SERDANG, February 26 - Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has succeeded in an innovation for throat examination, ‘Throat-lite’, which combines the use of the wooden tongue depressor or spatula with mini LED lights enables a faster and more efficient examination for accurate diagnosis of diseases. Through the innovation, the use of the existing disposable wooden tongue depressors is enhanced with mini LED lights. The small, lightweight and 360-degree rotating LED light only needs to be clipped to the wooden tongue depressor before being used. It can be held with only one hand, and the light from the mini LED light mounted on the wooden tongue depressor can be aimed directly at the targeted area.

A pathologist (Haematology) from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sabariah Md Noor, said the intervention eases throat examination among children and allows examination to be carried out by only one medical practitioner. According to her, medical practitioners no longer need the help of a support staff or the patient's parent to hold or place the patient on the lap, to stabilise the patient's head position and to soothe the child who may throw a tantrum during examination.

Hence, she said that the small, portable and practical 'Throat-lite' can have a big impact on the daily job of medical practitioner as it allows them to provide immediate and suitable treatment based on the diagnosis. She said the idea of ​​producing the 'Throat-lite' was sparked during her discussion with Dr. Shazreen @ Fatihah Shaari, a paediatrician at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital, Kota Bharu on the difficulties faced by medical practitioners during throat examinations on children. According to her, currently, medical practitioners need the help of a support staff or parents to hold the child during throat examination while the medical practitioner holds a torchlight with one hand and a wooden tongue depressor with the other. 

‘Throat-lite' won the silver medal award at ISTEMO 2018. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sabariah hopes that the use of 'Throat-lite' will help realise part of the mission and vision of the Ministry of Health for a more accurate and efficient screening of patients which would allow for accurate diagnosis of disease and enable immediate and suitable implementation of treatment. – UPM

By: Azman Zakaria and Noor Azreen Awang

Date of Input: 15/10/2019 | Updated: 15/10/2019 | nsyahirah