Bayangkan masa depan di mana sebuah sistem dapat mendeteksi dalam hitungan detik apakah bayi baru lahir menderita penyakit kuning, penyakit yang mempengaruhi 60 persen bayi dan dapat menyebabkan kerusakan otak dan gangguan pendengaran pada kasus yang parah. Bayangkan bahwa sistem segera memulai rejimen pengobatan dan memberi tahu perawat melalui pesan teks. Ketiga skenario sekarang dimungkinkan berkat upaya para peneliti dari Irak dan Adelaide.
Insinyur dari University of South Australia dan Middle Technical University telah merancang perangkat lunak pencitraan yang dapat mendiagnosis penyakit kuning secara akurat dalam sekejap mata, secara otomatis menyalakan lampu LED biru untuk menangkal penyakit kuning, dan mengirimkan diagnosis tersebut sebagai pesan teks ke paramedis.
Jaundice is a common disease in newborns, especially premature babies, and there is an excess of an orange-yellow pigment called bilirubin in the blood. It usually resolves quickly when a baby's liver grows enough to expel it from the body.
However, in severe cases of jaundice, due to sickle cell anemia, blood disorders and deficiencies of certain enzymes, the disease is often treated with phototherapy, which uses fluorescent blue light to break down bilirubin in the baby's skin.
Insinyur penginderaan jauh University of South Australia Profesor Javaan Chahl mengatakan penyakit kuning sangat lazim di negara berkembang, di mana seringkali tidak ada peralatan atau staf medis terlatih untuk mengobatinya secara efektif.
Professor Chahl said: "Using image processing techniques extracted from the data captured by the camera, we can inexpensively and accurately screen newborns for jaundice before blood tests are performed."
"When bilirubin levels reach a certain threshold, a microcontroller triggers blue LED light therapy and sends the details to the phone."
"This can be done in a second, really, it can have a big impact in severe cases and, if not treated quickly, can lead to brain damage and hearing loss."
Para peneliti secara sistematis menguji 20 bayi baru lahir yang didiagnosis dengan penyakit kuning di unit perawatan intensif di Mosul, Irak. Kumpulan data kedua mengumpulkan 16 gambar bayi baru lahir, 5 di antaranya sehat dan sisanya sakit kuning. Sistem ini juga berhasil diuji pada empat manekin tambahan dengan warna kulit putih dan coklat, beberapa dengan dan tanpa pigmentasi penyakit kuning.
"Previous research using sensors to find non-invasive ways to detect jaundice has failed. Tried methods are unreliable, costly, inefficient and, in some cases, cause infections and allergies where the sensor needs to touch the skin," he said. Professor Chahl said.
"Our system overcomes these hurdles, instantly detecting jaundice based on a novel digital color representation, enabling high diagnostic accuracy at relatively low cost. It can be used in hospitals around the world and without laboratory facilities and well-trained are widely used by medical staff in medical centers."
Penelitian ini telah dipublikasikan di jurnal engineering Designs.
