Sankara Nethralaya News
Sankara Nethralaya Orange Vision Centre Arrives at Valasaravakkam
The Sankara Nethralaya Orange Vision Centre in Valasaravakkam, was inaugurated on Vijayadashami, 05 October 2022. The Orange Vision Centre was launched with the support of Rotary Club of Chennai IT City, and the Rotary Foundation for the benefit of the residents of Valasaravakkam and surrounding neighbourhoods. The Gopalasamy Family Charitable Trust, which is based out of the USA, has munificently contributed towards the Orange Vision Centre. The Orange Vision project covering South and North India was conceived by the Rotary Club of IT City to bring affordable eye examination to every nook and corner of India.
Present at the simple inauguration were Chief Guest, Ms. Rajalakshmi Gopalaswamy, Gopalasamy Family Charitable Trust, who inaugurated the premises. Dr. S. V. Chandra Kumar, Project Director, TN Blindness Control Society, RTN Radha Srinivasan, Rtn Dr. Senthilnathan – President of IT City, Mr. Aravind Parthasarathy, Mr. G. P. Sarathy, Rtn PDG Muthu Palaniyyappan, and other distinguished members of Rotary Club took part in the inaugural function.
Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Sankara Nethralaya, Dr. N. Anuradha, Principal, Elite School of Optometry, Dr Sripriya Krishnamoorthy, Senior Consultant, Mr. Suresh Kumar, General Manager, Administration & Operations, from Sankara Nethralaya were present to offer their felicitations and support at this event.
The Sankara Nethralaya Orange Vision Centre offers Comprehensive Eye Examinations at New #10, Old #69 Thiruvallur Street, Valasaravakkam, Chennai – 600087 between 9 am to 5pm. (Sunday Holiday). Call 044- 3501 0071 | 35010072 to book your appointments.
Refresher course on Infection Control
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducted a one day refresher course on Infection Control in association with Schulke, India on 09th September 2022 with 15 nurses from Hindu Mission Hospital Chennai participating in the program. The course was conducted at The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, Dr.V.G.Appukutty campus. There were 4 sessions on aspects of Hospital Infection Control. The sessions started at 10 am with a talk on “Overview of Hospital Acquired Infections” by Ms. Lydia Annie. J – Nursing Superintendent, followed by another session on “Standard Precautions” by Ms. Vijaya Lakshmi Saravanan – Deputy Manager – Nursing. Ms. Yamuna Jaishankar – Nursing Educator, conducted a lively talk on “Safe Infusion & Injection Practices” and Ms. Allu Mounika, lecturer, TSNA conducted a interactive session on “Recent Advances in Nursing”. The session concluded with certificate distribution to the participating candidates. The one day program was well received with all the nurses giving appreciative feedback for their enhanced knowledge and information.
The Third Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan is a name that is etched in the field of contact lens practice in India. Fondly remembered as Dr. Raji, with two decades of experience in the field of contact lens (CL) and international acclaim, she had been a trendsetter in various innovations in CL practice and specialty CL practice in India. In her fond memory, Sankara Nethralaya initiated “Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Contact Lens Oration” on her birthday, September 9 since 2020.
On September 9, 2022, the third Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session took place virtually and featured keynote addresses and research presentations in the area of contact lenses. This time, we had eminent national and international speakers addressing on Scleral Lens Practice in India by Optom Prasad Sawant, Sawant optometry clinic, Case-based approach in Scleral Lens Fitting by Dr. Maria Walker, University of Houston, Contact lens solutions and materials: concepts to minimize Contact Lens Discomfort (CLD) by Dr. Lakshman Subbaraman, Associate Director, Alcon and Eye Print PRO -Impression technology in Scleral lens by Prof Christine Sindt, University of Iowa. The response and the feedback that was received for each talk were remarkable.
There were oral scientific presentations, e-posters, and scientific reviews presented by many delegates from across the country. Apart from the contests on photo/video, a quiz on contact lens for the optometry students was initiated for the first time. Judges from India and abroad including Dr. Anitha Arvind, Dr. Rashima A, Dr. Pradipto Bhattacharya, Dr. Jaya Sownjanya Reddy, Optometrist Irene Sophia, and Optometrist Jothibalaji evaluated the entries. The event was attended by the President of the Medical Research Foundation Dr. Girish S. Rao, Dr. N. Anuradha, Principal of Elite School of Optometry and Dr. A Rashima, Head of Occupational Optometry services, Optom S Madhumathi, In charge of the Contact Lens at Sankara Nethralaya and the entire department of the contact lens.
Cash prizes were announced to the award winners in each category and the details of the winners are listed below
| Award winners | |
| Quiz Team | Manipal college of health Professionals |
| MS Nirmal Ghalley | |
| Mr Kareem S | |
| Ms Rinzin Wangmo | |
| Photography | Mr.Vigneshwar A G M.Optom,Elite School of Optometry,SASTRA university |
| Scientific Article Review | Mr.Krishna Shah (M.Optom, The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, MGR university) |
| E-Poster | Ms. Karpagavalli S (Senior Optometrist-Dept.of Contact Lens, Sankara Nethralaya) |
| Oral Presentation | Ms.Vanessa Barnes (Contact Lens Fellow, The Sankara Nethralaya Academy) |
A brief on the Department of Contact Lens
During the Years 2020-2022
- Seen nearly 15,000 cases, including Specialty contact lens cases,
- Trained about 5 Fellowship students and 8 Postgraduates from the department of Contact lenses.
- About 10 peer-reviewed journal publications
- 3 optometrists Received FIACLE status (Fellowship in the International Association for Contact Lens Educators)
- Received Prestigious IACLE Travel Award – 2022
Sankara Nethralaya Organizes Rally on National Eye Donation Day
On September 8th, 2022, National Eye Donation Day, Sankara Nethralaya (SN), and the SN C. U. Shah Eye Bank organized a rally at its Dr. V. G. Appukutty campus at St. Thomas Mount. Each year, India observes National Eye Donation Fortnight from August 25th to September 8th, 2022. During the two weeks, eye donation awareness activities are organized throughout the city to educate the public.
This year, Sankara Nethralaya’s C. U. Shah Eye Bank in collaboration with the Elite School of Optometry marched for eye donation awareness. Joining the 12 km rally were Mr. Nanda Kumar, Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Chief Guest, Dr. Anuradha N., Principal, Elite School of Optometry (ESO), Dr. Rama Rajagopal , Director, and Dr. N. Radhika, Deputy Director, Department of Corneal Services, Dr Veena Baskaran, Incharge – Community Ophthalmology, the students of ESO and The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA), and staff of Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai.
The Chief Guest, Mr. Nanda Kumar, Addl. Commissioner of Income Tax, Indian Revenue Service (IRS) was felicitated by Dr. Rama Rajagopal. Special guest, Mr. Raman, Dasaya Trust (NGO) was also present to encourage the participants in their laudable endeavour. Mr. Nandakumar appreciated the efforts of Sankara Nethralaya and Elite School of Optometry in organizing the event. He extolled the spirit of community service and said that the visually challenged only needed opportunities to prove themselves. Dr. Rama Rajagopal advised the audience to remember the noble cause of eye donation throughout the year. She reminded everyone that eye donation was not a disfigurement and that only the cornea would be donated.
During the fortnight, consultants from Sankara Nethralaya’s Department of Cornea Services, Dr. R. R. Sudhir, and Dr N Radhika gave interviews on major Tamil News Channels to raise awareness about eye donation.
Anyone can pledge their eyes regardless of age. While the term “eye donation” is commonly used, there is no whole eye transplantation. Usually, only corneal tissue is donated. One person’s cornea donation can restore sight to 4 people. Corneal or eye donation is one of the ‘universal’ donations where donors are not restricted by blood type, age, eye colour, and eyesight.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy Hosts 2nd Datacon 2022
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy hosted a two-day conference on Healthcare Data Analytics on 27th and 28th of August 2022 in hybrid mode. The conference was held in partnership with the International Association for Healthcare Data Analytics. The theme of the conference was Healthcare Data science for improving quality, safety and research. The Consortium of Accredited Health care Organisation (CAHO), Schulke, and Maithree – a NGO for special children were co-sponsors of the event.
The pre-conference symposium was conducted at The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, Dr. V. G. Appukutty campus, Guindy on 27th August 2022. There were two tracks- one for students and beginners and another for Healthcare professionals. The pre-conference workshops were attended by more than 75 participants in virtual and in person mode.
The Chief Guest, Dr. Thennarasu Maruthamuthu, M.Sc, PGDBS, Ph.D., lit the lamp and inaugurated the proceedings in the presence of Dr. Anuja R. Singh, Principal and HOD, G. Senthilkumar, Asst. Professor – Management Studies, TSNA, Dr. V. V. Jaichandran, Department of Anesthesiology, and the organizing committee of the symposium.
For students and beginners, there were basic to advanced topics – including Statistical Overview, Data Preparation via SPSS Software, Data Management and Transformation, Sample Size Calculation, Reliability and Validity Test, Correlation and Regression Analysis, General Linear Model and Log Linear Model etc.
For the healthcare professionals, topics such as Introduction to Survey on Patient Safety Tools, AHRQ Survey Tools, Data Collection Methodology, Data Accreditation and Standards, Internal and External Benchmarking Standards, Score Card, Dashboard and Story Board by Using Tableau and Power BI Business Intelligence Software were explored.
On Day 2 of the conference, there were three sessions on aspects of quality, safety and research. The sessions started at 8.30 am with the theme of Role of Data Analytics in Healthcare Quality Management. Eminent healthcare quality experts like Mr Arun Govind, Ms Dalia Kozhaya, Mr Thom Dammrich and Dr Thennarasu spoke on topics such as Using Data in Business and Healthcare, Strengthening Data Collection and Use for Healthcare Quality Improvement, Continuous Quality Improvement and Reduce Variability in Healthcare Quality Competencies.
The conference was inaugurated by Dr Girish S Rao, President. The Chief guest Dr Ravanan R., Director of Collegiate Education and Retd. Principal, Presidency College, the Guest of Honour, Dr. Jothi Kumar R, Dean of Faculty, Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology and Special Guest Dr P. Venkatesan, Senior Deputy Director (Retd.) conveyed their good wishes for the conference and stressed on the need for a data driven culture.
The 2nd session was themed on Improving Patient Safety through Visual Analytics and Data Science. Mr. Johnievic Valdez, Ms. Marwa Noureldein, Dr. Manjusha Dhule and Dr. V V Jaichandran gave insightful talks on the role of artificial intelligence on patient safety, risk management in healthcare, how to visualize, analyze and predict patient waiting time using graphical tools and developing a data driven culture. The talks were insightful and well received by the participants.
The third and concluding session focussed on use of statistics and software in medical and health research. Leading ophthalmologists, Dr Rajeev Raman and Dr R R Sudhir spoke on the use of big data analytics in healthcare research and transformation of data into information and knowledge, while Dr. Mani Bhaskaran lent his know-how as a moderator on one of the sessions. Dr. Venkatesan P., retired senior scientist from ICMR spoke on survival analysis in public health research. Dr. Sendaresan Raman gave an interesting talk on transforming healthcare with artificial intelligence and machine learning. The event ended with a question-and-answer session in which the audience pontificated enthusiastically.
Mr. G. Senthilkumar, Assistant Professor (TSNA) and Organizing Secretary, gave the vote of thanks and summarizing the valuable information shared during the two-day summit. Around 110 participants attended the conference while more than 75 people joined virtually.
Sankara Nethralaya (KBSN), Rajarhat, Kolkata launches Vision Enhancement Clinic
On 27th August 2022, the Sankara Nethralaya Vision Enhancement Clinic (VEC) was inaugurated at Sankara Nethralaya (KBSN), Newtown, Kolkata. The VEC utilizes the functional ability of an impaired individual to improve their quality of life. It was launched in the distinguished presence of Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Dr. Manoj Datta, Ms. Sudha Mohan, Senior Manager – HR, Ms.Payel Das Ghatak, HOD- General Optometry, Mr. Venkataramanan Ramasethu, Manager – General Optometry, Ms. Bony Das- Administrative- incharge, Mr. Anik Sarkar and Ms. Pousali Pattanayak, Optometrists.
The VEC is committed to advocate and provide services to the needy, so as to improve their visual skills and abilities using their residual vision. Once the patient has been identified and referred, a team of rehabilitation professionals will provide therapy to these patients with visual impairments to improve their functioning level in their day to day activities.
SN Doorstep Eye care for Elders and Differently Abled (SN DEED)
India’s 75th Independence Day, 15th August 2022, marks the auspicious occasion of the inauguration of the Sankara Nethralaya Doorstep Eye care for Elderly and Differently-abled (SN DEED) inaugurated by Dr. Ravi, Retd DGP, in the presence of Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice Chairman and Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology Sankara Nethralaya under the guidance of Dr. R. Krishnakumar, Freelance Optometrist and Visiting Faculty, Sankara Nethralaya by the Optometry Department of SN.
Eye disease and visual impairment are frequently encountered in the elderly population. Visual impairment may be associated with social and functional decline, use of community support services, depression, falls, nursing home placement and increased mortality. With the elderly population increasing in India, it is important to enhance our eye care services to the elderly. Experiences have shown that senior citizens find it difficult to visit eye care centers to access eye care services because of their dependency on others. Therefore, Sankara Nethralaya’s DEED initiative to offer eye care services at the homes of the elderly will reach those who are in need of this service. Through this initiative, those who need further care at the hospital premises can be helped through Fast Track channel.
Sankara Nethralaya’s DEED eye examination includes:
Detailed History taking ocular and systemic illness including FALLS
Vision check
Lensometry (Glass power check)
Refraction (Eye power check)
Extra ocular Movement
Pupillary Examination
Intra Ocular pressure (Eye pressure check using Tonopen)
Anterior Segment evaluation (Hand held slit lamp Biomicroscope)
Posterior segment (retina) evaluation (using Non Mydriatic Fundus camera)
Counselling
Management
Glass prescription
Optical dispensing
Teleconsultation
Referral
Voice of patient
Patient Name Saroja Raman (83 years old)
“Felt we were in the hospital with all the procedures done in detail. Wish this project reaches to public and serves all elders”
If a patient requires further intervention from Ophthalmologists- the SN DEED coordinator will facilitate a tele consultation with an ophthalmologist or appointment will be scheduled at hospital.
For appointment with SN DEED (Eye care at home for your beloved elders and /or Differently abled family members kindly contact the Coordinator Contact
Phone No: 9380240750 (9 am to 5.00pm)
Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi Endowment Award established for Best Cornea Fellow
On 30th July 2022, the very first Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi Endowment Award for Best Cornea Fellow in memory of Late Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi was instituted by the CJ Shah Department of Cornea Services on her 33rd birth anniversary. The budding ophthalmologist had just completed her fellowship in the CJ Shah Department of Cornea Services when tragedy struck.
The family of Dr. Amrutha magnanimously came forward to name an award in their daughter’s name within the Cornea department. The small ceremony – held at A. Sivasilam block, JKCN – was compered by Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy, Senior Consultant. Dr. Amrutha’s parents – Mr. & Mrs. Anandan, Dr. Suryaprakash (Vishnu Eye Clinic), Dr. Murali, and her husband, Mr. Teja were present on the occasion.
Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice Chairman & Director, Dept. of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Dr. Prema Padmanabhan, Distinguished Senior Consultant, Dr. Rama Rajagopal, Director, Dr. Radhika N., Deputy Director, Dept. of Cornea Services, and all consultants were present to pay homage to their beloved colleague. Dr. Girish S. Rao presented Mr. and Mrs. Anandan with a bouquet, and Dr Pramod Bhende presented Dr. Amrutha’s husband with a memento.
Dr. Rama Rajagopal introduced the award and recollected Dr. Amrutha’s legacy. The 6 fellows competing for the award were all excellent and the decision to choose the winner was a tough one, said Dr. Rama.
Dr. Prema Padmanabhan came on stage and thanked the parents for helping to set up the award and praised the performance of all 6 fellows. Dr. Radhika N., recollected that Dr. Amrutha was soft-spoken and super confident though she was petite and said she was one of best fellows in the department. Dr. Geetha Iyer, Dr. Niveditha Narayanan, and Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy too spoke fondly of the late fellow and shared their memories of the young ophthalmologist.
Her family shared memories of their beloved daughter and niece. Dr. R. Surya Prakash, her uncle, shared memories of his niece, remembering her dedication and hard working spirit. Mr. Teja also thanked everyone for sharing their thoughts of his wife.
Dr. T. S. Surendran and Dr. Girish S. Rao expressed their thanks to the family of the late Dr. Amrutha.
The awards were then distributed.
Dr.Sunita Pandey received the “Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi Endowment Award” for the Best Outgoing Fellow from Mr. and Mrs. Anandan, and Dr. Prema Padmanabhan. Dr. Swetha Ravichandran won “The Outstanding Fellow” award presented by Dr. Rama Rajagopal and Dr. Radhika N.
The other candidates received their fellowship completion awards in this ceremony:
Dr. Nimisha Nagpal received her award from Dr. Bhaskar Srinivasan and Dr. Mamta Agarwal.
Dr. Nikhil Navneet received the award from Dr. Geetha Iyer and Dr. Niveditha Narayanan.
Dr. Varsha Bhambhani received the award from Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy and Dr. Shweta S Agarwal.
Dr. Karan Nathani who was on duty at Kolkata, was also to receive this award.
The vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Shweta Agarwal.
Dr. V. V. Jaichandran, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Receives BEST INNOVATION’22 Award
Dr. V. V. Jaichandran, Deputy Director, Dept. of Anesthesiology, won the Best Innovation’22 prize for his innovation, “Real-time view Mannequin for Practicing Needle blocks,” developed along with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT-M, Chennai at the 14th International Congress of Anesthesiologists – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – Association for Anesthesiologists (SAARC AA 2022). The Congress was held in Mumbai from 12th – 14th, August 2022.
Seeing through the ‘Eyes of the blind’
It’s practically impossible to imagine how a blind person struggles in day to day life. We can have a glimpse of it if we close our eyes for 10 seconds and feel the experience. Way back in 2000, our beloved Chief Dr. S.S. Badrinath conceived this idea of curing preventable blindness in a way no one could have ever thought of. There is a considerable poor population in our country who don’t have any accessibility to health care facilities especially eye care. Their poor eyesight makes them completely dependent on others for their survival, and they have to compromise on their self-esteem day in and day out. He thought of an idea in reaching out to these people at their doorstep and giving them an independent life.
It took almost 12 years for implementing this herculean task in collaboration with IIT Madras and that’s how the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) was born. There have been lots of ups and downs in its journey, and one of the biggest challenge was acceptance by the society. As any new idea takes a lot of time and effort to harmonize itself with the society, so did MESU.
It was February 2015. when I became a part of this project and would like to share my experience here. Many people used to ask me why can’t we screen the patients and bring them to the base hospital for surgeries like other hospitals do. So actually what is the main purpose of MESU? Let me tell you that for any patient who goes to the base hospital post screening, there is a minimum stay of 3 days and the hassle of commuting. Patients who are daily wage workers suffer financial loss also. Also, there should be someone to accompany them. This discourages a lot of patients and they postpone the surgery to a later date specially handicap patients, elderly, daily wage workers and women, which complicates their condition even more. Here in MESU, post screening they come next day morning for surgery and within 2 hours they are back home. Most importantly, all the patients are operated by senior consultants and not trainees, so the chances of complications are almost nil. Not only that, we examine the patients post operatively at the camp site itself the very next day and a week later also and free glasses are dispensed to them after a month. All the services are provided right at their doorstep totally free of cost. So patients find this setup very convenient and encourage others to come for surgery at MESU. Till date, we have operated 20,119 eyes including both in Chennai and Jharkhand units and out of these almost 20 percent of patients were handicap and nearly 70 percent elderly. Patients wait for us to come to the same venue for the second eye surgery and avoid going elsewhere. We do face challenges at various fronts, but it gives immense solace and satisfaction, when we see someone living an independent life.
I feel service is not only through your wallets, but you have to give a part of yourself also. I would like to conclude with the famous words of American President John F. Kennedy “ASK NOT WHAT GOD CAN DO FOR YOU. ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR GOD”.
DR GAJENDRA KUMAR VERMA