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Efforts to provide low-cost eye care for cataract patients have gathered momentum but lack of trained specialists and questions around their efficacy remain.
To deal with this situation, a simulator that is used to train pilots has now been introduced to treat cataract patients. HelpMeSee, a non-profit organisation, along with The International Society of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgeons (ISMSICS), has launched an Eye Surgical Simulator. It uses virtual reality to recreate conditions during surgery and allows for an immersive training, similar to what a flight pilot undergoes.
“The cost of getting treated for cataract surgery can be brought down further,” said James Tyler Ueltschi, Co-Founder and Chairman, HelpMeSee, who earlier was the Vice-President of FlightSafety International and was on the Board of ORBIS. Now, he is putting the experience into healthcare.
Currently, the cost for a cataract surgery ranges between ₹5,000 and ₹15,000 and for healthcare establishments it can cost upwards of $150,000 to buy one such equipment to perform laser surgeries, say industry watchers.
Taking this effort forward, Ueltschi is integrating the simulator along with the courseware to take it to millions of patients. For starters, 1,000 students will be onboarded and according to Ueltschi, these could be students studying healthcare, community health workers or eye surgeons.
Similar to HelpMeSee’s efforts, a new, low-cost, user-friendly device for diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma, called ‘Viewi’ has been developed by design firm Cambridge Consultants, which is at a concept stage. The device which looks like a VR headset, aims to bring down cost of treatment to ₹2,000. The Viewi technology could provide a valuable early warning system for people at risk of developing glaucoma, in addition to making tests accessible to more patients in developing countries, where expensive clinical equipment and trained professionals are often in short supply.”
Ueltschi said with all these new measures, a cataract surgery can be done for $50.
Simulation-based training enables trainees to achieve a high level of skill and expertise prior to conducting live surgeries, just as simulator training eliminates risks for training pilots and improves the high safety record of commercial aviation.
Objections raised However, cataract surgeons are not convinced with these efforts to address the shortage of cataract specialists. “This surgery is extremely delicate, complex and it should not be like assembling hardware,” said a surgeon from a Bengaluru-based hospital. There is a reason why people have to spend an additional two years to specialise in eye surgery, she added. Ueltschi argues that paramedics already provide the first level of care when it comes to emergencies in the West. “We do not ask who is flying the plane when we get into a flight. Laser surgery should get there,” he said.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 140 million visually impaired people in the South-East Asian region. Further, the region has an estimated 12 million blind people, 8 million of them in India.
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