Dr. Latifah Nurahmi, a lecturer from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) recently invented a hybrid robot for medical surgeries in a project called Robot Operasi Reduksi Fraktur Sebagai Teknik Bedah Invasif Minimal.
Dr. Latifah stated that this innovation is being developed since 2015.
Parallel robots have actually been around in the medical field since the ’90s. However, the parallel robot has very limited movement and it is only for a single-use.
To overcome these disadvantages, Dr. Latifah invented the hybrid robot. Specifically, it is a combination of two parallel robots. This hybrid robot has wider movement than the parallel robots. In this project, she collaborated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the National Central University (NCU), Taiwan.
This project is not intended to replace the role of the surgeons, but to assist them in a surgery that requires high accuracy. Dr. Latifah took home an award at the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science 2020 for this innovation. Through this award, Dr. Latifah wants to empower young women to take part and be involved in science and technology.