MyCT 4th Issue 2014

Research within medicine and dentistry have incorporated engineering as to understand the clinical success or failure of oral or cranio-maxillofacial implant materials and prostheses. This concept has been introduced at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hiroshima, Japan. They offer Bio-dental Education as a new dental curriculum to nurture students the ability to apply the standard engineering principles of mechanics, tribology and biomaterials. In Malaysia, particularly research universities, are heading towards the interdisciplinary approaches in their graduate programmes. This programme should be able to produce graduates with ability to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and understanding of the synoptic multidisciplinary approaches to biodental and biomedical engineering with the current challenges and new insights in this field.

With this, we hope that knowledge contributed from the universities and research institutions will enhance the publications and innovation thus putting Malaysia in the world map of knowledge.

From the Chief Editor

Malaysian Society for Computed Tomography and Imaging Technology (MyCT)

Chief Editor : Assoc. Prof Dr. Zainul Ahmad Rajion (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

Board of Management MyCT 2013/2014

President : Dr. Jaafar Abdullah (Nuklear Malaysia)

Deputy President : Prof. Dr. Ruzairi Abdul Rahim (UTM)

Hon. Secretary : Engku Mohd Fahmi Engku Chik (Nuklear Malaysia)

Deputy Hon. Secretary : Mohd Amirul Syafiq Mohd Yunos (Nuklear Malaysia)

Hon. Treasurer : Dr. Elmy Johana Mohamad (UTHM)

Committee Members : Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Sobri Takriff (UKM) Assoc. Prof Dr. Zainul Ahmad Rajion (USM) Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Idris Ismail (UTP) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sam’an Malik Masudi (USM) Dr. Mohd Hafiz Fazalul Rahiman (UniMAP) Dr. Mohd Hezri Fazalul Rahiman (UiTM) Yasmin Abdul Wahab (UMP) Suzanna Ridzuan Aw (TATIUC) Roslan Yahya (Nuklear Malaysia) Prof. Ir. Dr. Muhammad Mukhlisin (UKM)

Chief Editor : Assoc. Prof Dr. Zainul Ahmad Rajion (USM)

Editor : Johari Yap Abdullah (USM) Mohd Amirul Syafiq Mohd Yunos (Nuklear Malaysia)

Dr Jaafar Abdullah, President of MyCT was appointed as a panel of judges for the “Anugerah Inovasi Negara (AIN 2014) by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Malaysia. The event was held on 31st October 2014 at Putra World Trade Centre.

Latest update



The transportation of liquids and gases by pipelines is the most economical and efficient way. In process industries, in particular oil, gas and chemical industry, the precipitation of scale onto the inner walls of pipelines carrying raw or process materials poses a significant challenge as scale deposits such as sulfates, hydrates and carbonates may reduce the cross-section flow area and even lead to blockage of entire sections of the pipework. The deposition of scale in the pipework is a complex chemical process and may be caused by several different mechanisms as reported in many literatures (see Figure 1). Therefore, undetected and untreated scale deposits in the pipework will eventually lead to costly production suspension and maintenance work. There exist several in-situ methods for scale detection and characterization. Some of these methods such as neutron moderation, electrochemical and natural radioactivity measurement techniques are already employed in different oilfield scale management programs. However, each of these techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The attenuation of gamma-rays is highly correlated to the atomic number and density of materials. Theoretically, this means the non-destructive detection of blockage and material build-up in pipelines using gamma-ray transmission techniques is feasible. Realizing that a fast and reliable method is needed for field inspection, a portable clamp-on gamma-ray computed tomography system for non-destructive evaluation of blockages or material deposits in pipelines has been developed by the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Photographs of the system design are given in Fig. 2. The complete system is totally autonomous and is clamped on the pipe that allows it to be easily operated in the fields by one or two operators. The system provides rapid means of locating and measuring the thickness of deposits while the plant is on-line. It can be used to any pipes of size ranging from 4” to 30” in diameter, with or without insulation materials. This paper presents the basic concept of the system development and provides some results obtained from laboratory and field tests. Some of the results are given in Figures 3 to 6.

Non-Invasive Inspection of Blockage and Material Build-Up in Pipelines Using a Clamp-On Gamma-Ray Tomography System – Extended Abstract

Researchers: Dr. Jaafar Abdullah, Hearie Hassan, Mohamad Rabaie Shari, Airwan Affendi Mahmood, Hanafi Ithnin

(CCTII, Malaysia Nuclear Agency)

Figure 1: Example of pipe blockages, water pipe (left) and hydrocarbon pipe (right)


Figure 2: Portable clamp-on gamma-ray tomography system installed on a pipework

Figure 3: Image reconstruction of pipe with different thickness of loose deposit at the bottom section

Figure 4: Image reconstruction of pipe with both hard coherent deposit on the circumference and loose deposit at the bottom section



The portable system is composed of two major components, the scanner hardware and the system software. The hardware section contains four separate items, i.e. a radioactive source holder, a radiation detector holder, a pair of linear translation arms and a circular motion rig (O frame). The system software section contains three main programmes, which are used for the collection, conversion and reconstruction of the data.

Two stepper motors are used to control of the system. One motor moves the source and the detector synchronously in parallel motion whereas the other motor moves the O frame in an arc-like motion at a preset projection angle. During a scanning, the transmitted intensity of gamma-ray from the source gamma-ray is detected by a scintillation detector. The detector is coupled with a ratemeter or scaler, and finally connected to a lap-top computer for data acquisition and control. After completing a scanning process, all the data will be analysed and corrected before they can be further processed using a home-made image reconstruction algorithm to generate an image.

Figure 5: Image reconstruction of clean pipe, and pipe with hard coherent deposit of different thickness

Figure 6: Image reconstruction of pipes with different types of deposits or blockages


Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainul Ahmad Rajion with a team of researchers from the School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia had visited the University of Tokushima on the 29th October 2014 and the University of Hiroshima on the 30th October 2014.

Visit to Imaging Centres at the University of Tokushima and Hiroshima, Japan.


Both universities have good imaging facilities which equipped with the Multiphoton Confocal Microscope System, the Small-Animal PET/CT System, the Multi Purpose High Field MRI/MRS Research System and the X-ray CT for Experimental Animals.

Visit to Imaging Centres at the University of Tokushima and Hiroshima, Japan.


The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, the University of Hiroshima, headed by Prof. Keiji Tanimoto, offer the core principle of image production and interpretation, some advanced imaging, and basic science for radiation and radiotherapy for dental students.

Among the research conducted are radiation effect to the bone, imaging study for dysphagia, diagnostic study of dento-maxillo-facial radiology and physiological study of swallowing using magnetic encephalography.


On 29th-30th November 2014, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) has organized 5th Exposition on Islamic Innovation 2014 (i-Inova 2014). The Exposition on Islamic Innovation (i-Inova) is a series of successful exposition that began in 2010. It is an exhibition and competition to introduce innovative products from higher learning institutions and research institute from local and abroad. The objective of this expo is to expose innovations that were achieved through research activities by students and researchers in Malaysia and the international institutions of higher learning. Hope that innovation and creative thinking can be continued as a culture in order to meet government aspiration. The objectives of this competition are to introduce innovation in the creation of Islamic products. Provide an opportunity for the society to understand and to trigger their awareness on the latest creation and usage of Islamic products. Increase awareness amongst individuals on consumer rights and the importance of Islamic products. Provide a platform for USIM to show its potential as the ‘Centre of Reference for Islamic Science Products’ which is in line with the University’s objectives, vision and mission. Encourage creativity and innovation among researchers and students in contributing to the development of ummah.

Dr. Jaafar Abdullah, President of MyCT has participated in this exposition with the product “Gamma-Spider”.

Date: 28-30th November2014 Time: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm Venue: USIM, Nilai

5th Exposition on Islamic Innovation 2014 (i-Inova 2014)

Workshop on Advance Imaging Processing and Analysis using Volume Graphics VG Studio 2.2

Date: 24th November 2014 Time: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm Venue: Agensi Nuklear Malaysia

MyCT has successfully organized a “Workshop on Advance Imaging Processing and Analysis using Volume Graphics VG Studio 2.2”. It has been held on 24th November 2014 at the Centre for Computed Tomography and Industrial Imaging (CCTII), Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, Kajang, Selangor. This one day course was attended by five participants from various backgrounds. The lecture was given by an expert, Mr. Wong Kum Seng from Alex Corporation (M) Sdn. Bhd. The course is organized as a part of MyCT initiative to ensure that members of MyCT community are updated with new development related on image processing and analysis.


Date: 24th November2014 Time: 9.15 am – 12.30 pm Venue: Agensi Nuklear Malaysia

The 3rd MyCT Board of Management (BOM) meeting for 2014 was held at Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, Kajang, Selangor on 24th November 2014. Most of the BOM members attended the meeting. The main objectives to discuss in this meeting were:

1. Colloquium on Process Tomography at UTM Skudai, Johor on February 2015.

2. International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-6, 2017).

3. National Workshop on Computed Tomography and Imaging Technology (Jun 2015).

4. Seminar on Computational, Simulation and Modeling Research and Workshop on Accelerator

Driven System (ADS).

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam will hosted the next BOM meeting on 26th January 2015.

3rd MyCT Board of Management Meeting 2014

Malaysian Society for Computed Tomography and Imaging Technology (MyCT) c/o Suite 29T026, Industrial Technology Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency,

Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Tel: 03-89250510 Fax: 03-89250907 E-mail: [email protected]

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