It was a glorious moment for the institution which can take justifiable pride in underlining the critical need to develop ophthalmic anaesthesiology as a distinct and specialized branch of anaesthesiology, the institution which played a key role in the formation of the Ophthalmic Forum of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (OFISA) and its tireless champion Dr VV.Jaichandran, Senior Anaesthesiologist and Organizing Secretary of OFISA. After a series of laurels and accolades for his path breaking findings, at the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists Conference (ISACON-2012), World Congress of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia (WCOA-2012), Ophthalmic Forum of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists Conference (OFISACON -2013), British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society meet in 2015 (BOAS-2015). Dr VV.Jaichandran was invited as an expert guest speaker at University of Berne and conduct a hands on workshop for needle blocks at the satellite symposium with workshop/wet lab to reality at the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland and at a workshop titled Tecniche di anestesia in oftalmogia and workshop anestesia peribulbare at the Ospidale San Guiseppe, Milan, Italy during mid February 2017. Reporting the event in Reseau Ophthalmo Anesthesiologique Helvetique, Switzerland’s premium magazine on ophthalmology, Dr Friedrich Lersch who was a participant in these events commented that Dr VVJaichandran’s lecture and hands on training were a great learning experience for the anaesthesiologists of Berne and his talk titled ‘Ophthalmic Anaesthesia practice in India’s largest Eye Care Hospital’ and ‘Anatomy for regional blocks’ would not be forgotten for years to come, by the audience.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Madras) has recently accredited the expert in ophthalmic anaesthesia as a co-inventor of the “Real-time view mannequin’ for practising regional ophthalmic blocks, a device which promises to enhance the process significantly. Readers would recall that his in-depth workshop on ‘Simulation in regional blocks using ‘eye -practising orbital device (POD) along with Mr Biswarup Mukherjee of IIT-M at the WCOA-2012 at Ankara won critical acclaim and triggered great interest in the real-time usage and availability of the device and its likely cost, with the distinguished audience. The invention is a result of the collaborative and concerted research efforts between Dr VV.Jaichandran and the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M). Patent for the product has been applied for at the national level and it is expected to be available commercially once the same is received.
We take great pride in sharing with the Sankara Nethralaya family that Dr VV.Jaichandran has in a rare gesture of goodwill and reciprocity to the institution, pledged to donate his share of the ‘Royalty’ or recurring sale proceeds of the device to the ‘Medical Research Foundation’. The Management and members of the Sankara Nethralaya family express their hearty Congrats to Dr VV.Jaichandran for his trailblazing contributions to the field of ophthalmic anaesthesia and his role in developing this critical device which would go a long way in enhancing its practice. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to him for committing the rewards of his hard work to his institution, in the true spirit of ‘Disseminating of Knowledge for the common good’ one of its founding principles.