• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.629-636
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of mammo pad made of different kinds of materials on the reduced inconvenience and compression pains of patients to examine plausible interchangeability of existing pads made of single kind of material, and to examine the changes in pains of patients taking mammography and various factors therein. The high-hardness and highly-elastic mammo pressure pads, capable of replacing existing mammo pad of "H" company, were manufactured, and the display quality of mammography obtained from respective mammo pad were compared to each other to appraise the availability of manufactured mammo pad. In addition, 200 patients, who came to a general hospital in Seoul, were selected as subjects for the survey employing a questionnaire which was distributed to the subjects from December 2018 to March 2020 to identify the factors involved with the mammo pad of patients while taking mammography. The results of mammography obtained from both of the existing and newly manufactured mammo pad revealed appropriate display qualities fell within the range of clinical criteria. Besides, the factors associated with changing compression pains of patients taking mammography were analyzed wherefrom the general factors in the following order of age, height, and BMI index appeared, while the experiential and female factors appeared as in the following order: presence of menstruation, experience of child-birth, experience of breast feeding, menopause, grade of breast, shape of breast, and experience of mammography. In conclusion, the following factors comprising the age, experience of breast feeding, experience of mammography, and menopause rendered approximately 54% of power of explaining the degree of changing pains during mammography. Regarding the changes in compression pains while taking mammography, the increasing experience of mammography of patients rendered approximately 0.26 times more at the intermediate range of compression pains and approximately 0.14 times more at the range of severe pains.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.29-35
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to compare the compression force and thickness of the compressed breast between mediolateral oblique and craniocaudal mammography. This population consisted of 204 paired mediolateral oblique and craniocaudal mammography obtained on one mammographic unit by certified mammography technologists during 2 month period. The women examined were $30{\sim}59$ years old with breast implants, the patients were classified into 3 groups according to age, $30{\sim}39$, $40{\sim}49$, and $50{\sim}59$, prior breast cancer, mastectomy or breast deformity were excluded. The digital readout of compressed breast compression force and thickness was recorded. Mammographic positioning was assessed using standard criteria. The mean compression force of the compressed breast on the craniocaudal projection was less than the mean compression force on the mediolateral projection(14 versus 13.88 daN, p<0.05). The mean thickness of the compressed breast for mediolateral projection was 41.46 mm and that for the craniocaudal projection was 39.50 mm(p<0.05). The compressed breast is higher or thicker on mediolateral oblique than on craniocaudal mammography.

• Journal of The Korean Radiological Technologist Association
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.144-145
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• 2003

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.303-308
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• 2022

Mammography using X-rays is currently the most used for early diagnosis of breast cancer. As the frequency of use of X-ray devices increases, interest in radiation hazards caused by mammography is increasing. Therefore, in this study, in order to measure the exposure dose of the mammary gland in X-ray mammography that requires high contrast and high resolution, the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stipulates the international standards presented by IEC 62220-1-2: 2015. Based on the beam quality criteria of the recommendation, we tried to present a guideline for evaluating the average mammary gland dose. As a result, the average streamline dose value of the 4.5 cm PMMA phantom was 2.3 mGy at the maximum within the 30 kV range, and was evaluated to be 1.19 mGy based on 28 kV.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.743-749
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• 2023

Breast ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) refers to cases in which breast epithelial cells have become malignant but are still limited to normal ducts, and has been increasing rapidly in recent years. In this case, a two-year follow-up revealed findings on mammography and ultrasonography that indicated a small mass classified as BI-RADS Category 3, However far from typical malignant tumor these findings were. In the second year of follow-up, a hypoechoic mass with an indistinct boundary of the right breast in the 6 o'clock direction, on mammography appeared to be about 2.1×1.3 cm in size, and biopsy diagnosed it as ductal carcinoma. Since ductal endothelial cancer has no characteristic clinical findings and can show positive clinical and imaging findings in the early stages, regular follow-up is considered important for early diagnosis, and detection of ductal endothelial cancer through mammography and ultrasound is important for improving the prognosis of all breast cancer patients. During the initial examination conducted four years ago, we reported cases of intra ductal cancer in which asymmetric shading, microcalcification, and branched mass, indicative of intra ductal cancer, were observed during follow-up. It is advisable to concurrently explore methods for reducing X-ray dosage to mitigate potential side effects of contrast medium.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2014

It is well known that low body mass index and younger age are associated with high breast density. Mammographic dense breast has been reported both as a cause of false-negative findings on mammography and as an indicator of increased breast cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between breast density and body mass index. Furthermore, we considered proper screening method of breast cancer in Korean women. The study was performed on 496 women who underwent health checkup in a university hospital. Age and body mass index were negatively associated with breast density respectively. In postmenopausal women, age and body mass index showed statistically significant association with breast density. Therefore, we should consider sensitive additional method for breast cancer screening especially in younger age and underweight women.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2006

The breast cancer has the highest occurrence rate among the female cancers, and as the living style changes, the occurrence is increasing gradually. For the breast cancer test among women, who comprises up to 50% of the total population, the mammography is mainly used as the screening test, and the accuracy control is the most important aspect of the testing. Therefore this research divided the northern part of Kyeongsangbuk-do into 4 regions and investigated the accordance ratio of examination field and light examination field, the total focus using the optical density and compression rate, and the overall maintenance of mammography within the regions. The equipments of 11 hospitals were investigated, and the 7 hospitals passed the standard level of the accordance ratio of examination field. 6 hospitals passed the standard optical density, and 7 hospitals had the passing performance in the compression rate. Fibers, group of specks, and masses within the Mammographic Accreditation Phantom scored 10, being within the standard range. However, only 3 hospitals were equipped with private development processor and illumination. The result reflects the fact that the image quality of breast is not correctly being maintained. Moreover, only 27.27% satisfied all the three categories of compression fitting, accordance ratio of examination field, and phantom image evaluation at the same time. The accuracy control must be maintained more precisely for the accurate diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

Mammography is commonly used for screening early breast cancer. However, mammographic images, which depend on the physical properties of breast components, are limited to provide information about whether a lesion is malignant or benign. Although a dual-energy subtraction technique decomposes a certain material from a mixture, it increases radiation dose and degrades the accuracy of material decomposition. In this study, we simulated a breast phantom using attenuation characteristics, and we proposed a technique to enable the accurate material decomposition by applying weighting factors for the dual-energy mammography based on a photon-counting detector using a Monte Carlo simulation tool. We also evaluated the contrast and noise of simulated breast images for validating the proposed technique. As a result, the contrast for a malignant tumor in the dual-energy weighted subtraction technique was 0.98 and 1.06 times similar than those in the general mammography and dual-energy subtraction techniques, respectively. However the contrast between malignant and benign tumors dramatically increased 13.54 times due to the low contrast of a benign tumor. Therefore, the proposed technique can increase the material decomposition accuracy for malignant tumor and improve the diagnostic accuracy of mammography.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.889-894
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• 2019

Upper gastrointestinal series is an examination that uses X-rays. It is important to defend against exposure to radiation during upper gastrointestinal examination because the organs, such as thyroid gland, lens, breasts, and gonads, with relatively high biological sensitivity to radiation are distributed on the examination area. We have made a whole body phantom that can change the depth of organs. radiation dose of eye, thyroid gland, breast and gonads were measured by the same procedure as the actual upper gastrointestinal examination. When performed only fluoroscopy the mean dose reduction of lens, thyroid gland, breast and gonads was 62.2%. The mean dose reduction of lens, thyroid gland, breast and gonads was 59.0% when both fluoroscopy and spot shoot were performed. Therefore, when performed upper gastrointestinal examination it was confirmed that shielding of the lens, thyroid gland, breast and gonads was effective in decreasing the exposure dose. The manufactured human phantom can be used in measuring radiation dose for deep organ because it can adjust the height corresponding to the organs located in the human body.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2009

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among korean woman. Therefore, the early detection activities of breast cancer such as breast self-examinations, clinical breast examinations, mammography are important. A yearly mammography examination has been recommended for women aged 40 and older for the early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic periods. However, the glandular tissue of breast is the most radiation-sensitive tissue, and the determination of average glandular dose (AGD) forms an important part of the quality control of the mammographic systems. Because of the difficulty of estimating AGD directly, it is often estimated from the measurements of the incident air kerma and by applying the appropriate conversion factors. The primary objective of this study was to standardize the method of measuring AGD. The secondary objective was to evaluate the relationships between AGD per various composition and thickness of the breast using Monte Carlo simulations. As a result, we standardized the method of measuring AGD according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines (CoP: an international code of practice). Overall, AGD for mammographic practice in Korea was less than 3.0 mGy recommended by the Korea Food and Drug Adminstration (KFDA) protocol, and Korean Institute for Accreditation of Medical Image (KIAMI). The measured and simulated AGD for a given condition were calculated as 1.7 and 1.6 mGy, respectively. For the AGDs obtained, there was no significant difference between them. The simulated AGD was dependent on the fraction of glandular tissue of the breast. The AGD increases with increasing of the breast glandularity due to increasing absorption of low energy photons. The AGD also increases as a function of breast thickness. In conclusion, the results of this study could be used as a baseline to establish a reference level of radiation dose in mammography.