Madeena Digital Radiography for Indonesia

Thirty years of research has finally succeeded in developing an Indonesian digital radiography instrument. Gede Bayu Suparta and his team launched the Madeena, an X-ray fluorescence digital radiography.

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Gede Bayu Suparta

Thirty years of research has finally succeeded in developing an Indonesian digital radiography instrument. In early November, Gede Bayu Suparta, 54, and his team launched the Madeena, an X-ray fluorescence digital radiography (XRF digital radiograph; RDSF in Indonesian) imaging device in Yogyakarta.

Madeena is an acronym for “made in Indonesia” and affirms that the digital radiography device, a health analysis and diagnostic instrument, is truly a domestic product. So far, Bayu said, the digital radiography instruments that had been used in Indonesia were generally imported and expensive.

“As a team, we can prove that this nation is capable of producing the same device,” Bayu, a physics lecturer at the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculty (FMIPA) of Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said on Monday (30/12/2019).

Madeena is an acronym for “made in Indonesia”

Bayu and his research team at the Imaging Physics Laboratory began their research into digital radiography in 1989. As a scientist, Bayu had heard the call to anticipate future demand for digital radiography in Indonesia. When the research started, digital technology was still beyond the public imagination.

Digital technology is already very advanced today, according to Bayu. He and his team have benefited from digital technology in the health sector. “My long research of almost 30 years has enabled the development of digital radiography technology for Indonesia,” said Bayu at his laboratory in the UGM physics department, dubbed “Lab Pak Bayu”.

What is the significance of RDSF device? As Bayu explained, the RDSF device replaces radiography instruments that still use film. The new device has many advantages, including faster performance that allows it to produce a diagnostic result in 15-30 minutes. In addition, it uses a low radiation dose of less than 1 milligray (mGy), it is as easy to operate as a camera, it is not intimidating and it does not require medical technicians. The RDSF device is also equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and a data processor.

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Gede Bayu Suparta

Furthermore, continued Bayu, the device was designed for integrating with the teleradiology system he had also developed. Teleradiology allows for easier integration of patient data.

Patient diagnosis is no longer restricted to a hospital or puskesmas (community health center). They can be examined anywhere a Madeena RDSF device is available.

Bayu stressed that, through Madeena, he wanted to develop a new paradigm that radiology diagnostic instruments were meant not only to monitor the patient’s illness, but also to monitor the health of the internal organs in patients across Indonesia. The RDSF device, combined with the teleradiology system, can gather the health data of the entire Indonesian population and retain the records for at least 10 years.

Industry interest

Bayu was drawn to conduct research in this field while he was studying physics and delving into computerized tomography (CT) scans during a doctorate program in Australia. His work involved information technology, including coding and various kinds of software. Through his studies, he came to believe that digital technology could be widely applied through Indonesia, including health technology.

“For me, technology is natural and can be studied. We can make it fit the nation’s needs. X-ray digital radiographs should have replaced the conventional film-based radiographs still in use at many hospitals in Indonesia,” he said.

Bayu has obtained several patents throughout his 30-year research, including for the CT imaging data extraction system, the teleradiology system for diagnostic health applications, and for the Madeena RDSF device.

He feels grateful that the Madeena RDSF had attracted enough industry interest to be produced. This happened when he met I Made Surawan, who shared his interest in advancing Indonesia’s medical industry.

Following the Madeena’s production, Bayu expects that his other research into teleradiology would also be applied in the health sector. He longs to see the Madeena RDSF device made available to around 3,000 hospitals and clinics, as well as about 9,000 puskesmas across Indonesia’s 34 provinces and serve the Indonesian people in health examinations.

However, he realizes that it will take time to supply the Madeena RDSF and teleradiology system to thousands of hospitals and puskesmas. He is yet to apply for licensing for the Madeena RDSF. Bayu is also ready to be a guinea pig for his device to prove the safety of the Madeena RDSF’s low-dose radiation.

By the end of 2019, Bayu was pleased to witness the trial of the Madeena RDSF at Tabanan General Hospital, which has been a partner to him and his team since 2016. In January 2020, he sent several Madeena RDSF devices to the Muhammadiyah Community Hospital for trial. Once two Madeena units are installed, the teleradiology system can be trialed.

The Madeena has advanced diagnostic technology in its use of very low doses of X-ray radiation dose, one-hundredth of the national average and within the maximum standard of 0.15 mGy in the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.

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Gede Bayu Suparta

Pottery

Before he developed the Madeena device for medical applications, Bayu had used the digital radiography device for quality control of handcrafted pottery to improve the quality of the pottery produced in Kasongan, Bantul, Yogyakarta. In addition, he also applied digital radiography to the automotive, oil and shipping industries.

Bayu said that RDSF performs on a par with flat panel detectors (FPDs), also called FPD radiography system, a type of direct digital radiography (DDR) device. All hospitals in Indonesia badly need DDR or FDR facilities. He hopes his research is not only used in scientific articles, but also used in Indonesia’s public health system.

Engrossed in digital radiography research for decaded, Bayu had neglected his academic career. Now that he has succeeded in developing his RDSF device, his colleagues are pushing him to attend to all the requirements necessary to obtain full professorship. He has responded to them in a relaxed manner.

“I feel that a scientist is only useful once they are capable of developing a product that society can use. Once this has been realized, I might feel worthy of becoming a professor. My friends have already pushed [me] towards this,” he added.

Gede Bayu Suparta

- Listed as a high-performance, low-dose radiation, safe medical diagnostic radiography device in 111 Indonesian Innovations 2019

- Technology Innovator Award of the Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister for Digital Radiography Instrument (2015)

- Mentioned as “Indonesian Innovation with the Greatest Prospects” in 103 Indonesian Innovations 2013, the Business Innovation Center/KNRT (2011)

- Doctorate in physics, Monash University, Australia (1995-1999)

- Master in physics, UGM (1991-1993)

- Bachelor of science, physics major, FMIPA UGM (1984-1989