• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2004

We developed an x-ray cone-beam micro computed tomography (micro-CT) system for small-animal imaging. The micro-CT system consists of a 2-D flat-panel x-ray detector with a field-of-view (FOV) of 120${\times}$120 mm2, a micro-focus x-ray source, a scan controller and a parallel image reconstruction system. Imaging performances of the micro-CT system have been evaluated in terms of contrast and spatial resolution. The minimum resolvable contrast has been found to be less than 36 CT numbers at the dose of 95 mGy and the spatial resolution about 14 lp/mm. As small animal imaging results, we present high resolution 3-D images of rat organs including a femur, a heart and vessels. We expected that the developed micro-CT system can be greatly used in biomedical studies using small animals.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.58-62
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• 2015

Background: Age-related changes have been studied for lower and middle facial bones. Although the forehead comprises one-third of the facial area, no studies have investigated age-related changes in the upper part of the face or forehead. The purpose of this study was to use three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) to investigate age-related changes in the frontal bone. Methods: A retrospective review was performed for patients who underwent 3D CT scan of facial bones. Patients were divided by gender and age (20 to 40 years, 41 to 60 years, and above 60 years). The frontal bone curvature was evaluated by the length of frontal bone and by two frontal bone angles in relation to the Frankfurt horizon. Results: In both genders, aging was associated with increasing lower slope length. In elderly men (>60 years), the upper slope angle was significantly higher when compared to younger male subjects. Women demonstrated similar age-related changes, but the differences were only statistically significant for the middle and older age groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrates quantifiable age-related changes in the frontal bone. These findings contribute to the understanding of age-related changes of the facial soft tissues. The mean measurements in each age group can be used as a reference when planning forehead reconstruction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.975-980
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• 2020

Cervical neural foraminal stenosis is a very common spinal disease that affects a relatively large number of people of all ages. However, since imaging methods that quantitatively provide neural foraminal stenosis are lacking, this study attempts to present quantitative measurement results by reconstructing 3D computed tomography images. Using a 3D reconstruction software, the surrounding bones were removed, including the spinous process, transverse process, and lamina of the cervical spine so that the neural foramen were well observed. Using Image J, a region of interest including the neural foramen area of the 3D image was set, and the number of pixels of the neural foramen area was measured. The neural foramen area was calculated by multiplying the number of measured pixels by the pixel size. In order to measure the widest area of the neural foramen, it was measured between 40-50 degrees in the opposite direction and 15-20 degrees toward the head. The measured cervical neural foramen area showed consistent measurement values. The largest measured area of the right neural foramen C5-6 was 12.21 ㎟, and after 2 years, the area was measured to be 9.95 ㎟, indicating that 18% stenosis had progressed. Since 3D reconstruction using axial CT scan images, no additional radiation exposure is required, and the area of stenosis can be objectively presented. In addition, it is good to explain to patients with neural stenosis while viewing 3D images, and it is considered a good method to be used in the evaluation of the progression of stenosis and post-operative evaluation.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the real geometry of Resident's ridge doing in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction Materials and Methods: From Jan 2007 to Aug 2007, 48 cases which had normal distal femoral condyle analyzed with Multidetector-Row Computed Tomography. Resident's ridge was defined as change of height above 1 mm in lateral wall of intercondylar notch. Anterior-posterior length of intercondylar notch, length and height of Resident's ridge, distance of Resident's ridge from posterior cortex were estimated with 3-D reconstruction using $Lucion^{(R)}$ program. Results: Cases were $59{\pm}16$ years olds and male was 16 cases, female was 32 cases. 9 cases had no Resident's ridge, anterior-posterior length of intercondylar notch was $25.4{\pm}3.5$ mm, average of length and height of the Resident's ridge was $8.2{\pm}2.6,\;3.5{\pm}1.5$ mm. Distance of the Resident's ridge from posterior cortex was $7.6{\pm}2.6$ mm. Conclusion: Resident's ridge was used as landmark in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, which presented in many cases and which had distinct length and height.

• The Transactions of the Korea Information Processing Society
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.326-334
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• 2024

Extra-oral imaging techniques such as Panoramic X-rays (PXs) and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) are the most preferred imaging modalities in dental clinics owing to its patient convenience during imaging as well as their ability to visualize entire teeth information. PXs are preferred for routine clinical treatments and CBCTs for complex surgeries and implant treatments. However, PXs are limited by the lack of third dimensional spatial information whereas CBCTs inflict high radiation exposure to patient. When a PX is already available, it is beneficial to reconstruct the 3D oral structure from the PX to avoid further expenses and radiation dose. In this paper, we propose 3DentAI - an U-Net based deep learning framework for 3D reconstruction of oral structure from a PX image. Our framework consists of three module - a reconstruction module based on attention U-Net for estimating depth from a PX image, a realignment module for aligning the predicted flattened volume to the shape of jaw using a predefined focal trough and ray data, and lastly a refinement module based on 3D U-Net for interpolating the missing information to obtain a smooth representation of oral cavity. Synthetic PXs obtained from CBCT by ray tracing and rendering were used to train the networks without the need of paired PX and CBCT datasets. Our method, trained and tested on a diverse datasets of 600 patients, achieved superior performance to GAN-based models even with low computational complexity.

• Journal of International Society for Simulation Surgery
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.99-102
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• 2014

The skull defect can be made after the trauma, oncologic problems or neurosurgery. The skull reconstruction has been the challenging issue in craniofacial fields for a long time. So far the skull reconstruction with autogenous bone would be the standard. Although the autogenous bone would be the ideal one for skull reconstruction, donor site morbidity would be the inevitable problem in many cases. Meanwhile various types of allogenic and alloplastic materials have been also used. However, skull reconstruction with many alloplastic material have produced no less complications including infection, exposure, and delayed wound healing. Because the 3D printing technique evolved so fast that 3D printed titanium implant were possible recently. The aim of this trial is to try to restore the original skull anatomy as possible using the 3D printed titanium implant, based on the mirrored three dimensional CT images based on the computer simulation. Preoperative computed tomography (CT) data were processed for the patient and a rapid prototyping (RP) model was produced. At the same time, the uninjured side was mirrored and superimposed onto the traumatized side, to create a mirror-image of the RP model. And we fabricated Titanium implant to reconstruct three-dimensional orbital structure in advance, using the 3D printer. This prefabricated Titanium-implant was then inserted onto the defected skull and fixed. Three dimensional printing technique of titanium material based on the computer simulation turned out to be very successful in this patient. Individualized approach for each patient could be an ideal way to manage the traumatic patients in near future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Broadcast Engineers Conference
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• 2013.06a
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• pp.274-277
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• 2013

CT(Computed Tomography)영상에서 선량과 화질은 중요한 요소이다. 선량은 환자에게 직접적으로 악영향을 끼치는 요소이며, 화질은 환자의 병변을 판단하는데 매우 중요하게 작용한다. 반복적 재구성 알고리즘을 이용하면 저선량 영상에서도 고화질의 영상을 얻을 수 있는지 FBP와 정량적, 정성적으로 비교하였다. 촬영 프로토콜은 관전압 80, 100, 120kVp에서 관전류를 동일하게 200mA로 촬영하여 획득하였으며, 정량적 평가를 위해 SD(Standard Deviation), SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio), MTF(Modulation Transfer Function)를 측정하여 분석하였다. 선량은 80kVp일 때 가장 낮았으며, 120kVp일 때 가장 높았다. 80kVp의 영상을 Toshiba 사(社)의 AIDR 3D(Adaptive Iterative Reduction integrated into $^{SURE}Exposure$)로 재구성하고, 120kVp의 영상에 FBP로 재구성한 다음 정량적 비교를 한 결과 AIDR 3D를 적용한 영상의 SD가 낮게 나왔으며, SNR이 높게 나타났고, MTF 곡선은 유사하게 나타났다. 그리고 FWHM(Full Width at Half Maximum) 값의 오차가 거의 없었다. 결론적으로 AIDR 3D는 저선량에서도 높은 화질을 나타냄을 확인하였다.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2015

Background: Source material used to fill calvarial defects includes autologous bones and synthetic alternatives. While autologous bone is preferable to synthetic material, autologous reconstruction is not always feasible due to defect size, unacceptable donor-site morbidity, and other issues. Today, advanced three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques allow for fabrication of titanium implants customized to the exact need of individual patients with calvarial defects. In this report, we present three cases of calvarial reconstructions using 3D-printed porous titanium implants. Methods: From 2013 through 2014, three calvarial defects were repaired using custom-made 3D porous titanium implants. The defects were due either to traumatic subdural hematoma or to meningioma and were located in parieto-occipital, fronto-temporo-parietal, and parieto-temporal areas. The implants were prepared using individual 3D computed tomography (CT) data, Mimics software, and an electron beam melting machine. For each patient, several designs of the implant were evaluated against 3D-printed skull models. All three cases had a custom-made 3D porous titanium implant laid on the defect and rigid fixation was done with 8 mm screws. Results: The custom-made 3D implants fit each patient's skull defect precisely without any dead space. The operative site healed without any specific complications. Postoperative CTs revealed the implants to be in correct position. Conclusion: An autologous graft is not a feasible option in the reconstruction of large calvarial defects. Ideally, synthetic materials for calvarial reconstruction should be easily applicable, durable, and strong. In these aspects, a 3D titanium implant can be an optimal source material in calvarial reconstruction.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2019

We present the three-dimensional volume reconstruction model using the modified Cahn-Hilliard equation with a fractional Laplacian. From two-dimensional cross section images such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging slice data, we suggest an algorithm to reconstruct three-dimensional volume surface. By using Laplacian operator with the fractional one, the dynamics is changed to the macroscopic limit of Levy process. We initialize between the two cross section with linear interpolation and then smooth and reconstruct the surface by solving modified Cahn-Hilliard equation. We perform various numerical experiments to compare with the previous research.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2017

Objectives: The concept of natural head position (NHP) was first introduced by Broca in 1862, and was described as a person's stable physiologic position "when a man is standing and his visual axis is horizontal." NHP has been used routinely for clinical examination; however, a patient's head position is random during cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition. To solve this problem, we developed an accelerometer to record patients' NHP and reproduce them for CBCT images. In this study, we also tested the accuracy and reproducibility of our accelerometer. Materials and Methods: A total of 15 subjects participated in this study. We invented an accelerometer that measured acceleration on three axes and that could record roll and pitch calculations. Recorded roll and pitch data for each NHP were applied to a reoriented virtual image using three-dimensional (3D) imaging software. The data between the 3D models and the clinical photos were statistically analyzed side by side. Paired t-tests were used to statistically analyze the measurements. Results: The average difference in the angles between the clinical photograph and the 3D model was $0.04^{\circ}$ for roll and $0.29^{\circ}$ for pitch. The paired t-tests for the roll data (P=0.781) and the pitch data (P=0.169) showed no significant difference between the clinical photographs and the 3D model (P>0.05). Conclusion: By overcoming the limitations of previous NHP-recording techniques, our new method can accurately record patient NHP in a time-efficient manner. Our method can also accurately transfer the NHP to a 3D virtual model.