The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) novel, safe and cost-effective ophthalmic cubicle (coronicle) in COVID-19 era

Abstract

The coronicle (corona + cubicle) provides state-of-the-art features required for comprehensive ocular evaluation. Assembling this cubicle requires acrylic sheets, aluminum beading, fevicol, araldite paste, and a jigsaw cutting blade, which can be done in a do-it-yourself template. Dimensions of the cubicle are 16 × 16 × 8 feet with only a total area of 256 square feet; thus, restricting patient movement inside hospital premises. Social distancing norms with three feet distance between the machines were incorporated while installing the ophthalmic gadgets within the cubicle. The cubicle encompasses slit-lamps, auto refractometer, lensometer, fundus capture device, optical coherence tomography, optical biometry, manual keratometry, corneal topography, and noncontact tonometer. Customized openings in the cubicle were made in front of each device, for the patient's head and chin rest positioning during the examination, and can be closed with sliding doors during times of disuse. An acrylic groove was provided to accommodate the patient's feet. Coronicle has helped instil, both patient and medical personal safety during COVID-19 and has withstood the test of time since its inception in May 2020. In this manuscript, we have discussed the economics and validated the utility of the cubicle, in terms of the quantitative usage of ophthalmic gadgets present inside the cubicle versus outside the cubicle for the past 19 months, since the installation of the cubicle; along with the cubicle's additive highlights and its role after the pandemic is over.

Keywords

• corona cubicle
• do-it-yourself
• eclectic setup
• omicron variant
• ophthalmic outpatient department cubicle