In 1993, there were 15,000 cataract surgeries performed in Nepal,[citation needed] only 1000 of which utilized intraocular lenses. Most of these 1000 modern surgeries were performed by HCP's Co-Director, Dr. Sanduk Ruit, who brought microsurgery with intraocular lens technology to the region. [citation needed] Before this technology, cataract surgery consisted of intracapsular cataract extraction, in which the entire lens and capsule are removed from the eye and the patient is given cumbersome thick eyeglasses that provide no peripheral vision and distorted direct vision. [citation needed] At that time, the second and third leading etiologies of blindness after cataracts were aphakia due to the loss of these thick glasses, and failed cataract surgery.[citation needed]