Indonesian Health Minister Ir Budi Gunadi Sadikin CHFC CLU directly reviewed the Covid-19 i-nose c-19 detection tool made by ITS professors.

ITS Campus, ITS News – Covid-19 screening innovation tool, i-nose c-19, developed by a professor at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. and the team was reviewed directly by the Minister of Health (Menkes) RI Ir. Budi Gunadi Sadikin CHFC CLU. The latest Covid-19 screening tool was exhibited at the Vaccination of the Elderly Community at the Novotel Samator Hotel, Surabaya, Saturday (27/2).

Apart from the Minister of Health, the event, which also provided Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly (seniors) from the ITS academic community, was also attended by the Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa. This event collaborates with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and the Samator Group, held for two days, by providing a quota of 2,500 older people to be vaccinated per day.

ITS Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng (left) and Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. showing the i-nose c-19 device

At the event, the ITS i-nose c-19 screening tool also had the opportunity to be directly reviewed and tested in front of the Minister of Health. Through this direct review, Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno, MSc Ph.D., or familiarly called Ryan, introduced the workings of the Covid-19 detection tool he and the team made with the hope of increasing motivation and opportunities for collaboration.

Ryan explained that the i-nose c-19 is safer than other Covid-19 detection tools. This is because the i-nose c-19 uses a sample of axillary sweat odor, which has no risk of containing the virus. “Besides, this tool (i-nose c-19, red) will also be cheaper to operate, and this can be Rp. 10,000,” said the ITS Informatics Engineering professor regarding the advantages of his artificial equipment.

According to Riyanarto, the tool that reaches the PCR sample’s profiling stage has also received a lot of support from several hospitals by providing PCR data. “Hopefully, with many supporting parties, the i-nose c-19 can be faster for distribution tests,” he added hopefully.

Indonesian Health Minister Ir Budi Gunadi Sadikin CHFC CLU directly reviewed the Covid-19 i-nose c-19 detection tool made by ITS professors.

ITS Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng, who also accompanied him, said that the i-nose c-19 is one of the innovative products of artificial intelligence for health. This is following the topic of ITS innovation launched in 2021.

“For the product (handling) of Covid-19, it will have to go through tests that have been determined by the Health Facility Security Center (BPFK) or the Ministry of Industry. Later, when there is a distribution permit, it can be used by the wider community, “said the chancellor, who is familiarly called Ashari.

Meanwhile, related to the Covid-19 vaccination in his press statement, the Minister of Health said that the vaccination target of 38 million people or 76 million injections in Indonesia would be completed by the end of June 2021. One of the priorities is the elderly because people in this age range have a high fatality rate, so they are more at risk of Covid-19.

Former ITS Chancellor Prof. Ir Joni Hermana MScES Ph.D. when vaccinated.

With the number of older people in Indonesia reaching 21 million people, the Minister of Health stated the need for community support. According to him, this vaccination must become a movement to encapsulate the social capital of the people. “Hopefully, this can be an example for friends in other areas who have access so that the elderly can be vaccinated immediately,” he said after expressing his gratitude to all those involved in organizing this vaccination.

In this activity, ITS at the forefront of education in Surabaya also received vaccination quotas for several older people who were the leaders and their academicians. Among them are former ITS chancellors such as Prof. Dr. Ir Mohammad Nuh DEA ​​(now Chairman of the ITS Board of Trustees) and Prof. Ir Joni Hermana, MScES Ph.D., who have been seen vaccinated on the first day. “There are 36 people plus their families 27 people, so there are 63 people from ITS who were vaccinated at this event,” said Ashari. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Tiara Hikmata Billah

(from left) ITS Chancellor Prof. Mochamad Ashari, Chairman of ITS MWA Prof. Mohammad Nuh, Dahlan Iskan, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Managing Director of Samator Group Arief Harsono