CRI听力:Hearing Aid Remote Correction

Deaf children in the remote Samoan Islands are able to benefit from inner ear transplants of tiny hearing aids - high tech devices that need regular, expert monitoring.

But, like many isolated Pacific nations, Samoa has limited medical facilities and funding to support those with special educational needs.

Now, a small but growing number of deaf children in Samoa have been given the opportunity to receive cochlear implants and ongoing support from specialists in Australia, a procedure which meant regular and expensive trips back and forth - until now.

Thanks to the recent growth of fast broadband internet in Samoa, and a newly-devised system for remotely mapping cochlear implants, Samoa's implant recipients no longer have to make multiple trips to Australia.

Audiologists in Sydney can now test the operation of deaf children's implants via a video conference link, and adjust the device using high speed internet, a remotely controlled laptop, and a USB cable.

Steve Pascoe is responsible for the system at the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre (SCIC) in the Australian capital, nearly 3,000 miles away from the islands:

"We can control a laptop out in the field with another laptop back here in Sydney. So we can basically take control of the laptop, plug the implant in and start programming the device."

The technology is reliant on a stable high speed broadband connection, a development which has helped remove a huge geographical barrier facing health care in Samoa.

Audiologist Colleen Psarros of SCIC says the process of managing remote maintenance is relatively simple:

"As soon as there is anything wrong with any of the components of the cochlear implant system, they email me, we Skype, they show me the bits and pieces that aren't working. So, using the remote technology we've been able to keep these children 'on the air' with their cochlear implants. At no time have these children been unable to hear, thanks mainly to the extreme diligence of the local people in Samoa."

There are around 5,000 Australians with cochlear implants, so Samoa still has a long way to go. Now that the costs of travel have been taken out of the equation, many more could benefit.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.