Research & Development

Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital has developed several research break-throughs, during the course of its pioneering services.

  • The most important research being that of Lasers in Cataract Surgery for the first time in India, by vapourising the Cataract and thus making a bloodless no stitch surgery, where the patient walks in and walks out of the operation theatre with top of the line foldable intra lens in the eye.
  • Cyro Surgery in Ophthalmology was first successfully performed in India at Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital in 1966.
  • Refractive Keratoplasty done at the Institute for the first time in Asia in 1981.
  • Magnetopexy - First Performed in 1986 on a patient blinded with retinal detachment. Patient came back 6 mths later for follow up and it was found his vision had improved such that he was able to read two lines on the vision chart.
  • Igene Lid Scrub - Developed by the research department, for specifically treating blepharitis unresponsive to other modalities of treatment. It is applied using a cotton bud moistened with the Igene solution
  • Magnetotherapy - With the current trends in alternative medicine and going by the success of magnetopexy devised two decades ago, the importance of magnetism and its effect on the human body has been rekindled in a big with the use of magnets in treatment of ophthalmic problems to the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. A new magnetic generator is presently being devised for this purpose.
  • Ferocini for dry eyes treatment - Ferocini was first used on a patient with Steven’s Johnson syndrome back in 1989 who redness and bloody tears. She was being treated with steroids Her vision was 1 mt in both eyes due to the extensive corneal damage due to dry eye.s Since there was not much change in the clinical outcome it was decided that the patient would be put on a trial of Ferocini. The next day the bloody tearing stopped and after a month the vision also improved to 6/60 on Snellen’s chart.

    Following the clinical success in this patient Ferocini was used in several patients with moderate to severe dry eyes.
    Total cases 2994 patients with dry eyes:
    Year No. of cases Clinical improvement Symptomatic improvement Vision improvement Vision reduced Vision same
    1990-94 756 79.2% 97.5% 43% 2% 55%
    1995-99 1228 76.4% 94.8% 37.5% 1.5% 61%
    2000-04 1010 81.2% 93.8% 36.5% 1.4% 62.1%
    Presently Ferocini is being produced in drop form for treatment of dry eyes

  • Surgical Management of Macular Holes was performed in 1992.
  • Retsun for control of Retinitis Pigmentosa - A formulation of nutrients to retard the progression of the in born genetic disease of Retinitis Pigmentosa which leads to night blindness and eventually complete visual loss. Comes in capsule form for oral consumption and is advised twice weekly..
  • Phakonit: In Conventional phacoemulsification technique, an opening of approximately 2.5 mm is made in the eye during cataract removal. Now this hospital has broken the 1mm barrier and has removed a cataract through 0.9mm opening made in the eye. This is for the first time in the world that any one has performed a cataract surgery through such a small opening.
  • Collagen for ocular surface disease - Collagen derived from animal tissue has the remarkable ability to regenerate corneal epithelium, conjunctiva and even skin in case of burns. It can be used in the treatment of injuries like thermal, chemical and extreme dry eyes.
  • AACC (Agarwal’s anti-chamber collapser) - Special device used in Phacoemulsification surgery for cataract removal. The device prevents chamber collapse during the phaco procedure especially in hard mature cataracts.
  • Stem cell Regenerative Medicine - Research is presently being undertaken for treatment of various ophthalmic and general ailments. This therapy involves the use of stem cells of human origin which are the most primitive cells of the body and are capable of differentiating into any kind of tissue. This once injected into the body, homes into the affected organ thereby repairing damaged areas or replacing the dead cells.

    Sl No Disorder No of eyes528
    1 Retinitis pigmentosa 142
    2 Age related macular degeneration 78
    3 Choroidal atrophy/retinal degen 12
    4 Primary and secondary optic atrophy 21
    5 Bullous keratopathy 82
    6 Keratoconus 23
    7 Uveitis 35
    8 corneal opacity 98
    9 others 37
    10 patients 521
    Sl No Disorder No. of Pts.
    1 Muscular dystrophy 8
    2 Diabetes mellitus only 230
    3 Hypertension only 212
    4 Hypertension and diabetes 129
    5 Ischemic/heart disease 48
    6 Peripheral /neuropathy 5
    7 Terminal pancreatic carcinoma 1
    8 Thyroid dysfunction 18
    9 HIV positive patients 2
    10 Renal failure 10
    11 Arthritis/arthralgia (osteo/rheumatoid/RSI) 158
    12 Cushing’s syndrome 28
    13 Down’s Syndrome 5
    14 Marfan’s Syndrome 2
    15 Secondary obesity 8
    16 Sexual dysfunction 4
    17 Others 125