LifeCell joins hands with Sohum Innovation Labs to make best-in-class Newborn Hearing Screening accessible across the country

Chennai: LifeCell International, India’s leading healthcare and diagnostics solutions provider today announced its partnership with Sohum Innovation Labs to introduce an affordable Newborn Hearing Screening program across the country. Complementing LifeCell’s RightStart Newborn Screening, the most advanced and comprehensive newborn care program, the hearing screening will benefit neonates even from remote areas across the country. With over 1 million babies born with hearing impairment every year in India, the partnership aims to increase the accessibility of advanced solutions to parents at an affordable price.

Congenital hearing loss is one of the common disorders among newborns. The statistics show that in India, 4 out of every 1000 children suffer from severe to profound hearing loss. In a resource-constrained country like India, where a national newborn screening program has not been implemented, the common genetic disorders could go undiagnosed until the child is four years old, thus making it challenging to start the right treatment. LifeCell and Sohum’s affordable hearing screening will help in early diagnosis, timely treatment, and rehabilitation.

Commenting on this development, Mr. Ishaan Khanna, CEO & Executive Director, LifeCell International, said, “We are pleased to be the first in the industry to offer a complete and comprehensive screening program for newborns. With Sohum on board, we have been able to add affordable hearing screening to our suite of diagnostic services that we were aiming to offer for a long time now. We also take pride in associating with an out-and-out Indian brand like Sohum Labs, through whom we are now able to serve the needs of newborns beyond urban markets. As the leaders in prenatal and newborn diagnostics, we are excited to take our offerings and the best-in-class technology to the parents and be a part of their child’s journey.“

Sohum, a national award-winning Newborn Screening Service Provider, wishes to make its services available to a larger population in India and hopes that newborn hearing screening is made mandatory so that the prevalence of communication difficulties is significantly reduced.

Mr. Nitin Sisodia, Founder & CEO – Sohum Innovation Labs, said, “We are really proud of the fact we have come up with such a game-changing product that will redefine neonatal diagnostics. When it comes to hearing screening devices in India, we firmly believe that we have set the gold standard. Apart from being fully foolproof and convenient to use, our device also has new features such as a unique algorithm that increases sensitivity and specificity while also providing rapid, automatic results. We are excited to work with LifeCell since their pan-India reach and appeal will help parents provide their child holistic care.”

Also, when a child is identified with a hearing impairment, LifeCell provides counseling to guide on the next step forward including whether the child requires a cochlear implant which can help reduce the likelihood of the infant developing subsequent speech or language problems. Additionally, the screening utilizes AABR (Automated Auditory Brainstem Response) which is a more complete screening of the entire auditory pathway and offers the highest sensitivity and specificity. Since it can be done as early as 6 hours of age, it can help reduce follow-ups and anxiety in parents.