IIT Madras shows enhanced drug delivery method for eye treatments

CHENNAI: Researchers from IIT-Madras have demonstrated how drugs injected in the human eye can be better delivered to the target region through ‘convection’ caused by mild laser heating.

According to IIT-Madras, the researchers used simulation and modelling studies to analyse the efficacy of various types of treatments on the human eye, focusing on heat and mass transfer.

“With nearly 11 million individuals afflicted by retinal disorders in India, the indigenous research of this nature holds promise for the development and advancement of laser-based treatments for various eye diseases,” it noted.

This research was taken up nearly a decade ago by professor Arun Narasimhan who collaborated with Dr Lingam Gopal of Shankar Nethralaya and initiated bio-thermal research into the effects of laser irradiation on the retina for the first time in India.

Laser-based retinal treatments are increasingly being used to treat diseases like retinal tears, diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion. As the retina is the region that contains blood vessels and nerves, such treatments must be performed carefully and with precision.

Subsequently, the team has performed computer simulations and experiments to analyse different aspects of eye treatments, within the scope of bio-heat and mass transfer.

The current study was taken up by Arun Narasimhan, and IIT-M graduate Shirinvas Vibuthe, who used a glass eye mimic to demonstrate how heat-induced convection reduces the time taken for drugs injected into the vitreous region to reach the targeted region in the retina.

This work will be featured in the Special ICCHMT Conference Proceedings published by Springer Verlag.

The findings of this experimental study have been published in the reputed, peer-reviewed Wiley Heat Transfer journal (https://doi.org/10.1002/htj.22899).