Products from BrainRY and BrainNAV develops by the ITS research team when exhibited at the Hannover Messe 2023 in Germany

ITS Campus, ITS News – Professor of the Department of Informatics Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Prof. Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc Ph.D. develops medical device innovations accompanied by artificial intelligence (AI) technology to support brain surgery in the form of a stereotactic system. This stereotactic system consists of two major parts in the form of hardware called BrainRY and software called BrainNAV.

Riyan, as he is affectionately known, revealed that the stereotactic designed with Dr. dr Achmad Fahmi SpBS(K) SubspNF FINPS aims to create a better tool than what is on the market. “Fahmi (Dr dr Achmad Fahmi SpBS(K) SubspNF FINPS, ed) provided input regarding design, tool requirements, and development based on his experience as a user,” he said.

Riyan explained, similar to the use of stereotactic neurosurgery in general, how BrainRY works by placing a localizer on the patient’s skull while doing a Computed Tomography (CT) Scan. The CT Scan image results will be combined with the patient’s brain image from the results of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) scans.

Dr dr Achmad Fahmi SpBS(K)SubspNF FINPS when practicing the use of BrainNAV to get a visualization of the patient’s head to facilitate the analysis process

Then, the co-register or the process of merging the three images is carried out using the BrainNAV software that applies AI technology. The merging of several scanned images will provide a more comprehensive picture of the structure of the brain and blood vessels. “Making it easier for doctors to visualize the patient’s head before performing surgery,” he added.

In carrying out brain surgery, explained Riyan, BrainNAV allows doctors to determine the target location to be operated on by marking the coordinates of that point. Then based on these coordinates, the BrainRY hardware can adjust the position of the operating needle by aiming it at the target brain anatomy accurately and precisely with a maximum error rate of 0.9 mm.

3D visualization of the BrainRY hardware which also involves Dr dr Achmad Fahmi SpBS(K)SubspNF FINPS as a party with experience using similar tools

The winner of the first rank at the 2019 SINTA Award continued the making of this prototype tool and also collaborated with ZENMED + one of the medical device manufacturers in Indonesia. While BrainNAV is the result of the collaboration of a team consisting of lecturers, undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students at ITS. “Two lecturers from the ITS Informatics Engineering Department, namely Prof. Dr. Chastine Fatichah and Kelly Rossa Sungkono SKom MKom, were also the figures behind the success of this research,” he added.

Furthermore, Riyan revealed that several features are the main strengths of BrainNAV. Among them, such as 20 times magnification of the image to provide more precise actions, the ability to adjust the brightness level of the image, and 3D modeling to provide an overview of the structure of the brain from various sides.

Not only that, according to the bespectacled professor, the BrainNAV software also allows the combined export of scan results in the form of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM). Apart from that, it also reads the DICOM images of several patients simultaneously in one device and determines several parts of the brain such as the Anterior Commissure (AC), Posterior Commissure (PC), and Ventral Intermediate Nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus automatically.

Prof Drs Ec Ir Riyanarto Sarno MSc PhD, Professor of the ITS Informatics Engineering Department is one of the researchers who developed stereotactic system innovations

The professor who is also included in the Top 2% Scientist in the World 2022 hopes that this innovation which is currently in the in vitro testing phase can provide support for the needs of brain neurosurgery in Indonesia. In addition, a more affordable price will result in an increasing number of hospitals that have this medical device. “With a high Domestic Content Level (TKDN), of course, the price of this tool will be more affordable than imported stereotactic tools,” he ensured.

Riyan also hopes that the results of the research funded by the Education Fund Management Institute (LPDP) can encourage researchers and academics to advance the domestic medical equipment industry. “Hopefully this research can bring benefits to many people as well as being the initiator of the progress of the medical industry in Indonesia,” he concluded hopefully.

BrainRY and BrainNAV, which are innovations made by the country’s children, have also been exhibited at the Indonesian Pavilion at the Hannover Messe 2023 event in Germany which was held from 17 – 21 April 2023. This event itself is one of the largest and most prestigious international industrial exhibitions in Europe and is attended by various industrial activists from across countries in the world. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Ricardo Hokky Wibisono