Bangalore-based, the Rs 60 crore Allergan India Limited has received four orders for its state-of-the-art Sovereign Phacoemulsification machine. Two of the orders are from the North India, one each from East and South. In South India, the first ophthalmologist to have purchased the machine last month is Dr. Sri Ganesh who heads Netra Dhama the eye clinic and surgical centre in Bangalore and has already performed around 150 surgeries with it. The machine, which is priced at Rs 25 lakh, is a winner of three prestigious American Awards for its innovative design features.

Dr. Sri Ganesh told Pharmabiz.com that Sovereign Phacoemulsification machine was extremely effective against rock hard cataracts and it does away with chances of infection because of its external tubing, which are relatively safer than the internal tubing of other models from different companies.

As one of the pioneers in Phaco surgery in India, Dr. Sri Ganesh has been in this specialised field for the last five years, has performed over 5000 cataract surgeries, presented several papers and even performed live surgeries at national conferences.

On the cost of surgery with the novel Sovereign Phacoemulsification machine, Dr. Sri Ganesh informed that it would only increase the charges for the patient by Rs 500 from the current prevailing charges.

Lauding the benefits of the top-end model - Sovereign Phacoemulsification machine from Allergan, Dr. Sri Ganesh said, "We only need to do a small incision, there is no fear of infection and stitching is not at all required. The whole procedure of removing the cataract is complete in just a matter of 10 minutes which was around 20 to 30 minutes earlier."

What set's apart Allergan's Sovereign Phacoemulsification machine, which is approved by US FDA is that it is safe and infection free, a crucial aspect in the case of eye surgeries. "The presence of seven computers in the machine helps ophthalmology surgeons monitor the eye pressure besides providing surgical information in an easy-to-read fashion and also facilitate intuitive split second responses," averred Dr. Ganesh.

In India, Dr. Sri Ganesh pointed out that around nine million of the population is affected with cataract, out of which nearly 30 per cent of the cases suffer from rock hard cataract, the reasons being negligence and lack of awareness of a cure available through surgery.

Netra Dhama, which is seven year old, eye clinic situated in south Bangalore specialises in Lasik and Phaco surgeries. It is also equipped with facilities for contact lenses, microsurgery, intraocular lens implantation, corneal grafting, squint surgery, retinal surgery, computerised visual field analysis, corneal topography diagnostic scan and opticals.

Allergan India Ltd., incorporated in 1995 is a joint venture between Allergan Inc USA, a global eye care company, and Nicholas Piramal India Ltd and began operations here in 1996.