The Chennai based Sankara Nethralaya, now celebrating its Silver Jubilee year, will soon introduce Mobile Tele-ophthalmology Vehicle, a first of its kind concept in India in this field.

According to hospital sources, the Mobile Tele-ophthalmology Vehicle will be a mobile bus with all the facilities of a full-fledged eye hospital, including multimedia equipments to detect eye disorders. Donated by ISRO and costing about Rs.1.25 crores, the front portion of the bus is having the consultancy and diagnostic facilities, while the bottom has an operation theatre.

The mobile unit will also have video conferencing facility, linked to the specialists at the main Sankara Netralaya hospital, to ensure quick diagnosis. As the unit can travel even into interior villages, the Mobile Tele-ophthalmology Vehicle would of help to millions of people in different parts of the country, said hospital sources at a press meet, last week.

According to Dr.Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Netralaya, the first ISO 9002 certified eye hospital in Asia, is planning to open more branches abroad, including U.K. Currently Sankara Netralaya runs eye hospitals in Colombo and Dubai, set up in association with the Apollo Hospital group network.

The hospital at its Chennai facility has also introduced brachytherapy to treat cancer in eyes like Retinoblastoma and Melanoma, in association with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. In this treatment, the BARC supplied radioactive Iodine 125 is used to treat and cure eye cancers, said the sources.