxia
- Gastro Intestinal Disorders
- Critical Illness Neuropathy
The Specialists are involved in recommending the mode of nutrition that is most suitable for the person & rehabilitate to acquire the swallowing ability.
Speech & Language:
Communication being an integral part of all living beings, this centre has been working towards facilitating communication in adults.
People who have lost the ability to speak and communicate due to:
- Brain stroke
- Head trauma
- Presence of Tracheostomy
- Throat cancer, Oral cancer
- Brain tumour – Post Surgery/Radiation
- Neurological disorders
- Other medical conditions
Vocology:
Voice disorders are nowadays common especially amongst professional voice users. We have specialized software that help analyse the acoustics of voice. Our specialists trained in vocology provide recommendations to improve the aesthetics of voice for singers and other professional voice users.
Cognition:
This highly specialized centre is involved in evaluation and rehabilitation of cognitive disorders. We perform diagnostic cognitive evaluation along with brain functional imaging (FDG PET) for people with complaints of memory loss. Our team provides cognitive rehabilitation to people with Alzheimer’s disease, Fronto-temporal dementia, Post traumatic cognitive disorders, Cognitive disorders of vascular origin, etc.
Brain Stimulation & Mapping:
Our Speech Language Pathologists are involved in pre-operative & intra-operative language evaluation in patients undergoing Awake Craniotomy for brain tumour excision which helps the neurosurgeons to avoid any disabling language or communication deficits post-surgery. The specialists are involved in pre-operative & intra-operative speech assessment in patients with Parkinsons Disease undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation.
Neuromodulation:
MIOT is the first and the only centre in the whole country to offer Neuro modulation for hearing loss, Parkinson’s disease, Spinal cord diseases/Injury, Bladder & Bowel Incontinence and for pain management.
Group Treatment Programs:
We offer group treatment programs for persons with Cognitive disorders such as Dementia and Language disorders such as Aphasia, Traumatic brain injury, etc.
Support Groups:
Parkinson’s support group, Aphasia support group, Dementia support group
Paediatrics:
The Speech Language Pathologists provide evaluation and treatment of a variety of disorders in the paediatric population such as
- Children having issues acquiring speech, developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder
- Children with stuttering, misarticulation, voice disorders
- Children with feeding & swallowing disorders
- Children with reading & writing disorders
After a thorough developmental assessment, the SLPs diagnose & provide therapy that will help facilitate verbal communication in children.
Rehabilitation Program at MIOT:
MIOT Rehabilitation board is the first of its kind in the country which promotes Multi-disciplinary team with a single goal of putting patients first & making rehabilitation affordable & accessible to people. The rehabilitation board comprises of all the rehabilitation professionals, medical & surgical specialists who form a team & discuss every patient who could benefit from rehabilitation. The Rehabilitation board makes decisions on the best possible care that can be provided in the most affordable way reducing the burden on the patient’s family.
The rehabilitation professionals after thorough assessment come up with a rehabilitation plan which is discussed weekly & progress are documented. Family members are involved at every point in this program & are updated time to time on the decisions of the board on the best interest of the patient.
Scientific Approach to Rehabilitation in MIOT:
The principles of rehabilitation have been widely documented and neuroplasticity is at the core of all of them. Neuroplasticity is best defined as the ability of the brain and nervous system to change, structurally and functionally. These changes can be brought about from any form of input (Auditory, Visual, Special Sensory, Kinesthetic, Motor, Cognitive, Verbal).
Rehabilitative sciences are those meant to change and improve the speech, mental capabilities and swallowing physiology in force, speed or timing, with the goal being to produce a long-term effect.