Restoring Sight With Contact Lenses In Patients With Irregular Cornea
Ansal University, in partnership with Menicon UK, conducted a seminar for eye care practitioners, held at the university campus. The three-hour training and live fittings session was conducted by none other than the inventor of Rose K lenses – Dr Paul Rose. Dr Paul specializes in keratoconus and irregular cornea patients and is the designer of the Rose K family of lenses. He was awarded the “Creative design and process award” by the CLMA (USA) in 2000 for innovation in lens design and manufacturing process to the enhancement of the contact lens industry, and again in 2007 by EFCLIN the largest association of contact lens manufacturers in the world for his contribution to the Contact Lens Industry. Dr Paul’s lens designs for the irregular cornea are now fitted in over 90 countries and the Rose K brand is currently the most prescribed brand for the irregular cornea in the world. These lenses are successfully fit, giving comfort, vision and health to restore normal vision in almost all the patients.
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye and two-thirds of the power of the eye is focused on this. Certain disorders and injuries can cause the cornea to lose shape or transparency. This, in turn, leads to visual impairment which cannot be best corrected with spectacles. A common condition seen in clinical practice is Keratoconus. It usually begins at the age of Puberty and is progressive, such that the vision continuously deteriorates. The young adult who is in the final stages of schooling, this impacts his academic and personal quality of life. The eye needs special lenses worn during the day which can restore vision.
There are innumerable patients who have restored vision and lead a normal life due to these lenses. Dr Paul introduced to Indian Eye practitioners a new softer design for such conditions.
In September 2018, Ansal University had launched the Menicon centre of excellence in collaboration with Menicon at its campus which is an academic, Research and referral centre. Patients with such corneal abnormalities are referred to this centre from across the region and have benefited a lot from this. Prof Monica Chaudhry and expert in this field is the head of this centre. She has over three decades of experience in fitting irregular corneas. Jyoti D. Singh is mentoring this centre and conducts training sessions for optometrists and ophthalmologists. The training is part of the optometry curriculum and is nurturing many young optometrists to serve those with irregular cornea conditions.Dr Srilathaa Gunasekeran, Consultant of Medanta ophthalmology presented on medical management of the disorder.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Paul Rose said, “Creating awareness about such pressing concerns has become imperative nowadays and I appreciate the commendable initiative taken by Ansal University to conduct such a workshop. Educating the future of the country will provide a vision to the entire country and pave a path for the eye-practitioners to build a healthier tomorrow. The aim is to provide a clearer vision to everyone and walk the road to mutual growth and good health.”
Prof Monica, Director, Sushant School of Health and Sciences, said, the eye care professional can play a major role in corneal disease management by training optometrists and providing professional care to the patients. Corneal transplant surgeries can be averted in more than 80 per cent of patients as they achieve vision with these lenses. Gaining limelight, the event witnessed enormous participation of eye care Practitioners and served as a great accomplishment for the benefit of the society.
