In an alliance of technology and medicine, Bosch and Aravind Eye Care System have come together to offer comprehensive eye care solution through ‘vision centres’ which would come up across the State in a phased manner.
Announcing the launch at a press conference here on Wednesday, Harsha Ramesh Angeri, Head of Bosch Eye Care Business, and senior doctors and executives from Aravind Eye Care System said that the vision centres would act as a platform for those living in far away places and remote hamlets to utilise the high-end technology and get medical solutions.
The vision centre would be equipped with an eye camera, the MediBilder software and an automated detection platform. The camera operates on a re-chargeable battery, thus making it lightweight and portable.
“The findings from the eye camera can be shared over tele-medicine using the MediBilder software. The automated detection algorithm can detect and mark conditions like diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Thus, a patient need not physically travel all the way from his/her dwelling to the hospital as the vision centre serves the purpose,” S. Aravind, Director (Projects), Aravind Eye Care System, said.
There was a need to enhance capability at the primary care level, since, from a quality perspective, it would be important to look beyond cataract and refractive errors, Dr. Aravind said.
Bosch, which is a leading global supplier of technology and services, had made it possible and viable to reach out to more number of people, said R. D. Thulasiraj, Director (Operations), Aravind Eye Care System. This is yet another attempt to deliver eye care solution to people without any compromise on quality, he noted.
The Aravind Eye Hospital, which has been conducting medical camps since its inception in remote hamlets, would now be able to reach out to more number of people through such high-definition technology offered by Bosch, said R. Kim, Chief (Retina Services), Aravind Eye Hospital.
Initially, the vision centres would function at Alanganallur, Usilampatti, T. Kallupatti, Gandhigram, Tiruppuvanam and Kariapatti.
The Aravind Eye Care System plans to open as many as 50 centres in a phased manner.
Nakul Goswami from Bosch and others highlighted the features of the system and handed over the first eye-camera to the team of doctors from Aravind Eye Hospital on the occasion.
Responding to a query, the experts said that it would be ideal to have one vision centre for every 50,000 population, which means, the country may require around 20,000.
Centre to be equipped with an eye camera, MediBilder software and an automated detection platform
