Dr Latifah Nurahmi achieves the award L’Oreal UNESCO For Women in Science 2020 last November

ITS Campus, ITS News – Yet again, another innovation is created in Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). This time, this innovation is created by Dr Latifah Nurahmi, a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The new innovation is a hybrid robot for medical fields, especially in orthopedic surgeries.

Latifah explained that her innovation is the continuation of a previous 2016 research. In that year she developed an ankle rehabilitation robot. “But, as for the basis of this research, I have been doing it since 2015,” she explained.

Latifah revealed that surgical aid robots have actually been around since the ’90s. These robots are usually called a parallel robot. A parallel robot is a robot that can handle more than one instruction at the same time. “But, it turns out that this parallel robot still has several disadvantages in the medical field,” she said.

Latifah continued, the disadvantage of this parallel robot is its limited space. Also, it is usually single-use. This makes the robot have to be dismantled when the surgery is finished and then reassembled when it is about to perform surgery again. “That way it will be more troublesome for doctors when preparing and after using it ,” she added.

This Solo-born lecturer explained, in order to overcome the disadvantage of the parallel robots, she made a hybrid robot. Specifically, it is a combination of two parallel robots. This hybrid robot has the advantage of a wider space to move than parallel robots.

Latifah explained that in the process of making this robot, 3d printing process was done first. After that, it was continued with the development into a prototype equipped with electronic tools. “In terms of design, hybrid robots are more complex than parallel robots,” she said.

This long-haired lecturer revealed that for the hybrid robot development, she collaborated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the National Central University (NCU), Taiwan. This can be done easily because of the good relationship between both the Department of Mechanical Engineering of ITS and NCU. Also, it turns out that they (the NCU) have also developed a robot with the same structure. “Based on this, we decided to cooperate to develop this robot,” she said.

When in the middle of the surgery process, doctors can use the hybrid robot to assist the surgical process that requires high accuracy. Also, this robot can reduce direct contact between doctors and patients. The development of this robot is not intended to replace the role of doctors in performing operations. However, the high level of accuracy in the operation process can be helped by the robot assistance.

Through her innovation titled Robot Operasi Reduksi Fraktur sebagai Teknik Bedah Invasif Minimal, Latifah achieved an award at the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2020, last November. This event was held by L’Oreal to support women’s involvement in science and technology. “Actually, I have participated in this event since 2017, but only this year I have won an award,” she said.

Latifah hopes that through this innovation, she can introduce robot technology in the medical field. Also, she positively expects that her hybrid robot can be immediately used in several hospitals in Indonesia. “Through this award, I also want to invite young women not to be afraid to take part and be involved in the world of science and technology,” she concluded. (dil/nadh/ITS Public Relations)