Facilitating next gen eye care

The Srujana Centre for Innovation was inaugurated by IT Minister KT Rama Rao. The centre from LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is located at the Gullapalli Prathiba Rao building and will facilitate ready interaction between clinicians, researchers and innovators.

Conceptualised from collaboration between LVPEI and the Emerging Worlds Special Interest Group (SIG) at the MIT Media Lab in the US, the centre will address challenges in ophthalmology and vision science. The centre is a platform for engineers, medical professionals, designers, technology aficionados, innovators and big dreamers to build the next generation of eye care technologies with potential to help billions of people in India and worldwide.

Speaking after the inauguration, Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder-Chair of LVPEI said, “The institute has been the home of many innovations in the areas of eye care delivery, biology of the eye, surgical techniques, eye banking and children's eye health. All the innovation at LVPEI is now brought under the umbrella of Srujana.

“The latest in this journey is the ‘Technology’ division of Srujana. This is involved in bridging the gap between the clinical skills and technology in diagnosing and treating eye conditions. We make cutting-edge technology simpler, more accessible and affordable. This means novel technology solutions that are unique to a developing nation’s ecosystem,” he said.

Core to the centre is the LVP-MITra platform, which embodies the collaboration between LVPEI and the MIT Media Lab. This collaboration, which began in 2013, brings together the world's best clinicians and engineers to create award-winning, cost-effective solutions, which could impact five billion people worldwide.

“Our innovation hub has provided infrastructural support to students who sincerely want to pursue their ideas, especially in ophthalmology and related fields. Following a rigorous screening, we invite students to come and work on their individual pursuits with full infrastructural support in terms of equipment, consumables, technical guidance and domain knowledge,” said Dr Virender Sangwan, Director - Srujana Centre for Innovation, and Paul Dubord Chair in Cornea.

For several months, LVP-MITra innovators worked on solutions at the Centre. “After the in-house evaluation, if a product is considered suitable, support for creating a business model and intellectual property shall be provided to the inventors.

We have developed a hub where people can come and work with a free and open mind,” said Ramesh Raskar, Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Lab. BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder and Executive Chairman, Cyient and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-Hyderabad was present.