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About KIDROP
A small step towards preventing infant blindness….
What is KIDROP?
Premature infants who are born prior to 34 weeks of gestation (6 weeks before their due date) are at increased risk of developing various health complications when compared to infants that are born full-term (37-40weeks of gestation). One such risk is Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a disorder of the developing retinal blood vessels in the eye. ROP is the leading cause of childhood blindness in premature babies that are born too soon or those born with low birth weight. In India, babies who are born less than 2000 grams (2 kgs) or 6 weeks before their due date (34 weeks of gestation) are at risk of developing ROP and require to undergo screening ideally before 30 days of birth.
Unfortunately there are very few ROP specialists in India especially in rural areas.
Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis for Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) is India’s first tele-ROP program and is currently one of the largest single-center ROP programs in the world. In all, 127 NICUs across the state of Karnataka (Government and Private) are covered each week. Over 175,000 screening sessions have been completed and over 2900 babies treated thus far. This program is a public-private partnership with the Government of Karnataka and has mentored other ROP programs across the country.
KIDROP is Narayana Nethralaya’s flagship tele-ROP program started in 2008. KIDROP is a tele-medicine platform that benefits preterm babies born in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) who do not have an ROP specialist to screen and treat the babies on time. Mobile teams of trained imagers use specialized ROP cameras to take images of the baby’s retina and upload it on the platform to be graded by Narayana Nethralaya’s ROP team. The Indian National ROP guidelines (2018) formally allowed imaging as the alternative method for ROP screening.
KIDROP has received several awards nationally and internationally for its innovations, including Public-Private Partnership of the Year in 2012, National Award for Excellence in HealthCare in 2016, K R Datta Award for Community Outreach in 2017, and BIRAC Innovator Award for HealthCare in 2018.
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Our Mission
Mission Statement
We at KIDROP are committed to creating, employing and continuously improving infant eye screening to detect and manage potentially blinding conditions using imaging and its customized analysis, on-site and remotely using the vehicle of Tele-medicine, to provide rapid and accurate algorithms of clinical care and research insights for the betterment of our tiny patients.
To reduce the burden of preventable infant blindness resulting from Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) through innovations in technology by making it accessible to all ‘at-risk’ infants in every neonatal care center in India and extending the service model for other causes of childhood blindness in the country and other regions of the world with similar demographics and social need.
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Our Vision
Vision Statement
To reduce preventable and avoidable infant blindness using technology and passion
How does it work?
KIDROP has trained technicians to screen infants in the peripheral centres (where no specialists exist) using the Retcam Shuttle (Clarity MSI, USA) and store, read, analyse, grade and upload these images from the rural centre itself using an indigenously developed internet based PACS system which also delivers these images live to the remote expert on his or her iPhone or PC or iPad and receives live reports delivered through the internet based server for the technician to read and provide.
What is the intervention area?
The pilot project initiated in 2008 started with 5 centres. In the first quarter of 2011, KIDROP has grown to screen in 25 centres spread across the southern 6 districts of Karnataka State in Southern India. Most of these are in the rural or semi-urban centres. All of them did not have ROP screening prior to being included. Since 2010, the project has partnered with the Min. of Health and Family Welfare to include 36 more centres which will be operational by 2012.
Who funds KIDROP?
Narayana Nethralaya Foundation funds KIDROP as a part of her social responsibility. In keeping with NN’s principle that “no child must go blind for want of financial resources”. Since 2009, KIDROP entered into India’s first public private partnership in infant blindness prevention with the National Rural Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Karnataka, India. The Govt has pledged funding until 2012 to expand the coverage to 13 more districts to cover over 35 new centres. These would be divided into 2 zones – North Karnataka and Central Karnataka.
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What is the technology that drives KIDROP?
Narayana Nethralaya has non-commercial collaborations with i2i Telesolutions, Bangalore. who have developed a internet based hardware-software platform using a patented compression technology that allows live uploading, viewing and reporting of images from any part of the globe directly accessed by the KIDROP doctors on their PC’s and smart phones. This technology was adjudged the ” Top Ten Medical Innovations ” in 2009.
What has been accomplished thus far?
KIDROP in October 2010 has been named a largest single hospital ROP network in the world. The Harvard Business review has cited KIDROP and its technology as an example of “reverse innovation” for the more developed world to emulate. India Today, the nation’s leading newsmagazine has cited KIDROP’s technology in the Top Ten Medical Innovations and lauded its social contribution. Fortune India, Retina Today, Ophthalmic Surgery News, Ophthalmology Times Europe and Economic Times have lauded different aspects of the KIDROP program. The Min. of External Affairs, Govt. of India has named it a “unique initiative to reach the rural underserved”.
What lies ahead?
KIDROP has initiated partnerships with other states in India and the Govt of India to expand the reach of this initiative so that more infants in rural areas would benefit. The Pan-Karnataka State initiative under the public-private partnership is underway. Other countries including Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, Qatar, Ghana, Pakistan and Kenya are at various stages of collaboration with the KIDROP team to initiate and support a similar program in their respective countries.
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(As on January 1st , 2021)
Total Imaging Sessions
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Testimonials
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Aristotle maintained the sharp distinct between science and the practical knowledge of artisans, treating theoretical speculation as the highest type of human activity, practical thinking about good living as something less lofty, and the knowledge
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
Muhibbur Rashid
Designer Google
KIDROP DETAILS
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