AIIMS Expands Cornea Retrieval Network with New Hospital Partnerships
AIIMS National Eye Bank adds three hospitals to enhance corneal tissue retrieval, boosting transplant capabilities.
The National Eye Bank at AIIMS in New Delhi has strengthened its cornea retrieval capabilities by partnering with three additional hospitals. The partnerships, formalized through Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), include Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. RML Hospital, Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka, and Northern Railway Central Hospital. These collaborations are part of the AIIMS-Delhi Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme (HCRP), aimed at improving corneal tissue procurement, research, and training.
Boosting Corneal Transplantation Efforts
This expansion comes as the National Eye Bank continues to manage a high volume of corneal transplants. In 2025, the eye bank collected 2,167 corneas, performing transplants on 1,775 patients with corneal blindness. The HCRP was responsible for retrieving 81.9% of these corneas. The program facilitates the identification of potential donors, counseling of bereaved families, and retrieval of corneas directly from hospitals.
Over the past 61 years, the AIIMS eye bank has collected over 38,000 corneas, aiding in the visual rehabilitation of more than 28,000 individuals. The center has also trained over 500 ophthalmologists in advanced corneal transplantation techniques, including the sutureless Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK).
Innovations and Future Plans
During the 41st National Eye Donation Fortnight program, the eye bank highlighted its innovations, such as a fully online death-notification system for faster contact with families and an online eye-donation pledge system. In the past year, 100 individuals pledged their eyes to the bank.
The center also supplied over 4,652 vials of its indigenous corneal preservation medium, ExStorSol, to 130 eye banks across 24 states in 2025-26. Furthermore, a RayMed-supported project is aiding in the procurement of corneal tissue from other eye banks for pediatric keratoplasty.
AIIMS is also working on a five-year partnership with Vision-Aid to establish 10 Integrated Vision Centres across Delhi-NCR and a dedicated Cerebral Visual Impairment Resource Centre for children. The National Eye Bank, recognized with a national award for its contributions to eye banking, honored donor families, hospitals, NGOs, and partner eye banks at the recent event.