BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - The Biomechanics team, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Dirgantara (FTMD) ITB managed to make a tool to protect and help the work of the dentist in the pandemic period. The tool that has been successfully submitted by the patent was named Dent-in.
Dent-in name itself stands for Indonesian Dental inspired by the dental anatomy part of Dentin. This tool is a multidisciplinary project involving many FTMD lecturers and alumni from different scientific fields. The Chairperson of the Research Team is Satrio Wicaksono, S.T., M.Eng., Ph.D., with the FTMD lecturer team involved, namely Pramudita Satria Palar, S.T., M.T, Ph.D., and Luqman Fathurohim, S.T., M.T. From a group of flying physics expertise that helps the problem of fluid flow, then there is Ferryanto, S.T., M.T. and Arif Sugiharto, S.T., M.T. From a group of machine design skills that help in the field of design and production.
Some other lecturers from several expertise groups at FTMD ITB are also involved in supervision of this activity, such as Prof. Gather Djoko Suharto, Prof. Gather Andi Isra Mahyuddin, Prof. Dr. Procedure of the Dirgantara, and Dr.Eng. Sandro Mihrardi. This activity also involved young alumni of the FTMD ITB engine engineering, Nandy Achmad Fauzy, S.T., Fikri Sobari Tahmidi, S.T., and Ricky Indra Gunawan, S.T. involved directly in the design and manufacture of tools. Collaboration carried out also involved a dentist who gave ideas and suggestions from real needs in the field. This shows that in solving problems, the multidisciplinary approach is needed so that the solution created is on target.
Dent-in design process starts since May 2020 originated from DRG's unrest. Harry Huiz Peeters as a team member against the fate of dental medicine in this Covid-19 pandemic period. Based on research, the Covid-19 virus has the potential to spread through aerosols. For this reason Dent-in was developed as a form of problem solving facing dentistry.
"Dent-in if categorized as included in the type of aerosol suction extraoral tool which can reduce the risk of dentists infected with viruses by isolating and filtering aerosols from patients during dental care procedures," said Satrio Wicaksono, Ph.D., to the ITB Public Relations Reporter recently.
Dent-in has the advantage compared to ordinary aerosol suction extraoral tools. There is an additional transparent shield that resembles Personal Negative Chamber / Screen on the dent-in so that it can minimize the splash of aerosols from patients. In addition, with this shield, then the setting of the cup nozzle is easier. "If before cup nozzle must be placed very close to the patient's mouth, now cup nozzle can be placed far from the patient's mouth so as not to disturb the visual dentist. This can be done because of the shield that blocks aerosols," said Dr. Satrio when describing the type of tool he developed.
According to Dr. Satrio, Dent-in works by doing an evileration of aerosols that come out of the patient's mouth through the cup nozzle then streamed with a hose to the box containing the HEPA filter to capture the particle. After that the air has been filtered, enter the vacuum blower and will pass the UV light to be sterilized before exiting the exhaust produces clean air.
View Video Dent-in Products on here
Uniquely, the dent-in has used a more sophisticated HEPA H14 filter compared to the extraoral aerosol suction tool on the market. The filter is capable of filtering air to 0.3 microns with effectiveness reaching 99.99%. In addition, dent-in is a tool that is user friendly. This tool can be operated using remote controllers with three speed options or directly from the button on the tool.
In the process of making this project, the source of funds was obtained from LPDP and Ristek-Brin through the category of Covid-19 research and innovation. So far there have been three working prototypes that were successfully produced. One for continuous development, one to be tested by the BPFK as a body that issued a recommendation letter for medical devices, and another will be submitted to FKG Unpad.
Although the condition of the pandemic causes the difficulty of laboratory access at ITB, this does not prevent the team to continue to develop dent-ins. The target and hopes of the next team are producing bulk dent-ins and trading it at affordable prices. Therefore the team is exploring the appropriate industrial partner to facilitate the production of dent-ins to be sold on the market.
on Friday (4/6/2021) then, FTMD ITB handed the dent-in tool to the Faculty of Dentistry at the Padjadjaran University in the Hall of the FKG Unpad campus, to help the dentist there handle patients during a pandemic.
Reporter: Anastasia Meliana (Science and Pharmaceutical Technology, 2019)
Source: itb.ac.id
