• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 2007

In digital radiography, to improve the contrast of digital radiography image, the multi-scale nonlinear amplification algorithm based on unsharp masking is one of the major image enhancement algorithms. In this paper, we used the Laplacian pyramid to decompose a digital radiography(DR) image. In our simulation, the DR image was decomposed into seven layers and the coefficients of the each layer was amplified with nonlinear function. We also imported a noise containment algorithm to limit noise amplification. To enhance the contrast of image, we proposed a new adaptive non-linear gain amplification coefficients. As a result of having applied to some clinical data, a detail visibility was improved significantly without unacceptable noise boosting. Images that acquired with the proposed adaptive non-linear gain coefficients have shown superior quality to those that applied similar gain control method and expected to be accepted in the clinical applications.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.295-300
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• 2005

We introduce an x-ray micro tomography system capable of high resolution imaging of a local region inside a small animal. By combining two kinds of projection data, one from a full field-of-view (FOV) scan of the whole body and the other from a limited FOV scan of the region of interest, we have obtained zoomed-in images of the region of interest without any contrast a nomalies. We have integrated a micro tomography system using a micro-focus x-ray source, a $1248\times1248$ flat-panel x-ray detector, and a precision scan mechanism. Using the cross-sectional images taken with the zoom-in micro tomography system, we measured trabecular thicknesses of femur bones in postmortem rats. To compensate the limited spatial resolution in the zoom-in micro tomography images, we used the fuzzy distance transform for the calculation of the trabecular thickness. To validate the trabecular thickness measurement with the zoom-in micro tomography images, we compared the measurement results with the ones obtained from the conventional micro tomography images of the extracted bone samples.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2007

Elasticity is an important physical property of biological tissues. Differences in elasticity can help facilitate the diagnosis of tumors and their extent. Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) tries to visualize images of tissue elasticity by externally applying shear stress on the surface of an imaging object. Applied shear stress induces internal displacements that can be measured from MR phase images. In order to conduct MRE imaging experiments, we need to first develop a vibrator. We found that there does not exist enough technical information to design the MRE vibrator. In this paper, we describe the theory, design and construction of an MRE vibrator. We report the performance of the developed vibrator using two different test methods. We found that the vibrator successfully induces enough internal displacements that can be imaged using an MRI scanner. We suggest future studies of numerous MRE imaging experiments using the vibrator.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2007

This study was designed to investigate the feasibility to utilize the electromyogram (EMG) for estimating the muscle torque. The muscle torque estimation plays an important role in functional electrical stimulation because electrical stimulation causes muscles to fatigue much faster than voluntary contraction, and the stimulation intensity should then be modified to keep the muscle torque within the desired range. We employed the neural network method which was trained using the major EMG parameters and the corresponding knee extensor torque measured and extracted during isometric contractions. The experimental results suggested that (1) our neural network algorithm and protocol was feasible to be adopted in a real-time feedback control of the stimulation intensity, (2) the training data needed to cover the entire range of the measured value, (3) different amplitudes and frequencies made little difference to the estimation quality, and (4) a single input to the neural network led to a better estimation rather than a combination of two or three. Since this study was done under a limited contraction condition, the results need more experiments under many different contraction conditions, such as during walking, for justification.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2007

We have developed a multi-channel, multi-frequency EIT system with operating frequency of 10Hz to 500KHz. The number of digital voltmeters using phase-sensitive demodulation can be varied from 8 to 64 and we found that 16 and 32-channels are most practical. This paper describes the design, implementation, and construction of 16 and 32-channel systems. The performance of the system was thoroughly tested and we found that CMRR of the developed voltmeter is about 85dB with $100{\Omega}$ unbalancing series resistor. The SNR is greater than 99.6dB and the output impedance of the constant current source is $1{\Omega}W$ at least for all frequencies. Imaging experiments using a banana with frequency-dependent conductivity and permittivity show that frequency-difference imaging is possible using the developed system. Future works of animal and human experiments are discussed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.577-584
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• 2007

Uroflowmetry is non-invasive and easily performed to diagnose benign prostatic hypertrophy(BPH) frequent in aged men. Weight change during urination is usually measured to estimate the urinary flow rate by a load cell, but sensitive to any impacts against the bottom of the container, leading to unnecessary noise generation. Moreover, load cells are relatively expensive raising the production cost. The present study proposed a new technique, measuring hydraulic pressure on the bottom of the urine container to evaluate the urinary volume. Low cost pressure transducer enabled almost perfectly linear relationship between the urine volume and the hydraulic pressure. During both the simulated and human urination experiments, variance of the pressure signal was more than 50% smaller than the weight signal acquired by a load cell, which demonstrated that the impact noise was decreased to a great degree by pressure compared to weight measurement.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.140-145
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• 2018

Cancer is a major burden of human disease worldwide. Current chemotherapy has severe side effects because the drugs affect whole body nonspecifically. In addition, the drugs to reach cancer cells are very limited. Over the last two decades, Drug Delivery System (DDS) using nanoparticles has suggested promising results to improve current limitations. In this study, we prepared PLGA nanoparticles with different charge properties and observed their stability and internalization effect to cancer cells. Results using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the size and chemical composition of the nanoparticles. The stability of the nanoparticles in pH buffers were variable depending on charge properties. The nanoparticles showed different cytotoxicity and internalization effects to MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated the importance of delicately engineered nanoparticles for better DDS in cancer.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.318-322
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to examine differences between 20s and 40s in visuospatial performance and brain activation areas using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Eight male college students in their twenties ($21.5{\pm}2.3$ years old) and six male adults in their forties ($45.7{\pm}2.6$ years old) who were graduated from college participated in the study. A visuospatial task was presented while brain images were acquired by a 3T fMRI system. Compared to the 20s the 40s showed lower visuospatial performance. There were more activations observed at the parietal and superior frontal areas at 20s compared to 40s. There were more activations observed at the middle frontal and occipital areas at 40s compared to 20s. The results of this study show that the lowering of visuospatial performance with aging was correlated to the decrease of activation area at the parietal lobe and the change of activation area at the frontal lobe.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.255-260
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• 2014

A portable clip-type pulsimeter equipped with a magnetic sensing Hall device has been developed to raise the accuracy of oriental disease diagnosis and therapy by convergence of magnetism and oriental medicine. To improve accuracy and reliability of conventional pulsimeter due to subjective analysis of the pulse wave and measuring position dependency of the arterial pulse sensor, the fuzzy algorithm was applied to analyze the strong- and weak-pulse wave symptom. Optimal time for electronic acupuncture was calculated using fuzzy rules and interference were drawn from objective data in view of pre-treatment. Moreover, the electrical characteristics of the pain parts that respond to acupuncture point were applied in view of post-treatment to propose the scientific pulse wave algorithm and simulation experiment.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.129-132
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• 2005

It is one of the most important issues to determine a target brain image that gives a common coordinate system for a constructing population-based brain atlas. The purpose of this study is to provide a simple and reliable procedure that determines the target brain image among the group based on the inherent structural information of three-dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) images. It uses only 11 lines defined automatically as a feature vector representing structural variations based on the Talairach coordinate system. Average characteristic vector of the group and the difference vectors of each one from the average vector were obtained. Finally, the individual data that had the minimum difference vector was determined as the target. We determined the target brain image by both our algorithm and conventional visual inspection for 20 healthy young volunteers. Eighteen fiducial points were marked independently for each data to evaluate the similarity. Target brain image obtained by our algorithm showed the best result, and the visual inspection determined the second one. We concluded that our method could be used to determine an appropriate target brain image in constructing brain atlases such as disease-specific ones.