• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.117-126
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• 2010

In order to obtain more clear x-ray images, an antiscatter grid, which can absorb the scattered rays, is employed. In the high-resolution direct digital radiography, however, the artifacts due to the grid are visible. In this paper, the grid artifacts are reduced by applying simple 1-dimensional low-pass filters in the spatial domain based on the rotated grid. Since the proposed algorithm does not use any detection scheme for the artifact frequencies and discrete Fourier transforms for 2-dimensional filters, it can simply and fast reduce the grid artifacts. The performance using the order 1 average filter is compatible to that of using 2-dimensional filters in the frequency domain.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.825-835
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• 2003

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of joint angle errors mainly due to skin artifact and measurement errors during gait analysis. Joint angle errors lead to unreliable kinematics and kinetic analyses in the investigation of human motion. The purpose of this paper is to present the Joint Averaging Coordinate System (JACS) method for human gait analysis. The JACS method is based on the concept of statistical data reduction of anatomically referenced marker data. Since markers are not attached to rigid bodies, different marker combinations lead to slightly different predictions of joint angles. These different combinations can be averaged in order to provide a "best" estimate of joint angle. Results of a gait analysis are presented using clinically meaningful terminology to provide better communication with clinical personal. In order to verify the developed JACS method, a simple three-dimensional knee joint contact model was developed, employing an absolute coordinate system without using any kinematics constraint in which thigh and shank segments can be derived independently. In the experimental data recovery, the separation and penetration distance of the knee joint is supposed to be zero during one gait cycle if there are no errors in the experimental data. Using the JACS method, the separation and penetration error was reduced compared to well-developed existing methods such as ACRS and Spoor & Veldpaus method. The separation and penetration distance ranged up to 15 mm and 12 mm using the Spoor & Veldpaus and ACRS method, respectively, compared to 9 mm using JACS method. Statistical methods like the JACS can be applied in conjunction with existing techniques that reduce systematic errors in marker location, leading to an improved assessment of human gait.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm activated at different times during cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition on the magnitude of artifacts generated by a zirconium implant. Materials and Methods: Volumes were obtained with and without a zirconium implant in a human mandible, using the OP300 Maxio unit. Three modes were tested: without MAR, with MAR activated after acquisition, and with MAR activated before acquisition. Artifacts were assessed in terms of the standard deviation (SD) of gray values and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in 6 regions of interest with different distances (10 to 35 mm, from the nearest to the farthest) and angulations(70° to 135°) from the implant region. Results: In the acquisitions without MAR, the regions closer to the implant(10 and 15mm) had a higher SD and lower CNR than the farther regions. When MAR was activated (before or after), SD values did not differ among the regions (P>0.05). The region closest to the implant presented a significantly lower CNR in the acquisitions without MAR than when MAR was activated after the acquisition; however, activating MAR before the acquisition did not yield significant differences from either of the other conditions. Conclusion: Both modes of MAR activation were effective in decreasing the magnitude of CBCT artifacts, especially when the effects of the artifacts were more noticeable.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.296-306
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• 2006

We proposed the algorithm for the quantization noise reduction based on variable filter adaptive to edge signal in MPEG postprocessing system. In our algorithm, edge map and local modulus maxima in the decoded images are obtained by using 2D Mallat wavelet tilter. And then, blocking artifacts in inter-block are reduced by Gaussian LPF that is variable to filtering region according to edge map. Ringing artifacts in intra-block are reduced by 2D SAF according to local modulus maxima. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm was superior to the conventional algorithms as regards PSNR, which was improved by 0.04-0.20 dB, and the subjective image quality.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 1997

In this paper, we propose a fast algorithm with adaptive thresholding for the wavelet transform (WT) based blocking artifact reduction. In the fast algorithm, all processings that are equivalent to the processing in WT domain of the first and second scale are performed in spatial domain. In the adaptive thresholding, the threshold values used to classify the block boundary are selected adaptively according to each input image by using the statistical properties of the WT of the coded signal at block boundary and at block center, which can be obtained in spatial domain. Experimental results showed that the proposed fast algorithm is about 10 times faster than the WT-based algorithm. It also was found that the postprocessing with proposed adaptive thresholding yields some PSNR improvement and better subjective quality over that with nonadaptive thresholding which has best performance at high compression ratios of a certain .image, even at low compression ratios.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.215-223
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• 2016

Purpose: The management of metal-induced field inhomogeneities is one of the major concerns of distortion-free magnetic resonance images near metallic implants. The recently proposed method called "Slice Encoding for Metal Artifact Correction (SEMAC)" is an effective spin echo pulse sequence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) near metallic implants. However, as SEMAC uses the noisy resolved data elements, SEMAC images can have a major problem for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) without compromising the correction of metal artifacts. To address that issue, this paper presents a novel reconstruction technique for providing an improvement of the SNR in SEMAC images without sacrificing the correction of metal artifacts. Materials and Methods: Low-rank approximation in each coil image is first performed to suppress the noise in the slice direction, because the signal is highly correlated between SEMAC-encoded slices. Secondly, SEMAC images are reconstructed by the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE), also known as Gauss-Markov or weighted least squares. Noise levels and correlation in the receiver channels are considered for the sake of SNR optimization. To this end, since distorted excitation profiles are sparse, $l_1$ minimization performs well in recovering the sparse distorted excitation profiles and the sparse modeling of our approach offers excellent correction of metal-induced distortions. Results: Three images reconstructed using SEMAC, SEMAC with the conventional two-step noise reduction, and the proposed image denoising for metal MRI exploiting sparsity and low rank approximation algorithm were compared. The proposed algorithm outperformed two methods and produced 119% SNR better than SEMAC and 89% SNR better than SEMAC with the conventional two-step noise reduction. Conclusion: We successfully demonstrated that the proposed, novel algorithm for SEMAC, if compared with conventional de-noising methods, substantially improves SNR and reduces artifacts.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

Purpose: This study evaluated the influence of a metal artifact reduction (MAR) tool in a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) device on the diagnosis of vertical root fractures (VRFs) in teeth with different root filling materials. Materials and Methods: Forty-five extracted human premolars were classified into three subgroups; 1) no filling; 2) gutta-percha; and 3) metallic post. CBCT images were acquired using an Orthopantomograph 300 unit with and without a MAR tool. Subsequently, the same teeth were fractured, and new CBCT scans were obtained with and without MAR. Two oral radiologists evaluated the images regarding the presence or absence of VRF. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and diagnostic tests were performed. Results: The overall area under the curve values were 0.695 for CBCT with MAR and 0.789 for CBCT without MAR. The MAR tool negatively influenced the overall diagnosis of VRFs in all tested subgroups, with lower accuracy (0.45-0.72), sensitivity (0.6-0.67), and specificity (0.23-0.8) than were found for the images without MAR. In the latter group, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity values were 0.68-0.77, 0.67-083, and 0.53-087, respectively. However, no significant difference was found between images with and without MAR for the no filling and gutta-percha subgroups (P>0.05). In the metallic post subgroup, CBCT showed a significant difference according to MAR use (P<0.05). Conclusion: The OP 300 MAR tool negatively influenced the detection of VRFs in teeth with no root canal filling, gutta-percha, or metallic posts. Teeth with metallic posts suffered the most from the negative impact of MAR.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess artifacts generated in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) of 3 types of dental implants using 3 metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm conditions (pre-acquisition MAR, post-acquisition MAR, and no MAR), and 2 peak kilovoltage (kVp) settings. Materials and Methods: Titanium-zirconium, titanium, and zirconium alloy implants were placed in a dry mandible. CBCT images were acquired using 84 and 90 kVp and at normal resolution for all 3 MAR conditions. The images were analyzed using ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) to calculate the intensity of artifacts for each combination of material and settings. A 3-factor analysis of variance model with up to 3-way interactions was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in the mean intensity of artifacts associated with each factor. Results: The analysis of all 3 MAR conditions showed that using no MAR resulted in substantially more severe artifacts than either of the 2 MAR algorithms for the 3 implant materials; however, there were no significant differences between pre- and post-acquisition MAR. The 90 kVp setting generated less intense artifacts on average than the 84 kVp setting. The titanium-zirconium alloy generated significantly less intense artifacts than zirconium. Titanium generated artifacts at an intermediate level relative to the other 2 implant materials, but was not statistically significantly different from either. Conclusion: This in vitro study suggests that artifacts can be minimized by using a titanium-zirconium alloy at the 90 kVp setting, with either MAR setting.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2023

Metal artifacts cause inaccuracies in target delineation, radiation treatment planning, and delivery when computed tomography images of a radiotherapy patient implanted with a high-density material in the body are acquired. In this study, we investigated the possibility of obtaining improved images in clinical trials through metal artifact reduction using silicon impression materials without the need for a specific metal artifact reduction algorithm. A silicon impression material exhibiting a constant Hounsfield unit (HU) value according to the mixing ratio of the catalysts and bases was selected. The material did not exhibit any change in weight or shape over time. For both the instances of inserting the metal material and applying the silicon impression material, the HU value and dose were compared with homogeneous cases filled with water-equivalent materials. When the silicon impression material was applied to the region where the high-density material was located, the HU value was within 5% and the dose was within 3% compared with those of the homogeneous cases. In this study, the silicon impression materials reduced metal artifacts. However, because the composition, shape, size, and location of high-density materials differ, further studies are required to consider these factors in clinical applications.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2024

Purpose: This study examined the influence of a metal artifact reduction (MAR) tool, sharpening filters, and their combination on the diagnosis of vertical root fracture (VRF) in teeth with metallic posts using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Twenty single-rooted human premolars - 9 with VRF and 11 without - were individually placed in a human mandible. A metallic post composed of a cobalt-chromium alloy was inserted into the root canal of each tooth. CBCT scans were then acquired under the following parameters: 8 mA, a 5×5 cm field of view, a voxel size of 0.085 mm, 90 kVp, and with MAR either enabled or disabled. Five oral and maxillofacial radiologists independently evaluated the CBCT exams under each MAR mode and across 3 sharpening filter conditions: no filter, Sharpen 1×, and Sharpen 2×. The diagnostic performance was quantified by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity. These metrics were compared using 2-way analysis of variance with a significance level of α=5%. Intra- and inter-examiner agreement were assessed using the weighted kappa test. Results: Neither MAR nor the application of sharpening filters significantly impacted AUC or specificity (P>0.05). However, sensitivity increased when MAR was combined with Sharpen 1× and Sharpen 2× (P=0.015). The intra-examiner agreement ranged from fair to substantial (0.34-0.66), while the inter-examiner agreement ranged from fair to moderate (0.27-0.41). Conclusion: MAR in conjunction with sharpening filters improved VRF detection; therefore, their combined use is recommended in cases of suspected VRF.