: Innovators Low-Cost Device Prevents Blindness in Millions, Used in 45 Countries #IndiaNEWS #Blindness India is home to 4. 8 million blind people and the majority of them should not have been blind

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Innovators Low-Cost Device Prevents Blindness in Millions, Used in 45 Countries #IndiaNEWS #Blindness
India is home to 4. 8 million blind people and the majority of them should not have been blind as more than 75 per cent of blindness is preventable. A patient can be saved from losing their sight, if common eye ailments like cataract, glaucoma, refractive errors and retina diseases like Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Diabetes Macular Edema (DME) are diagnosed on time.  
While awareness and a robust healthcare system that makes eye care facilities more accessible is the need of the hour, in this booming internet era, the healthcare industry is turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI), apps and software to make medical attention affordable.
One such device is a portable eye-screening cost fundus camera, called 3nethra. Designed and built by former colleagues Kuppuswamy Chandrasekhar and Shyam Vasudev, it screens the anterior (cornea) and posterior (retina) for four eye diseases — cataracts, diabetic retina, glaucoma and cornea issues within five minutes. Unlike other devices, this one can work without dilating the eyes.  
Forus Healths 3nethra device detects eye diseases in 5 minutes
The duo took advantage of the ease of ‘instant connectivity’ to treat preventable blindness effectively in 2010. Since then 3,000 portable and low-cost devices have been deployed in 45 countries screening over 7. 5 million people. “The devices have prevented 1. 5 million people from going blind over the last decade,� Chandrasekhar, founder of Forus Health, tells The Better India.  
While Shyam left the company in 2016, the resourcefulness of the device prompted Chandrasekhar to launch two more devices that can prevent blindness in premature infants and one that captures colour, red free, and Fluorescein Angiography (FA) retinal images of the human eye.
What Makes the Device A Game Changer
Chandrasekhar, founder of Forus Health
It was a life-changing seminar that inspired Chandrasekhar, an alumni of BITS Pilani, to quit his last job at Philips. He says, “Dr Aravind Srinivasan of Arvind Eye Care Hospital was talking about the close connection between poverty and visual impairment. Visually impaired become a liability for the already marginalised family and blindness reduces the chance of a stable income. It is a vicious cycle, if you dont have the means to get an eye checkup, you will lose vision which in turn will make you poorer. It affects education, work and the overall quality of life. � 
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, people from low and middle-income regions are four times less likely to receive medical attention than in high-income areas. As a result, the rate of blindness in non-wealthy countries is eight times higher.

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