Forus Health Pvt. Ltd., which has researched and developed ‘3nethra’, an intelligent pre-screening ophthalmology device that detects five eye ailments namely cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retina and  cornea problems is now working out a strategy to improve the country’s visual health with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to maximize the use of this  technology to prevent blindness.

While DST is looking to ensure that a larger population could benefit from early detection with 3nethra, the DBT too is keen to facilitate detection of Retinopathy of Pre-maturity (RoP). “Even the state governments beginning with Karnataka have evinced interest and we are confident that 3nethra will be an indispensable diagnostic device in the country’s rural healthcare space,” Dr Shyam Vasudeva Rao, president & CTO, Forus Health told Pharmabiz.

The 3nethra is embedded with automatic screening algorithms to provide instructions to see a doctor. It has witnessed ready acceptance by scores of hospitals and bagged product recognitions from national and international platforms. The device has found itself to be a mandatory at outreach health camps in 14 countries including Sri Lanka, Nepal, a few African nations, China and Thailand, said K Chandrasekhar, founder and CEO, Forus Health.

Globally blindness impacts 45 million people and India accounts for 12 million blind cases with over 80 per cent of the cases that could be preventive.

The non invasive device is seen to be helpful especially during early onset of an eye disease when patients do not experience symptoms. It spots alarming eye conditions in remote diagnosis via telemedicine. The affordable device is positioned to reduce direct and indirect cost of pre- screening, making it available to rural populations right at their doorstep thus saving travel time and cost and even prevent a labourer’s wage loss.

“A key factor in detection of diseases is that eye is used as biomarker for diagnosis of systemic problems. With the result, a mere eye condition could diagnose even cardiac, nephrology and neurology disorders. Further, the device can also detect the haemoglobin levels and malnutrition in women and children,” said Dr Rao.

“There is need to bridge the gap in preventive healthcare. Despite the mushrooming of ophthalmic care centres, only 10 per cent have access and the remaining 90 per cent need attention. What is seen that in one’s life time a visit to a ophthalmologist is obligatory and we have facilitated a model which has revolutionized out-of-hospital screening. The big advantage is that 3nethra be easily assembled and used by a non-technical person with minimum training. Currently, Forus has no competition and therefore we are seen to be complementing with the existing healthcare milieu,” Dr Rao noted.

In 2012, Forus had a fund infusion of $5 million from IDG Ventures and Accel Partners. It went on to expand its R&D and also launch 3nethra Royal version which generate automatic pre-screen report using auto-refractometry. It has also embarked on a sales and distribution network expansion in India and abroad.