Liquid Cornea will bring light to the eyes of millions of blind people worldwide
Published: Apr 23, 2025, 02:30 IST | Updated: Apr 23, 2025, 02:30 IST
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Health and Wellness | Artificial corneas are being made in the laboratory by mixing biological substances like collagen, protea and peptides
Those who can see know how beautiful the world is and how many colours it has but the world of the sighted and blind is colourless and full of darkness. As long as our eyes are healthy, we feel we are alive. But we take our eyes and their light for granted. But for some reason, if we lose our eyesight, then struggle begins at every step so take care of your eyes.
Currently, 10 million or about one crore people are blind in India while this figure is about 37 million or about 3.7 crores in the world. But India is going to change the world of the blind in the coming few days or say in a few months. If this research is successful, we will give the world an opportunity to see and create history. And Dr Virendra Kumar Sangwan is preparing to bring a revolution in the world of the blind. Dr Sangwan is working as the innovation director at Shroff Charity Eye Hospital in Delhi. His team is doing research on the liquid cornea, which will work to fill the world of those who are blind due to a defect in the cornea with both color and light.
Dr Sangwan and his team are emerging as a new hope for millions of blind people around the world. They are working on artificial cornea—also called "liquid cornea". This is a technology that can make cornea replacement possible without a donor. In an exclusive conversation with India.com, Dr Sangwan said that we are very close to success. Animal trials have been 80 per cent successful.
Talking to Puja Mehrotra, the eye expert said, "Liquid cornea will help in reducing the long queues for cornea transplant." He further said that we need about three to four lakh corneas every year but we are able to transplant only 30 to 40 thousand. It will be no less than a revolution that corneal blindness can be eliminated through this.
According to WHO, corneal opacity causes more than 4 per cent of the world's population to become blind and more than 1.5-2 million cases are reported every year.
The great thing is that artificial corneas are being made in the laboratory by mixing biological substances like collagen, protea and peptides which are made by the human body.
For three decades, Dr Sangwan has emerged as a ray of hope for the blind. For him, this is not just a profession, but a mission. He has not only brought light but life back to the eyes of thousands of people.
There was a time when there was no way out for people who had lost their eyesight. They used to accept that blindness was their life now. Dr Sangwan came as a saviour in the lives of such people and with the help of stem cell therapy performed such a miracle that even science saluted it.
His experiments and research proved to the world that anyone who has lost their eyesight due to some reason can be brought back. In the year 2005, when serial blasts took place in Delhi, a DTC bus driver Kuldeep got burnt while saving people's lives in one such terrible bomb blast and he lost his eyesight due to the bomb exploding in his hand.
He wandered from one hospital to another for his eyesight but every doctor had the same answer, "Nothing can be done now."
But Dr Sangwan did not give up. He adopted the path of 'stem cell therapy' for Kuldeep. His hard work paid off - Kuldeep regained the vision of one eye.
This was the moment when science held the hand of humanity and Dr Sangwan emerged as India's medical scientist. The story is not over yet.
There have been many cases where the corneas of acid attack victims were completely destroyed. When many top doctors of the world had given up, Dr Sangwan gave them a chance to see again with the help of Boston K-Pro therapy. He did not just have technology; he had a heart of compassion and a courageous intention.
Madhukar was a small dupatta dyeing businessman in Gujarat, but one day he lost his eyesight. The only thing around him was darkness. But Madhukar did not give up, he kept wandering from one doctor to another. A doctor who came to India from America told Madhukar the name of Dr Sangwan. His corneas were completely burnt due to a boiler explosion. But today Madhukar sees that he has realised his dreams. His son is now helping him in his business and even today, apart from money, the only thing common in Madhukar's entire family's wallet is Dr Sangwan's photo.
With the help of Boston K-Pro therapy, Dr Sangwan restored the light in Madhukar's eyes that had perhaps been lost for his entire life.