Physician invents affordable voice prosthesis inspired by patient

Vishal was moved by his patient’s condition and decided to help by contacting pharmaceutical companies and trying to get discounts and donations in order to help this patient. A traditional voice prosthesis costs around 450 dollars.

However, a friend of the doctor, Shashank Mahes, suggested that he invented his own prosthesis, so that he wouldn’t have to depend on others.

Together they started creating Aum Voice Prosthesis. A voice prosthesis works by helping patients speak when the entire voice box, or larynx, has been removed. In such cases, the windpipe and food pipe are separated from each other. The prosthesis is then placed in this opening. This invention achieves its goal with the help of the air provided from the lungs.

The food pipe is made to vibrate with the back end of the prosthesis located at the food pipe (instead of the vocal cord vibrating). The solution converts that vibration into intelligent speech. The device not only helps patients to speak, as it also allows them to eat normally.

The device has a production cost of about 1 USD.

A patent was filed for this gadget and it received approval for initial testing with 30 patients. Until 2016, it was used on three patients.

“The intent is to reach out to the poor and help the regional cancer centers where the majority of these patients are treated. We were able to develop this affordable device, due to the sincere commitment of scientists, engineers, and material experts, who assisted us to reach this goal and by not charging for the time or talent”, the inventor explained.

More info: http://www.drvishalrao.com

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2H3SLoZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCUxrZAmczc