IIT Guwahati develops AI assisted model to predict bone repair outcomes

NEW DELHI: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati develop an artificial intelligence (AI) based simulation model that can predict the healing pattern of thigh bone fractures after surgery.

The model can be used to asses outcomes of different fracture fixation strategies so that an optimum path can be chosen for the patient with their personal physiology and fracture in mind. Using this precision model can reduce healing time and can potential lighten the economic burden and pain of the patient.

The research model was developed by IIT Guwahati, department of bioscience and bioengineering, assistant professor, Souptick Chanda and his team. The results of the research have been published in the the open-source journal, PLoS One, in a paper co-authored by Souptick Chanda and his research scholar, Pratik Nag.

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The research team used a combination of finite element analysis and Fuzzy Logic, an AI tool to understand the healing process of fracture with different treatment methods. This study also included the examination of influence of different screw fixation mechanisms to compare fracture healing capability of each process. The predictions made by the model were pointing towards its reliability after various experimental observations.

The AI-based simulation model can potentially help surgeons to chose the right implant or treatment method for a fracture-treatment surgery. The model not only accounts for the various biological and patient-specific parameters but also for different clinical phenomena including smoking and diabetes, among others. In addition, the model can also be adopted for veterinary fractures that are, physiologically and in various aspects, similar to those occurring in human patients.

The researchers plans on developing a software application based on the algorithm that can be used in hospitals and other healthcare institutions as a part of their fracture treatment protocols. Treatment for hip fractures traditionally include bone plates and rods to bridge the fracture site and promote bone healing. These treatments are chosen by surgeon intuitvely and there is no way to predict the success of the treatment method chosen.

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The research from IIT Guwahati will help increase the accuracy rate in decision-making in orthopedics, thereby reducing the cost and disease burden associated with fracture recovery. The team is currently collaborating with Bhaskar Borgohain and his team of orthopedists from the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences Hospital, Shillong, for animal studies to validate and fine-tune certain parameters.

With the recent installation of a supercomputer facility 'Param Kamrupa' at IIT Guwahati, artificial intelligence, data science, and deep learning and their applications in the inter-disciplinary areas of health sciences, weather prediction and nanotechnology have got a major boost.