Minister of Research and Technology/Head of BRIN Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro during an audience with the i-nose c-19 research team from ITS in Jakarta 

ITS Campus, ITS News – Recently, professor of Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. has succeeded in developing an innovative Covid-19 detection tool through the smell of axillary sweat (axillary sweat odor). This tool, called the i-nose c-19, also managed to get support for development until it passed the distribution test when it was presented in front of the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of BRIN Prof Bambang Brodjonegoro in the Innovation Meeting Room fl24 BJ Habibie Building. Jakarta, last Tuesday

When meeting the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of the National Research and Technology Agency, the professor who is familiarly called Ryan was also accompanied by ITS Deputy Chancellor IV Bambang Pramujati ST MScEng Ph.D., Chairman of the ITS Advisory Board Prof. Dr. Ir. Ir. Ir. Muhammad Nuh DEA, and several teams developers from ITS are involved. Besides, the Ministry of Research and Technology / National Research and Technology Agency was also attended by several high-ranking officials.

According to Ryan, the i-nose c-19 he was developing is still at the profile testing stage. Furthermore, it takes a lot of test samples and several stages to be marketed to the wider community. Accelerating the development of this tool is very important because this fast and inexpensive Covid-19 test kit is needed.  So that the Covid-19 pandemic can be controlled.

ITS professor, Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. (right) accompanied by ITS Deputy Chancellor IV Bambang Pramujati ST MScEng Ph.D. when explaining i-nose c-19 to the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of BRIN Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro in Jakarta

Until now, six i-nose c-19s have been successfully produced. However, about 10 – 20 tools are required for the need of more sample testing in the future. “Alhamdulillah, the ministry (Kemenristek / National Agency for Research and Technology, red) supports the manufacture of new tools and their operations later,” said the professor of the ITS Informatics Engineering Department.

Ryan said that one of the obstacles currently facing is the availability of these components. Usually found in Indonesia, but these tools still do not exist today. “So it has to be imported from other countries which take longer,” he said when contacted via online message.

Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. (three from right) explains the sophistication of the i-nose c-19 in front of the Minister of Research and Technology and the Head of BRIN, Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro Ph.D. (left)

In his explanation, Ryan explained that the sophistication of the i-nose c-19 is how it works by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to process samples from the smell of underarm sweat. “The sweat odor will be converted into electrical signals which are then classified using AI,” explained Ryan.

Besides, he continued, the near-field communication (NFC) feature makes it easy to fill insufficient data by attaching e-KTP to the Covid-19 fast detection tool. The use of cloud computing as data storage also supports the i-nose c-19 so, that it can be integrated with the public, patients, doctors, hospitals, and laboratories.

The i-nose c-19 testing process is practical and fast to find out the results after the presentation before the Minister of Research and Technology and the Head of BRIN in Jakarta

After entering the mobile number, an electronic certificate stating the positive or negative test result for each will be immediately sent via an online message. So if calculated from the start of the examination, it will take approximately 3.5 minutes for the results to come out.

Finally, Ryan hopes that the i-nose c-19 can be commercialized in a maximum of three months. “Seeing the increasing spread of the Covid-19 virus, the world certainly really needs a lot of screening technologies that are easy and fast to implement,” he reminded.

The audience of the ITS Research Team regarding the i-nose c-19 innovation product in front of the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of BRIN, Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro, and the leadership ranks of the Ministry of Research and Technology/BRIN in Jakarta

Meanwhile, ITS Deputy Rector IV for Research, Innovation, Cooperation, and Alumni, Bambang Pramujati ST MScEng Ph.D. who accompanied, explained that if there was more support from all parties, especially the government, the innovations from the researchers could be brought down and could be utilized by the community.

This innovation is also the pride of ITS which can make a real contribution to society and this country. “Given the opportunity and trust given by the government for the development of innovation, the more innovations of the nation’s children will be used so that the technological independence of the nation’s children will be better,” he said.

The Mechanical Engineering lecturer also emphasized that the i-nose c-19 product, which currently focuses on the introduction of the Covid-19 virus, has great potential for use in various other applications, such as one of which is to recognize Tuberculosis (TBC). (sof/far/HUMAS ITS)

The detection results from the i-nose c-19 tool will be sent via an online message to mobile phones