I'm very excited to share my new publication- "Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility."
Healthcare emits 10% of the US's total greenhouse gases, yet environmental sustainability in medicine remains an understudied field. We analyzed the waste and environmental footprint of cataract surgery at Aravind Eye Care System in southern India. Through careful process design, standardized training and tasks, and material reuse, Aravind performs their phacoemusification (cataract surgery) with 5% of the carbon emissions for the same procedure done in the United Kingdom. This link should get you a full copy of the article for the next month: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1WAbu39Xtpsylf (This link for after the month is over: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0886335017307113)
Aravind designed a surgical process that increases throughput, thus decreasing overhead costs and resource-use. With multi-use pharmaceuticals and reusable supplies (and a carefully designed system for sterilization), Aravind has achieved a very efficient and effective surgery to restore sight to hundreds of people a day. We are now working on applying some of Aravind's strategies to US healthcare policies and medical practices.
-Cassie Thiel
