Muscat: Acting in cooperation with Al Nahda Hospital's Cochlear Implant Programme and Anesthesia Department, a specialized medical team from the hospital's Otorhinolaryngology (ENT surgery) Department successfully conducted a unique, complex cochlear implant surgery on the world's youngest infant--a 9-week-old boy suffering from cerebral meningitis. The operation lasted about two hours.

According to Oman News Agency, Dr. Yousef Ali Al Saidi, ENT consultant surgeon at Al Nahda Hospital and head of the medical team, stated that the cochlear implant procedure aims to improve hearing ability in individuals suffering from profound hearing loss by directly stimulating the auditory nerve.

Dr. Al Saidi highlighted that such a surgery poses a medical challenge, notably when conducted on very young children, due to the sensitivity and complexity of the inner ear at this age. He further explained that before this, the youngest child to undergo this procedure was a 10-week-old baby in the United States.