Mangaluru: In a step forward in advanced hearing restoration, the department of ENT, head and neck, cochlear implant and skull-base surgery at Yenepoya Medical College Hospital has successfully performed simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant surgery using SmartNav intraoperative technology. The procedure was carried out on a three-year-old child diagnosed with bilateral congenital severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss.The child, who had minimal benefit from conventional amplification devices, underwent a comprehensive pre-implantation work-up — covering audiological, radiological and speech-language assessments — after which the child was deemed suitable for bilateral implantation.
The surgery, done under general anaesthesia, used SmartNav (Smart Navigation) technology, which provides real-time intraoperative assessment of electrode placement and neural response telemetry to enhance surgical precision and long-term auditory outcomes.The surgical team comprised Dr Sunil Narayan Dutt, chief cochlear implant surgeon and senior consultant; Dr Sumit Kumar Gaur, senior consultant, Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru; and Dr Deekshith Rajmohan, cochlear implant surgeon. Dr Mumtaz Ahmed administered anaesthesia. Audiological and speech rehabilitation support was provided by Nimalka Sequeira, audiologist and speech language pathologist, Yenepoya Medical College Hospital.The simultaneous bilateral implantation was completed in a single sitting without intraoperative or immediate postoperative complications, enabling early binaural auditory stimulation and improved speech-perception outcomes.Post-operatively, the child is recovering well and will undergo implant activation, followed by structured mapping sessions and enrolment in an intensive auditory verbal therapy (AVT) rehabilitation programme.Chancellor Dr Yenepoya Abdulla Kunhi, pro-chancellor Farhaad Yenepoya, pro-chancellor Dr M Vijayakumar, vice-chancellor Dr KS Gangadhara Somayaji, and medical superintendent Dr Habib Rahaman congratulated the team.
