Innovation in eye care can enhance the quality and reduce the cost of care: Dr Virender S Sangwan

Dr Virender S Sangwan, Director, Centre for Ocular Regeneration (CORE), L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, talks to ETHealthworld about the current scenario and challenges in the field of eye care. Edited Excerpts.

Where is eye care innovation placed in the Indian healthcare map?

In eye care innovation I think India is placed pretty high primarily because of big institutions like LVPEI, Arvind, Sankara Nethralaya and many institution in North India. We have been able to get not only products related to the eye but also service delivery and the way developing new technologies and surgeries.

There are so many technologies in IT, engineering and variety of fields which are coming up and they can be developed for delivering the eye care or making the eye care simple for diagnostics and treatment. This can enhance the quality of care and reduce the cost of care to the society.





Tell us about the significant achievements of LVPEI in the field of eye care innovation.

The Innovation center at LVPEI started in early 2013. The achievement are significant in just three years we have been able to develop thirteen to fourteen products at different stages of developments. We have filed three patents and few more patents are in process. We believe that they will fulfil the niche and the need for clinical requirements.


What are the challenges that you face?

The challenges are many mainly because being in an eye hospital the work of engineers and innovators is very different from what people work in a eye hospital. Trying to find a space and trying to merge with the engineering and design students has been a challenge.


Tell us about your future plans and how you plan to expand your reach?

We are having the plan to scale up our services very soon. This is a design centre where the doctors and eye care health workers can come think about their idea, translate it into a sort of a prototype and then we will be having an engineering prototyping centre very soon and then a fully fledged development centre for the eye technologies which will be in Hyderabad under LVPEI. We think that will be able to cater to the whole of Southeast Asia.