Ophthalmology is the medical specialty dedicated to the study of the eye's structure and function, and to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting them.

In a normal eye, the cornea and the lens focus the light rays entering the eye to a single point close to the retina. The retina, or the light sensitive tissue in the back of the eye, converts light impulses into nerve impulses. The nerve impulses move along the optic nerve to the brain, which interprets the impulses allowing the person to "SEE". Three primary refractive errors might occur. These are Myopia (near sightedness), Hyperopia (far sightedness) and Astigma. 

Lasik is an acronym for Laser in-situ Keratomileusis, which simply means "to shape the cornea within using a laser." It corrects vision by reshaping the cornea (outer window of the eye) so that rays focus more precisely on the retina, thereby reducing or eliminating refractive errors.

It is done by using an instrument known as a microkeratome which cuts a thin flap of corneal tissue, then the laser is fired to remove predetermined amount o tissue& the corneal flap is placed back in its position without any stitch. This is done by use of topical anaesthesia. As it is done under topical anaesthesia, patient mobilisation is early & there is no post-operative pain, less corneal scarring & haze.

Management of eye ailments, both anterior and posterior segments are provided at the centre.

Refractive surgery is gaining popularity in India both among the public as well as among ophthalmologists. Till a few years ago only a few centers performed high volume radial keratotomy. Today, the highest international quality of eye care for cornea, cataract, squint and glaucoma is available in various centers all over India. When it comes to reliability, India has the best ophthalmic surgeons with clinico-academic expertise honed to perfection in the best possible institutions. Visual aid Center in Delhi, Manipal Hospital in Bangalore are some of the more popular eye care hospitals.

The No Stitch Cataract Surgery with the most modern way of removing cataract through the use of Phacoemulsification procedure can be performed in India for as little as US$ 480 for both the eyes, whereas the same surgery costs $ 45,000 in the USA.

Hyperopics and LASIK are available and even supra hard cataracts are treated using just 1 mm incision instead of the 3 mm incision size. Photorefractive keratectomy or PRK treats the surface of the cornea with the Excimer laser while LASIK treats the inner tissue of the cornea. For this reason, with LASIK there is less area to heal, less risk of scarring, less risk of corneal haze, less post-operative pain and vision often returns very rapidly.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetes is an important cause of blindness the world over and is of extreme importance in the Indian context. Either due to genetic, environmental or other factor, Indians are more prone to develop diabetes. Not only are we more prone to have diabetes, but we tend to get it at an earlier age. This has lead the WHO to predict a tremendous increase in the occurrence of diabetes in the coming years.

It has been estimated that in 1995 almost 135 million people in the world had diabetes. This figure is likely to increase to 300 million by the year 2025. This is an astonishing 122 % increase in the incidence of diabetes. The increase has been predicted to be the most in India: a startling 195% increase, from 19 million in 1995 to 54 million diabetics in 2025. This has prompted some to call this a diabetes epidemic.

Diabetes affects almost all parts of the body. Diabetes can cause heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, pregnancy complications, amputations of the leg, foot, and toe, as well as deaths related to flu and pneumonia.

ROB - PIB

Retina is a thin sensitive layer at the back of eye. It is like the film at the back of the camera. The image of an object that a person sees is formed on the retina from where it is transmitted to the brain. Premature babies are born with a growing retina. Normally, the development of the retina is complete at full term of pregnancy – however as the baby is premature, the retina is yet to fully develop. In majority of premature babies, the development of the retina usually proceeds without any problems. However in a small group of babies, the blood vessels in the retina develop abnormally. This abnormal development is called retinopathy of prematurity or ROP.

Some special equipments that are available for diagnosis and treatment are :
 

+ Topcon Examination units.
+ Topcon Examination units.
+ Automated computerized visual field analyzer (perimetry).
+ Kowa fundus camera for fluorescien angiography.
+ Anterior segment camera for documentation.
+ Lasers
+ YAG laser to post cataract & glaucoma patients.
+ Alcon universal phacoemulsification unit.
+ System 10000 - Vitrectomy unit.
+ Lasers - LIO and Endolaser delivery systems.
+ Carl-Zeiss Operating microscope 
+ Coherent Argon Laser Topcon Fundus Camera 
+ A-scan Biometer 
+ 3 mm Auto Refractometer 
+ Canon Wall mount Welsch Allyn Opthalmoscope 
+ Retinoscope Carl 
+ Zena KPM Perimeter Keratometer 
+ Shin Nippon Indirect Opthalmoscope 
+ Hiene Contact lens service 

Some routine  treatments done at our centre are;