• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.183-194
• /
• 2009

Purpose : This study was performed not only to compare the brain activation regions associated with sexual arousal induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture, but also to evaluate its differential neuro-anatomical mechanism in healthy women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla (T). Subjects and methods : A total of 21 healthy right-handed female volunteers (mean age 22 years, range 19 to 32) underwent fMRI on a 3T MR scanner. The stimulation paradigm for sexual arousal consisted of two alternating periods of rest and activation. It began with a 1-minute rest period, 3 minutes of stimulation with either of an erotic video film or SP6 acupuncture, followed by 1-minute rest. In addition, a comparative study on the brain activation patterns between an acupoint and a shampoint nearby GB37 was performed. The fMRI data were obtained from 20 slices parallel to the AC-PC line on an axial plane, giving a total of 2,000 images. The mean activation maps were constructed and analyzed by using the statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software. Results : As comparison with the shampoint, the acupoint showed 5 times and 2 times higher activities in the neocortex and limbic system, respectively. Note that brain activation in response to stimulation with the shampoint was not observed in the regions including the HTHL in the diencephalon, GLO and AMYG in the basal ganglia, and SMG in the parietal lobe. In the comparative study of visual stimulation vs. SP6 acupuncture, the mean activation ratio of stimulus was not significantly different to each other in both the neocortex and the limbic system (p < 0.05). The mean activities induced by both stimuli were not significantly different in the neocortex, whereas the acupunctural stimulation showed higher activity in the limbic system (p < 0.05). Conclusions : This study compared the differential brain activation patterns and the neural mechanisms for sexual arousal, which were induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture by using 3T fMRI. These findings will be useful to understand the theory of traditional acupuncture and acupoint channel in scientific point of view.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.157-165
• /
• 2006

In order to analyze clinical characteristics like sex- and age-based onset frequency and onset region from vertebral disease cases, this study investigated total 1,291 cases of vertebral disease that were diagnosed via magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) from January to December 2004 at B University Hospital in metropolitan area. For higher diagnostic accuracy in cases of spinal disorder diagnosed, this study analyzed findings from data reading conducted by veteran specialists in diagnostic radiology. But this study excluded uncertain lesion cases, the cases requiring differential diagnosis from other disorders and so on from subjects under analysis. This study employed superconductive 1.5 Tesla SIGNA MR/i for MRI test and basically received resulting images via FSE(fast spin echo). In particular, this study obtained T1 and T2 myelogram with regard to regional characteristics(such as cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebra) and imaging characteristics for sagittal and transverse section. As a result, this study came to the following conclusions : 1. In terms of general characteristics of subjects under analysis, male group comprised 53.5% and female 46.5% out of total 1,291 subjects. 2. The regional onset frequency of spinal disorders was converged primarily on lumbar vertebra(65.5%), which was followed by cervical vertebrae(27.3%) and thoracic vertebrae(7.0%) respectively. 3. Top 10 cases with high onset frequency of spinal disorders can be listed as follows : 1) posterior bulging disc 65.8% 2) narrowing of neural foramen 23.8% 3) herniated intervertebral disc (HIVD) 22.4% 4) spinal stenosis 16.7% 5) osteochondrosis 6.4% 6) compression fracture 6.4% 7) facet joint arthropathy 6.2% 8) spondylolisthesis 6.0% 9) spinal cord tumor 3.5% 10) inter body fusion 2.6%

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.84 no.2
• /
• pp.372-385
• /
• 2023

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and causes several complications in females. Currently, MRI is a necessary method for preoperative studies in patients with breast cancer. A high frequency of breast MRI can lead to an increase in the number of incidental extramammary findings. Moreover, it can provide accurate preoperative workup; therefore, the prognosis of patients can be improved. Herein, we provide several extramammary findings, including the mediastinum, lung, upper abdomen, bone, and soft tissue, correlating with US, chest CT, liver MRI, PET-CT, and bone scan.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.30-35
• /
• 2005

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to observe the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast changes due to the reaction of human brain at a gustatory sense in response to a salty-taste stimulation. Materials and Methods : Twelve healthy, non-smoking, right-handed male subjects (mean age: 25.6, range: 23-28 years) participated in this salty-taste stimulus functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) study. MRI scans were performed with 1.57 GE Signa, using a multi-slice GE-EPI sequence according to a blood-oxy-gen-level dependent (BOLD) experiment paradigm. Scan parameters included matrix size $128\times128$, FOV 250 mm, TR 5000 msec, TE 60 msec, TH/GAP 5/2 mm. Sequential data acquisitions were carried out for 42 measurements with a repetition time of 5 sec for each taste-stimulus experiments. Analysis of fMRI data was carried out using SPM99 implemented in Matlab. NaCl solution $(3\%)$ was used as a salty stimulus. The task paradigm consisted of alternating rest-stimulus cycles (30-second rest, 15-second stimulus) for 210 seconds. During the stimulus period, NaCl-solution was presented to the subject's mouth through plastic tubes as a bolus of delivered every 5 sec using -processor controlled auto-syringe pump. Results : Insula, frontal opercular taste cortex, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) were activated by a salty-taste stimulation $(NaCl,\;3\%)$ in the fMRI experiments. And dosolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was also significantly responded to salty-taste stimuli. Activation areas of the right side hemisphere were more superior to the left side hemisphere. Conclusion : The results of this study well correspond to the fact that both insula, amygdala, OFC, DLPFC areas are established as taste cortical areas by neuronal recordings in primates. Authors found that laboratory-developed auto-syringe pump is suitable for gustatory fMRI study. Further research in this field will accelerate to inquire into the mechanism of higher order gustatory process.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.29-34
• /
• 1997

For radiological test in soft tissue or neighboring part with same signal intensity, proper test method and equipment shall be selected as needed. In case of female pelvic cavity, ultrasonography or computed tomography alternatively used, but MRI can be more usefully applied to design treatment method or operation plan by improving the diagnostic accuracy and careful observation of lesion characteristics. Magnetic Resonance Imaging using recently developed Enteral MRI contrast media can acquire more diagnostic information than using only intravenous contrast media. Thus this study attempted to examine the utility of anatomic structure and diagnostic acquisition by imaging the female pelvic cavity using Enteral MRI contrast media. As a result of analyzing magnetic resonance Imaging after administering Enteral MRI contrast media to pelvic cavity suspect patients, more diagnostic information media could be acquired than only using Intravenous contrast. Expecially, in the diagnosis of lesion position, shape, distinction from neighboring tissues it is thought that external Enteral MRI contrast media should be used.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.83 no.6
• /
• pp.1229-1239
• /
• 2022

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has shown potential clinical utility in a wide range of MRI fields. In particular, AI models for improving the efficiency of the image acquisition process and the quality of reconstructed images are being actively developed by the MR research community. AI is expected to further reduce acquisition times in various MRI protocols used in clinical practice when compared to current parallel imaging techniques. Additionally, AI can help with tasks such as planning, parameter optimization, artifact reduction, and quality assessment. Furthermore, AI is being actively applied to automate MR image analysis such as image registration, segmentation, and object detection. For this reason, it is important to consider the effects of protocols or devices in MR image analysis. In this review article, we briefly introduced issues related to AI application of MR image acquisition and reconstruction.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.11 no.12
• /
• pp.4891-4895
• /
• 2010

RF coil is an important component of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system and the performance of RF coil is one of major factors for high SNR images. Sensitivity and RF field uniformity are parameters for evaluating RF coil performance. Since the B1 field is induced by RF coil, MR signal is strongly affected by RF coil structure and arrangement. In receiving MR signal, the RF coil sensitivity to MR Signal is also determined by the induced B1 field of RF coil. Therefore, the spatial distribution of B1 field must be verified. In this work, we performed computer simulation of the basic RF coil structures using Matlab and verified their sensitivity and uniformity through their B1 field distribution. This work will be useful for the advanced multi-channel RF coil design.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
• /
• 2015.05a
• /
• pp.153-154
• /
• 2015

현재 의료장비는 진단의 향상을 위해 보다 나은 영상을 획득하기 위하여 개발, 발전되어지고 있다. MRI장비 또한 좋은 영상을 획득하기 위해 소프트웨어 및 하드웨어가 발전되고 있다. 그 중의 하나가 자자의 세기가 점차 강한 장비로 변화되는 것이다. 고자장의 장비는 좋은 영상을 획득할 수 있는 장점이 있는 반면 폐쇄적 공포감, 소음 등의 단점 또한 존재한다. 이에 본 연구에서는 MRI 장비 단점 중 하나인 소음이 환자에게 심리적, 정신적으로 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 설문조사한다. 그리고 이 장비를 사용하는 방사선사의 소음에 대한 인지정도를 설문조사하여 알아보고자한다. 따라서 이 연구는 MRI 검사 시 환자와 방사선사에게 소음에 대한 인식 향상 및 보호 제도 마련의 기초를 제공하고자 한다.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.307-314
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted in reducing the involuntary motion artifacts because of lungs and heart movements as well as the aliasing artifacts generated during the use of the reduced-FOV EPI technique while performing breast MRI. Performed on a total of 38 obesity female subjects who visited the clinic for pre-examination before surgery within the period from August 1 to November 30, 2014. The 3.0T MRI scanner equipped with a breast scanning coil. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were each used for the evaluation of the acquired images while an Paired T-test and Wilcoxon rank test were performed to check the statistical significance. The variation ratio rose by 15.69% with the additional application of a pre-saturation pulse in the lesion, by 13.72% near the lesion, and 20.63% in the fat and the contrast-to-noise ratio rose by 10.58% in and near the lesion and by 12.03% in the lesion and fat, respectively. there were increases of 22.05% and 21.42% at 0 and 1000 respectively in qulitative evaluation and growth of 16.10% in apparent diffusion coefficient. it showed a statistically significant result(p<0.05) in signal to noise ratio, contrast to noise ratio, diffusion slope coefficient and apparent diffusion coefficient. The involuntary movements artifacts that occur in the phase encoding direction and the aliasing artifacts are considered to be reduced to obtain the best image in the additional use of the pre-saturation pulse as DWI is acquired.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.82 no.5
• /
• pp.1334-1340
• /
• 2021

Amyloidosis has been reported to be associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Amyloidosis and lymphoma can be related in two ways: lymphoma-associated systemic amyloidosis and peritumoral amyloidosis with lymphoma. We report a rare case of peritumoral amyloidosis in a patient with head and neck mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. On CT, the oropharyngeal mass showed an irregularly shaped soft-tissue density with multifocal amorphous calcifications and heterogeneous enhancement. On MRI, the mass showed heterogeneous low signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted images. On contrast-enhanced MR images, the mass showed good enhancement with several inner non-enhancing foci. Concurrent pathologies, such as peritumoral amyloidosis, should be considered when calcifications are noted in patients with pre-treatment lymphoma.