omlog: a blog by Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India!

Celebration Time!!

The 29th Foundation day of Sankara Nethralaya was celebrated with great joy by the employees of the organization along with family members.  A “day-out” at the VGP Golden Beach was organized for the employees and their families.

Employees who had completed 20 years of service were awarded in recognition of their service.  First to receive the award was Dr. S S Badrinath, Founder – Chairman  of Sankara Nethralaya.  What with songs, dances, skits and debates, the foundation day proved a grand success!

Science and Spirituality

The 13th Sri. V. Venugopal Endowment Lecture was delivered by Dr. Sudha Seshayyan, Professor of Anatomy, Stanley Medical College, Chennai on 16th September 2006.  Requested to speak on Science & Spirituality, Dr Sudha delivered a lecture titled “Science, Life and the Looking glass”.

Madhya Pradesh CM visits Sankara Nethralaya

Shri. Shivaraj Singh Chouhan, Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, visited Sankara Nethralaya on 12th September 2006.

It’s graduation time!

Sankara Nethralaya is known world-wide as not only a hospital but as a teaching institution.  September is a special month in the calendar of Sankara Nethralaya, for students belonging to various streams of Ophthalmic Science graduate.

The Graduation Ceremony for Bachelor of Science in Optometry, Bachelor of Science in Ophthalmic Assistant, Master of Philosophy in Optometry and Master of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology was held on 9th September.  Dr. B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore was the Chief Guest and delivered the Convocation address. 

During the program, Mr. S. Bharath, S/o. Mrs. Lakshmi Sivaraman, Department of Patient Service, Sankara Nethralaya received a grant of Rs. 40,000 from the Dhingra Trust for his outstanding performance in Higher Secondary Exam.  He has joined engineering. 

Age Related Macular Degeneration

The 2nd session of the Continuing Medical Education programme on "Age Related Macular Degenerataion "organized by Sankara Nethralaya in collaboration with Novartis was held at Sankara Nethralaya on 10th September 2006.  The program is specifically aimed at General Ophthalmologist. 

The technique and guidelines of a new treatment modality called photodynamic therapy was elaborated. This has been recognized by FDA for treatment of vision threatening type of ARMD i.e. the ‘wet’ ARMD. Photodynamic therapy is a two step procedure which involves an intravenous injection of a nontoxic photosensitive drug followed by its activation by non thermal laser setting up a photochemical reaction. This reaction causes selective ablation of the new vessels formed under the macula without causing collateral damage to the overlying retina. Various clinical trials conducted worldwide have proven its efficacy to prevent severe visual loss in ‘wet’ Age related macular degeneration.

Real Time PCR : Recent Trends

Lab India conducted a one day seminar – cum – demo on Real time PCR systems at Vision Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai on 2nd September.  Nearly 60 participants from various institutions attended the programme.   Dr. J Madhavan, Senior Scientist, SN ONGC Dept. of Genetics & Molecular Biology spoke on application of real time PCR in Retinoblastoma work at Sankara Nethralaya.

“Sudharsana Homam”

"Sudharsana Homam" was performed for the prosperity and well-being of Nethralaya, our Patients, our Employees and their family members, Board Members, Well-wishers & Donors and our country on 6th September 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya .  Poornahudi was performed and prasadham was distributed to all.

Sharing best practices in Telemedicine

Dr. Michael Adeyinka, Director, LBI (Laboratory for Biomedical Information) from The Netherlands visited Sankara Nethralaya on 8th September 2006.  LBI is basically dealing with Medical Imaging, Telemedicine and Telehealthcare (Teleophthalmology and TeleAmbulatory Care) Applications and configurations.  Dr. Adeyinka visited the Sankara Nethralaya Teleophthalmology Department to understand the technology and procedure implemented by Sankara Nethralaya.