The new project which entails a capital expenditure of Rs 30 crore, will add seven operation theatres and 170 beds to the organisation's existing facilities. Sankara Nethralaya chairman SS Badrinath said that the project will be part-financed by internal accruals and donations received from public at large.

The Willingdon Hospital complex, located close to Sankara Nethralaya's hospital in Chennai, comprises of two buildings. One of them would serve as a community ophthalmology unit, catering to patients of a lower socio-economic status, a release said.

The Sankara Nethralaya hospital, which holds the distinction of treating patients free of cost whose monthly income is below Rs 1,750, has performed 1,25,000 surgeries since its inception. The institution treats nearly 40 per cent of out-patients and 35 per cent of in-patients free of charge.

Sankara Nethralaya is a charitable non-profit hospital established by ophthalmic surgeon SS Badrinath in 1978. The institute is well-known for its expertise in cataract surgery.

Asked about the effectiveness of the laser as an option for treating cataracts, Badrinath said that this was a "myth". There are laser devices for cataract removal under investigation (and experiment results have been good), but none are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Experts suggest that in these devices, a laser is used to break up the nucleus of the cataract into pieces small enough that they can be aspirated from the eye, in the same manner that sound waves are used in phacoemulsification. Thus, an incision still needs to be made and the lens material removed from the eye, they add.

Meanwhile, the Nethralaya's research arm, Vision Research Foundation (VRF), undertakes scientific research projects in ophthalmology and visual sciences. VRF has undertaken collaborative studies with a host of international centres like the National Eye Institute, US, the department of ophthalmology, City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.

Badrinath said that the unit's genetics and molecular-biology laboratories has been responsible for the discovery of a gene that causes a type of retinitis pigmentosa, a blinding condition. This discovery is expected to have important therapeutic implications in the management of this disorder.

The foundation had also assisted Alcon Laboratories, US, with its clinical trials for its ciprofloxacin eye drops.