The ENT wing is a full-fledged department of SCEH providing services for eye-, nose- and throat-related problems. The department is equipped to handle and manage simple to complicated cases. High-quality service and clinical excellence have been the strength of the ENT wing at SCEH. Like everything else at SCEH, ENT care is undertaken with the institution’s hallmark personalised element.

One of the most sophisticated services on offer at SCEH’s ENT wing is cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is a device that is surgically implanted in the ear of people with neural deafness. It works by stimulating the hearing nerve with electrical signals. In neural hearing loss, the hair cells of the cochlea are damaged. The cochlear implant bypasses these non-functional hair cells. The implant consists of an external processor that fits behind the ear and an internal portion that is surgically fixed under the skin.

Since 2000, cochlear implants have been FDA-approved for use in eligible children beginning at the age of 12 months. With experience and observation/validation of the procedure and the technology, this age is constantly being revised downward. All other factors being safe, children as young as 3 to 6 months have got cochlear implants in countries like Australia. The best results were found among children who received the cochlear implant at 0–3 years of age. They achieved 90% to 95% hearing and language improvement. In fact, 80%–90% of these children develop hearing and speech equal to those of children with normal hearing. (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders [NIDCD])

At SCEH, through our fundraising efforts and cross-subsidy model, we have been treating patients who may otherwise not have access to the required medical procedure.