ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Susan Emmett - Ear surgeon
TED Fellow Susan Emmett studies global hearing health disparities in 15 countries and Indigenous groups around the world, in an effort to fight preventable hearing loss.

Why you should listen

Susan Emmett is an ear surgeon and public health expert who develops evidence-based solutions to address preventable hearing loss.  She studies novel pathways for prevention and applies digital innovations such as mobile screening and telemedicine to extend access to care to even the most remote communities. Collaboration across disciplines and countries is central to Emmett's research, fueling a global effort to address a neglected public health concern. 

Emmett serves as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Global Health at Duke University in Durham, NC, USA. She has been an invited speaker at more than 20 international and national conferences and has authored numerous articles on hearing health in leading medical journals. She consults for the World Health Organization and leads the advocacy efforts of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health. Emmett spends much of her time in remote communities in northwest Alaska, where she co-leads a randomized trial to address childhood hearing loss funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. While at home in North Carolina, she provides medical and surgical care to patients with hearing loss and trains the next generation of medical students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows in global hearing health research. She was named a TED Fellow in 2017.

More profile about the speaker
Susan Emmett | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2017

Susan Emmett: This simple test can help kids hear better

Filmed:
1,245,476 views

Children who live in rural areas can have a hard time getting to the doctor -- much less to an audiologist's clinic for expensive, complex tests to check their hearing. The result for too many kids is hearing loss caused by ear infections and other curable or preventable problems. That's why ear surgeon and TED Fellow Susan Emmett is working with 15 communities in rural Alaska to create a simple, low-cost test that only requires a cell phone. Learn more about her work and how it could change the lives of children who don't have access to hearing care.
- Ear surgeon
TED Fellow Susan Emmett studies global hearing health disparities in 15 countries and Indigenous groups around the world, in an effort to fight preventable hearing loss. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Listen to the sounds
of why hearing matters
0
1246
3001
00:16
to the Alaskan Native people.
1
4271
1670
00:18
Hearing loss makes it hard
to fish on the open water,
2
6718
3855
00:22
hunt caribou and harvest berries,
3
10597
3008
00:25
activities central
to Alaskan Native culture.
4
13629
3256
00:30
Hearing loss isn't unique to rural Alaska.
5
18279
3279
00:33
It's global.
6
21582
1218
00:35
The Global Burden of Disease Project
estimates there are 1.1 billion people
7
23290
6179
00:41
living with hearing loss worldwide.
8
29493
2265
00:44
That's more people than the entire
population here in sub-Saharan Africa.
9
32329
5147
00:50
Over 80 percent are in low-
and middle-income countries,
10
38198
3838
00:54
and many have no access to hearing care.
11
42060
3397
00:58
The impact on people's lives
is tremendous.
12
46670
3874
01:03
Anuk is a three-year-old boy
I treated in Alaska.
13
51050
3984
01:07
Ear infections started
when he was barely four months old.
14
55596
3705
01:11
His parents brought him into clinic,
15
59872
2117
01:14
worried he didn't say much
compared to his brothers.
16
62013
3212
01:17
Sure enough, many rounds of infections
had resulted in hearing loss.
17
65828
5261
01:23
Without treatment, Anuk's speech
will continue to lag behind.
18
71772
5439
01:29
He's more likely to do worse in school,
19
77235
2780
01:32
have worse job prospects
20
80039
2005
01:34
and experience social isolation.
21
82068
2545
01:37
But it doesn't have to be this way.
22
85247
2316
01:40
The World Health Organization estimates
that half of all global hearing loss
23
88016
5457
01:45
can be prevented.
24
93497
1525
01:47
If Anuk's hearing loss
is identified and treated promptly,
25
95752
4402
01:52
his life and the opportunities
he has as he grows up
26
100178
4849
01:57
could look vastly different.
27
105051
1899
01:59
I'm an ear surgeon working
with partners around the world
28
107998
3424
02:03
on new pathways
for hearing loss prevention.
29
111446
2776
02:06
This solution comes from my collaboration
with a tribal health organization
30
114976
4590
02:11
called the Norton Sound
Health Corporation.
31
119590
2940
02:14
Hearing loss evaluation traditionally
requires testing by an audiologist
32
122554
4347
02:18
in a soundproof room,
33
126925
1569
02:20
with a lot of permanent equipment.
34
128518
2269
02:23
An ear surgeon then examines
Anuk's ears under a microscope
35
131250
3636
02:26
and decides a treatment plan.
36
134910
1689
02:29
These resources simply aren't
available in remote settings.
37
137083
3351
02:33
In a state where 75 percent of communities
aren't connected to a hospital
38
141093
4655
02:37
by road,
39
145772
1157
02:38
an expensive flight is required.
40
146953
2408
02:42
To overcome these barriers,
Alaska has developed
41
150023
3351
02:45
a state-of-the-art telemedicine system
42
153398
2678
02:48
that connects over 250
village health clinics
43
156100
3238
02:51
with specialists who triage
all types of health concerns.
44
159362
3811
02:55
My colleagues have validated
that ear-related telemedicine consults
45
163620
4226
02:59
are equivalent to an in-person exam.
46
167870
2729
03:03
In 2016, travel was prevented
for 91 percent of patients
47
171331
5010
03:08
receiving specialty telemedicine
in the Norton Sound region.
48
176365
3533
03:12
Telemedicine has saved over 18 million
in travel costs in this single region
49
180365
5286
03:17
over the past 15 years.
50
185675
2062
03:20
Our team is taking the power
of telemedicine to a new level,
51
188474
3708
03:24
through a project
52
192206
1158
03:25
funded by the Patient-Centered
Outcomes Research Institute.
53
193388
3301
03:28
For the first time,
we are merging telemedicine
54
196713
2977
03:31
with mobile screening technology
55
199714
2603
03:34
that extends the reach of expert triage
beyond health care settings.
56
202341
4291
03:39
This cell-based screen,
developed in South Africa,
57
207068
3542
03:42
costs over 10 times less
than traditional equipment
58
210634
3487
03:46
and does not require advanced training.
59
214145
2540
03:49
If I were screening Anuk at school,
60
217258
2684
03:51
sound-attenuating headphones
and noise monitoring
61
219966
3009
03:54
would take the place of a sound booth,
62
222999
2256
03:57
and I would use a phone adapter
instead of a microscope
63
225279
2647
03:59
to examine his ears.
64
227950
1528
04:02
In a matter of minutes,
screening and images are done.
65
230160
3870
04:06
We then apply Alaska
telemedicine technology
66
234054
2816
04:08
to transmit the data to specialists,
67
236894
2553
04:11
who connect Anuk
to the treatment he needs.
68
239471
2751
04:14
Our team is launching a randomized trial
69
242944
2934
04:17
in 15 communities along the Bering Sea
70
245902
2516
04:20
to study how well this intervention works.
71
248442
2829
04:24
Our goal is to prevent childhood
hearing loss across the state of Alaska.
72
252008
4990
04:29
But the concept is bigger
than a single state.
73
257522
3134
04:32
The impact is global.
74
260722
2283
04:35
Mobile telemedicine
can revolutionize access to care.
75
263330
4230
04:40
In Malawi, for example, there are only
two ear surgeons and 11 audiologists
76
268354
5159
04:45
for a population of 17 million.
77
273537
2516
04:48
This technology could empower teachers
and community health workers
78
276506
4290
04:52
to provide access to care
to children in places like Malawi.
79
280820
4390
04:57
Scaling up globally
could change children's lives
80
285767
3451
05:01
who have never had access
to hearing care before,
81
289242
3246
05:04
using just the power of a cell phone.
82
292512
3029
05:08
It's time to change the course
of preventable hearing loss.
83
296418
3453
05:12
Anuk and countless children like him
are depending on us.
84
300383
4346
05:16
Thank you.
85
304753
1155
05:17
(Applause)
86
305932
3556

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Susan Emmett - Ear surgeon
TED Fellow Susan Emmett studies global hearing health disparities in 15 countries and Indigenous groups around the world, in an effort to fight preventable hearing loss.

Why you should listen

Susan Emmett is an ear surgeon and public health expert who develops evidence-based solutions to address preventable hearing loss.  She studies novel pathways for prevention and applies digital innovations such as mobile screening and telemedicine to extend access to care to even the most remote communities. Collaboration across disciplines and countries is central to Emmett's research, fueling a global effort to address a neglected public health concern. 

Emmett serves as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Global Health at Duke University in Durham, NC, USA. She has been an invited speaker at more than 20 international and national conferences and has authored numerous articles on hearing health in leading medical journals. She consults for the World Health Organization and leads the advocacy efforts of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health. Emmett spends much of her time in remote communities in northwest Alaska, where she co-leads a randomized trial to address childhood hearing loss funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. While at home in North Carolina, she provides medical and surgical care to patients with hearing loss and trains the next generation of medical students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows in global hearing health research. She was named a TED Fellow in 2017.

More profile about the speaker
Susan Emmett | Speaker | TED.com