UMM Students Create Gloves to Prevent Squeezed Nerves

Arif, a medical student who designed a medical wristband with three members of his team. (Photo: Istimewah)

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a disease that occurs due to compression of the nerves in the wrist. This syndrome is commonly found in people who frequently use their hands repeatedly at work. To prevent CTS among workers, a team of students from the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) created a medical wristband to overcome it.

One of the team members, Arif Kusuma Firdaus, said that this disease generally attacks office employees, tea leaf pickers, cigarette rollers, and professional gamers. This is due to the use of the hands repeatedly and over a long period. Especially when working long hours.

"For workers, this disease is quite disturbing productivity. If you have been affected by this syndrome, the wrist will feel sore if you use it to move a bit heavily or continuously. This will affect daily life and activities at work," said the student from the Faculty of Medicine (FK).

Arif explained that the medical wristband designed by his team was in the form of a glove. In the center of the device, a sensor is implanted to detect movement on the wrist. Especially the move towards the thumb or the medical term radial deviation. What will send the information obtained from the sensor to the Arduino microcontroller for processing.

"From there, who can determine whether the number of hand movements that are carried out will be at risk of becoming CTS or not. If there is a risk, this tool will vibrate as a warning to the user," said the student who was born in Malang.

Disciplinary differences between the teams and the topics discussed became the biggest obstacle in the tool-making process. The third child of four siblings said that the entire group came from the medical field while making the equipment was more inclined to the electronics field. Therefore, this team collaborated with the Semi-Autonomous Institute (LSO) of Robotics UMM to create tools.

"In the process of making the tool, we discussed all the materials and components as well as the design with LSO Robotics. For materials in the manufacture of sensors, our team used fibroin and laponite. Both of these materials have the advantage of being environmentally friendly. So that it is easier to recycle or re-degrade," explained Arif.

This medical wristband was included in the Karsa Cipta Student Creativity Program (PKM-KC) and succeeded in obtaining funding from the Directorate General of Higher Education (Ditjen Dikti). In this PKM, Arif is not alone. He accompanied three FK students, namely Aurizan Adli, Agam Siswanto Hardoyo, and Waldiyansyah Rizkyfi Makky.

"We plan to make further developments and improvements to the design and workings of this tool. We hope that in the future, this tool can be adapted to market needs. So that it can be distributed and useful for many people," he concluded. (apg/syi/wil)