The device, named NIVA or Non-Invasive Vascular Analyzer, was officially launched by ITB Rector Kadarsah Suryadi on Thursday, 12 December 2019 at CRCS Building of ITB and was attended by Research and Technology Minister Bambang P. Brodjonegoro.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Tati Latifah Erawati Rajab Mengko as the NIVA project leader explained that the research on the device has developed since 2013 and funded with National Excellent and Strategic Research Funds from DIKTI, Minister of Education and Culture lasting for three years.

“That time, an idea came, based on doctors’ request for a device that detects earlier the symptoms of clogged blood vessels,” said Prof. Tati at Ahmad Bakrie Building of ITB. Dr. Hasballah Zakaria, Dr. Richard Mengko, and team members from Biomedical Engineering are involved in the research.

NIVA is a non-invasive device which uses PPG (photoplethysmograph) and blood pressure sensors that analyze blood vessels in human body. “This device is designed to simultaneously measure vascular function within 6 parameters and vascular risk level within 5 parameters,” she said.

Clogged Blood Vessels

Prof. Tati explained that clogged blood vessels are caused by buildup plaques in blood vessels. The plaques emerge because of non-smooth blood vessels lacking Nitric Oxide (NO). NO is also in charge of flexibility of blood vessels.

Further, she explained, aging process also affects NO production within endothelial layer or the deepest layer of human blood vessels, and thus reduce the flexibility. This will lead to increasing blood tension or commonly known as hypertension.

The treatment for clogged blood vessels is costly. Therefore, Prof. Tati said that the device can help BPJS (Indonesian health care system) to detect stroke and heart attack risks. “This device is expected to detect those diseases earlier. If the parameter shows poor results, we can do immediate treatment to doctors before it worsen,” she said.

The device is ready for mass production, in cooperation with PT. Selaras, to bring greater impact to community. NIVA has been tested and applied on two hospitals, namely Rumah Sakit Harapan Kita in Jakarta and Rumah Sakit Hasan Sadikin in Bandung. Next, the device will be tested on Rumah Sakit Unair, Rumah Sakit Sardjito, and Rumah Sakit Gatot Subroto.

NIVA is an integrated solution to measure the health of blood vessels. Cooperation with industry will enable lower production cost. NIVA will be an effective screening device to reduce patients that require medical treatment. The device is also expected to reduce imports and improve domestic industries capability to produce many other medical devices.