Words: Dirk Koekemoer. Article from the Popular Mechanics October 2015 issue.
Hearing loss is more common than you might think. An innovative, locally developed device is taking hearing tests to the masses in a bid to tip the balance
We joke about selective deafness in husbands and total lack of hearing in teenagers. Actually, hearing loss is widespread: more than three million South Africans are hearing impaired. Many others experience hearing loss due to ear infections or the side-effects of medication.
Here’s the thing: a lot of this is preventable if detected early.
Common hearing tests are a good way of identifying problems early, but until recently they weren’t easily accessible. Testing protocols required facilities such as soundproof booths.
The solution, Dirk Koekemoer decided, lay in doing what everyone with a personal audio player seemed to be doing: using headphones.
So Dr Koekemoer developed a portable, lightweight and relatively affordable diagnostic audiometer. His invention, KUDUwave, enables patients to undergo accurate and comprehensive hearing tests, at a much reduced cost, even if they live in rural areas. He called his invention KUDUwave: the first part of the name referring to our majestic local antelope – with suitably majestic ears – and the second referring to, naturally, sound waves.
The device conforms to SABS requirements, is ISO 13485 certified, carries the European CE quality mark and is registered for distribution into the USA. Its uses include occupational health testing, wellness screening, diagnostic audiology and monitoring of ototoxicity. Unique features include the active monitoring of environmental noise during audiological testing and visual representation of patient responses. The headset has superior attenuation (sound blocking) qualities that surpass that of most soundproof booths, especially in the low frequency range where ambient noise typically presents a problem during testing.
This is a really big deal for South Africa, even taking the scary hearing loss statistics into account. That’s because we are one of the top three countries (together with India and Ukraine) affected by an increase in multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Our treatment success rate is only 48 per cent, according to a 2014 World Health Global TB report.
Current treatment involves the use of seriously toxic medications with low efficacy. That’s bad enough; but among the side effects of these treatments is, yes, loss of hearing in some patients. About 30 per cent of MDR-TB patients face possible loss of hearing due to the side effects of aminoglycoside, which is included as part of the standardised treatment. Early detection of hearing loss is particularly important to TB patients with ototoxicity, as their medication can be changed to prevent further hearing loss, Dr Koekemoer says.
The KUDUwave is the fourth version of Dr Koekemoer’s initial idea. What got him started was a restless, inquisitive nature – and lots of ideas. But, he says: “I had to make a decision.”
It wasn’t hard. “The most common chronic condition is hearing loss.”
Hearing testing also provided ” a nice silo” in the sense that just one device is needed. “For testing the heart, you need say 10 devices.” Also, hearing testing is a very under-served area.
Dirk Koekemoer: improving access to hearing testing and improving lives one headset at a time – at a much lower cost than ever before
The medical fraternity hasn’t exactly welcomed Dr Koekemoer’s testing-booth-in- a-box with open arms. Reaction could be summed up in one word: hostile. Yet many who have been exposed to it have embraced it wholeheartedly. Since an endorsement by medical health authorities, it’s doing rather nicely, thank you. To date, about 500 have been sold in SA. It certainly helps that there is no competitor.
Says Dr Koekemoer, “The KUDUwave is easy to operate and is designed to overcome environmental challenges while testing patients on site. You don’t need a sound booth and you can test more patients within the same period, at a lower cost, than with traditional methods.”
“With the KUDUwave, we improve access to audiology services, help lessen the cost of health care and improve the quality of care to people in need,” says Dr Koekemoer.
To get an idea of the scale of the problem, consider this: the National TB guideline requires all MDR-TB patients to have baseline and monthly hearing tests , but as there are currently over 10 000 MDR TB patients receiving treatment and only 461 audiologists in government service, it is impossible for all patients to be monitored for hearing loss. To combat this, the National Department of Health is rolling out the KUDUwave. The programme is being made possible in part, by a donation from Janssen Pharmaceutica.
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