ITS Campus, ITS News – One more doctoral graduate from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). Is Rika Rokhana, a doctoral student from the Departement of Electrical Engineering that successfully maintains its dissertation titled Bone Fracture Detection using a three-dimensional ultrasonic tomography system in an open session of a doctoral promotion held at Department of Electrical Engineering ITS, Tuesday (25/2)

Many factors can cause fractures, such as traffic accidents, occupational accidents, illness, and natural disasters. So far, the handling of bone fractures has been fulfilled by using X-ray modalities in Rontgen equipment or CT-scan equipment. Both of these appliances are operated non-invasive and are considered reliable in producing an accurate bone image.

Problems arise when both types of equipment are, in fact, can provide a harmful radiation and ionization effect, both for the patient and the medical personnel who operate it. Departing from that, Rika strives to provide a safe alternative to detect fractures, namely by using ultrasonic modalities (US) that do not pose a radiation hazard.

According to the woman born in Kediri, 5th September 1969, this study used the method of the 3D ultrasonic tomography system. As the object of his research, Rika utilized the bone and goat pipes with an artificial fracture in the diaphratisis. The faulting is made with the oblique, transverse, and comminuted patterns. “On the oblique and transverse pattern width broke by 1 millimeter, while on a comminuted pattern of a broken width of irregular,” she explained.

Rika said to carry out a freehand scan with the help of mechanical equipment to produce a two-dimensional (2D) B-mode image. “Image B-mode will later depict a thin area of the bone surface reflecting the US signal file in the form of high-intensity pixels,” said the woman who also completed her undergraduate education in Department of Electrical Engineering ITS

Rika Rokhana presenting her dissertation research in an open session of doctoral promotion in the Department of Electrical Engineering

Furthermore, to detect broken and determination of a broken width in detail, Rika used a fraction model. The meaning of Fractbond is a system that is rated capable of obtaining the 3D ultrasonic tomography image of the 2D B-mode image. “In detecting broken bones in the input image of B-mode 2D This is done method Polynomial Intensity Gradient (PIG),” said the lecturer of the Electronic Engineering Polytechnic Institute of Surabaya (PENS).

In PIG, she added, the gradient changes in the median column of bones that exceed the threshold value can indicate the position of fractures occur. The PIG method generates an average error or Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 3.17 percent in the detection of broken widths in the transverse position and MAE by 1.13 percent at the parallel position.

In the final step, Rika uses the image position calibration with the Motion Capture equipment (US-MC) and the Phantom Cable to determine the position of the 2D image in the thickness of the 3D image. It is intended to obtain a calibration matrix that visually has successfully approached the geometry of the Bone scan object. “Doing so, the 3D ultrasonic tomography system built from the calibration matrix can produce distances between unbroken columns of 0.30985 millimeters,” she added.

Rika admitted the research that has been going on since she still in her master’s program and has several obstacles in the process. Nevertheless, Rika is grateful to be able to complete this research as well. Thanks to family assistance and advisers. She hoped that her research could be beneficial and she could develop it again. “This research is the first step, there are still many things to improve to be better” she concluded.(chi/rev/ITS Public Relations)