One of the primal forces of nature is for all living beings to live as long as possible and then leave a mark behind. The usual vehicle for the latter is through genes but humans have other ways as well, of ensuring that their name lives on after they no longer exist.

In medicine there is a plethora of instruments, devices, diseases and structures that carry the name of the inventor or the discoverer. Some of these have not been so popular and the name has faded with the obsolescence of the instrument or device, while others have indeed lived on ‘forever’.

Surgery for cataracts began with the smallest of small incisions. The incision was only the width of a needle device that was inserted to displace the cataractous lens from the visual pathway, in the operation of couching. This was a popular technique for centuries but was associated …