Doctor, 30, receives UK's first prosthetic tongue following cancer treatment: 'People can understand me again'

A young scientist is able to speak clearly again after being fitted with a pioneering prosthetic tongue in what is thought to be an NHS first.

Dr Imogen Brooks was left despairing after cancer surgery left her without most of her tongue – and struggling to make herself understood.

The 30-year-old said friends and colleagues began avoiding face-to-face conversations, while strangers would look at her 'in fear' when she tried to speak.

But experts at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust spent months developing a bespoke artificial tongue – and the medical writer, from Newham, east London, can now be understood again.

Dr Brooks was 26 when she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, the most common type of head and neck cancer, which can develop in the tongue.

Surgeons removed most of her tongue and reconstructed it using tissue from elsewhere in her body. 

Initially she was able to speak relatively well, but radiotherapy later caused the reconstructed tissue to shrink, making it increasingly difficult to form words clearly.

As her speech deteriorated, Dr Brooks began using speech-assistance technology for phone calls and worked with a speech therapist.

Dr Imogen Brooks is able to speak clearly again after being fitted with a prosthetic tongue

Experts at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust spent months developing the tongue

'People would look at me in fear when I spoke to them for the first time or just smile and not respond,' she said.

The 'really frustrating' problem affected everything from medical appointments to her work and personal life.

Determined to find a solution, Dr Brooks began researching possible treatments and discovered prosthetic tongues.

She approached specialists at GSTT – and at her next appointment found a team of eight experts assembled to discuss whether they could make one for her.

'We'd never made something like this before, but our team loves a challenge,' said Michael Brown, a dental technician at GSTT.

After months of research, scans and testing, the team produced two trial versions before refining the final design with Dr Brooks.

The prosthetic has a U-shaped cobalt chrome frame that clips onto her lower teeth and holds a silicone tongue moulded specifically to fit her mouth. 

Rather than moving independently like a natural tongue, it replaces some of the shape and bulk of the tissue Dr Brooks lost, helping to bridge the gap between the lower parts and roof of her mouth. 

This gives her a surface against which she can form sounds more clearly when she speaks.

Speech and language therapist Carolyn Doughty said that, after presenting the team's work at conferences, she believes it is the first prosthetic tongue to be made on the NHS.

Dr Brooks noticed an improvement in her speech within just three days.

It is thought that the prosthetic tongue is the first of its kind to be fitted on the NHS

She said the device has made a 'massive difference' to her life – and even helped her pass an oral exam for her doctorate at King's College London.

'What I really notice is how much more willing people are to listen to me, how much less difficulty they have understanding me, and when they have difficulties, how much more willing they are to ask me to repeat myself,' she said.

Perhaps the biggest difference, however, has been in conversations with her hard-of-hearing grandmother, who previously struggled to understand her.

Dr Brooks said it was 'very upsetting' having to rely on written notes and hand gestures to communicate. Now, her grandmother can understand her far more easily.

There have been physical benefits, too.

'It is much less effort for me to speak with it,' she said. 'I can speak for longer without having to take a breath in the middle of a sentence.

'I don't have to think as much about what I'm saying, so my speech is much more fluid and it's much less tiring for me to speak. That in itself is massive.'

Dr Brooks said her cancer symptoms had been so mild that she worried she was 'overreacting' when she asked her GP to examine her tongue.

Her diagnosis came as a 'massive shock'. More than 12,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancers in the UK each year.

Dr Brooks now has no sign of the disease.

She said: 'I hope this inspires other medical professionals to collaborate with patients and work to improve quality of life in whatever form that may be.'