UST HOSPITAL marked a breakthrough in vocal rehabilitation with the country’s first successful implantation of a medical-grade silicone and titanium voice system, restoring speech in a patient with vocal cord paralysis.
Led by Dr. Milabelle Lingan of UST Hospital’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, the hour-and-a-half-long operation was performed on a 60-year-old patient with unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) on April 28.
UVFP is a condition where one or both vocal folds fail to move properly, severely affecting speech and sound production. The immobility can be caused by nerve damage, infections, trauma, tumors, and autoimmune disorders.
The patient, a civil engineer, had been experiencing symptoms such as voice changes and difficulty swallowing, making him a candidate for the implant surgery.
Lingan emphasized that the success of this procedure not only restores speech but also raises awareness that voice problems, like UVFP, can be effectively treated.
“When people hear about the voice implant, they realize there’s such a surgery—that you can put something in the throat to improve a patient’s voice, and that it’s not the end of the world for those with unilateral vocal fold paralysis,” she said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
The surgery involved the insertion of a device called VOIS (Vocal Implant System), developed by APrevent, a medical device company established in 2013 that focuses on innovations to enhance voice and communication.
The implant was inserted through the neck and into the thyroid cartilage, which surrounds the vocal cords, with the goal of moving the immobile vocal fold toward the center of the larynx.
This allowed it to meet the functioning vocal fold, helping to restore vocal function and reduce the risk of aspiration during swallowing.
“If one of your vocal folds is not moving, it can be corrected with a voice implant. The purpose of the implant is to move the immobile vocal fold toward the middle so that it can meet the other moving vocal fold. This way, your voice improves—it won’t sound breathy or leak too much air,” Lingan explained.
“So the voice implant helps in two ways: it improves the voice and prevents food particles from entering the airway, thereby reducing the risk of pneumonia and other lung infections caused by food or saliva reaching the lungs,” she added.
Lingan worked with Dr. Guan-Min Ho, co-founder and chief executive officer of APrevent, from Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taiwan.
During a post-operative discussion at UST Hospital, Ho shared his optimism about the future of the technique and its potential impact.
“This technique not only improves outcomes but also saves time, reduces complication rates, and makes the procedure more efficient overall,” he said.
“In the future, I hope this technique can spread throughout the Philippines to benefit more Filipino patients,” he added.
Lingan and Ho were joined by Dr. Kevin Mallari as first assistant and Dr. Janice Mangahas for the surgical procedure.
The anesthesiologists who oversaw the surgery were Dr. Caroline Santos and Dr. Mefellyn Therese Cua.
Dr. Rodel Velasquez and Dr. Hans Gabaldon were also on hand to provide support during the operation.
The team was primarily composed of doctors from UST Hospital, with Dr. Mangahas joining from Jose B. Lingad Hospital.
This breakthrough echoes the legacy of pioneering Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeries in the country.
In 1997, Dr. Norberto Martinez, a Thomasian doctor, performed the country’s first cochlear implant surgery to restore hearing.
Dr. Lingan expressed pride that, like the cochlear implant procedure, the landmark voice restoration surgery was also performed by UST-trained specialists.
“What this first voice implantation means, not only because it’s first in the Philippines, is that we take pride in doing it for the first time in UST,” she said.
“Keeping ourselves aware of what is new, what is available, and bringing it to the Philippines is one thing that we can do para naman may matulungan pa tayo.”
