• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3403-3414
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to model and optimize the block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D) algorithm and to evaluate its applicability in brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images using a fan beam collimator. For quantitative evaluation of the noise level, the coefficient of variation (COV) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were used, and finally, a no-reference-based evaluation parameter was used for optimization of the BM3D algorithm in the brain SPECT images. As a result, optimized results were derived when the sigma values of the BM3D algorithm were 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25 in brain SPECT images acquired for 5, 10, and 15 s, respectively. In addition, when the sigma value of the optimized BM3D algorithm was applied, superior results were obtained compared with conventional filtering methods. In particular, we confirmed that the COV and CNR of the images obtained using the BM3D algorithm were improved by 2.40 and 2.33 times, respectively, compared with the original image. In conclusion, the usefulness of the optimized BM3D algorithm in brain SPECT images using a fan beam collimator has been proven, and based on the results, it is expected that its application in various nuclear medicine examinations will be possible.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2018

Brain perfusion CT scanning is often employed usefully in clinical conditions as it accurately and promptly provides information about the perfusion state of patients having acute ischemic stroke with a lot of time constraints and allows them to receive proper treatment. Despite those strengths of it, it also has a serious weakness that Lens may be exposed to a lot of dose of radiation in it. In this study, as a way to reduce the dose of radiation to Lens in brain perfusion CT scanning, this researcher conducted an experiment with Bismuth shielding and change of patients' position. TLD (TLD-100) was placed on both lens using the phantom (PBU-50), and then, in total 4 positions, parallel to IOML, parallel to IOML (Bismuth shielding), parallel to SOML, and parallel to SOML (Bismuth shielding), brain perfusion scanning was done 5 times for each position, and dose to Lens were measured. Also, to examine how the picture quality changed in different positions, 4 areas of interest were designated in 4 spots, and then, CT number and noise changes were measured and compared. According to the results of conducting one-way ANOVA on the doses measured, as the significance probability was found to be 0.000, so there was difference found in the doses of radiation to crystalline lenses. According to the results of Duncan's post-hoc test, with the scanning of being parallel to IOML as the reference, the reduction of 89.16% and 89.66% was observed in the scanning of being parallel to SOML and that of being parallel to SOML (Bismuth shielding) respectively, so the doses to Lens reduced significantly. Next, in the scanning of being parallel to IOML (Bismuth shielding), the reduction of 37.12% was found. According to the results, reduction in the doses of radiation was found the most significantly both in the scanning of being parallel to SOML and that of being parallel to SOML (Bismuth shielding). With the limit of the equivalent dose to Lens as the reference, this researcher conducted comparison with the dose to occupational exposure and dose to Public exposure in the scanning of being parallel to IOML and found 39.47% and 394.73% respectively; however in the scanning of being parallel to SOML (Bismuth shielding), considerable reduction was found as 4.08% and 40.8% respectively. According to the results of evaluation on picture quality, every image was found to meet the evaluative standards of phantom scanning in terms of the measurement of CT numbers and noise. In conclusion, it would be the most useful way to reduce the dose of radiation to Lens to use shields in brain perfusion CT scanning and adjust patients' position so that their lens will not be in the field of radiation.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2004

A semi-automatic registration process of determining specified points is presented, which is required to register brain MR images based on Talairach atlas. Generally, ten specified points that define Talairach coordinates are anterior commissure(AC), posterior commissure (PC), anterior feint (AP), posterior point (PP), superior point (SP), inferior point (IP), left point (LP), right point (RP) and two points for the midline of the brain. The suggested method reduces user interaction for S points, and finds the necessary points for registration in a more stable manner by finding AC and PC using two-level shape matching of the corpus callosum (CC) in an edge-enhanced brain M image. Remaining points are found using the intensity information of cutview.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to establish a reference for image acquisition for completion of a standard brain for diverse Korean population, and to develop a management system that saves and manage database of the acquired brain image and personal information of those who were tested. 3D MP-RAGE technique, which has excellent SNR and CNR and reduces the times for image acquisition, was selected for anatomical Image acquisition, and parameter values were obtained for the optimal image acquisition. The database management system was devised to obtain not only anatomical image data but also subjects' basic demographic factors, medical history, handedness inventory state-trait anxiety inventory, A-type personality inventory, self-assessment depression inventory questionnaires of Sasang Constitution Mini-Mental State Examination, intelligence test, and personality test via a survey questionnaire and to save and manage the results of the tests. In addition, this system was designed to have functions of saving, inserting, deleting, searching, and Printing of image da a and personal information of subjects, and to have accessibility to them as well as automatic connection setup with ODBC. This newly developed system may have major contribution to the completion of a standard brain of diverse Korean population in that it can save and manage their image date and personal information.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.441-446
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• 2019

The purpose of this paper is to recognize the usefulness of the Phantom produced with 3D printing technology by reproducing the original phantom with 3D printing technology. Using CT, we obtained information from the original phantom. The acquired file was printed by the SLA method of ABS materials. For inspection, SPECT/CT was used to obtain images. We filled the both Phantom with a solution mixed with ^99mTcO4 1 mCi in 1 liter of water and acq uired images in accordance with the standard protocol. Using Image J, the SNR for each slice of the image was obtained. As a reference images, AC images were used. For the analysis of acquired images, ROI was set in the White mater and Gray mater sections of each image, and the average Intensity Value within the ROI were compared. According to the results of this study, 3D printed phantom's SNR is about 0.1 higher than the conventional phantom. And the ratio of Intensity Value was shown in the original 1 : 3.4, and the printed phantom was shown to be 1 : 3.2. Therefore, if Calibration Value is applied, It is assumed that it can be used as an alternative to the original.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.415-426
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• 2009

This study focuses on the concept of multi-scale wireless sensor networks for damage detection in civil infrastructure systems by first over viewing the general network philosophy and attributes in the areas of data acquisition, data reduction, assessment and decision making. The data acquisition aspect includes a scalable wireless sensor network acquiring acceleration and strain data, triggered using a Restricted Input Network Activation scheme (RINAS) that extends network lifetime and reduces the size of the requisite undamaged reference pool. Major emphasis is given in this study to data reduction and assessment aspects that enable a decentralized approach operating within the hardware and power constraints of wireless sensor networks to avoid issues associated with packet loss, synchronization and latency. After over viewing various models for data reduction, the concept of a data-driven Bivariate Regressive Adaptive INdex (BRAIN) for damage detection is presented. Subsequent examples using experimental and simulated data verify two major hypotheses related to the BRAIN concept: (i) data-driven damage metrics are more robust and reliable than their counterparts and (ii) the use of heterogeneous sensing enhances overall detection capability of such data-driven damage metrics.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

The development and maintenance of human capacity in economies is critical to long term competitiveness, but also for the overall health and environment of regions. Yet, human science and technology-based capacity is multidimensional and has interrelated characteristics which present certain policy challenges. This paper addresses a range of issues specific to a discussion on human capacity in S&T. First, the paper emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the complexity of human capacity issues and how they evolve along the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) pipeline. The pipeline is an often used reference to describe the training and development in STEM disciplines, from early childhood education, to more advanced training, and finally to professional collaboration and interaction and serves as a useful organizing framework for the discussion of capacity along the career evolution process. Second, the paper offers an organizing framework for discussion of policy mechanisms that have been developed to address issues and gaps that occur along this STEM pipeline. Specifically, it contrasts the traditional mechanisms of building human capacity in STEM areas with newer "gap filling" and integrated approached to addressed human capacity disparities and priorities. Third, the paper addresses core challenges in human capacity in STEM, including the education and training, participation of women and underrepresented groups, brain drain/brain circulation issues, and the globalization of science. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implication for the development of human capacity.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.600-606
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• 2020

Numerous physiological processes in nature have multiple oscillations within 24 h, that is, ultradian rhythms. Compared to the circadian rhythm, which has a period of approximately one day, these short oscillations range from seconds to hours, and the mechanisms underlying ultradian rhythms remain largely unknown. This review aims to explore and emphasize the implications of ultradian rhythms and their underlying regulations. Reproduction and developmental processes show ultradian rhythms, and these physiological systems can be regulated by short biological rhythms. Specifically, we recently uncovered synchronized calcium oscillations in the organotypic culture of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARN) kisspeptin neurons that regulate reproduction. Synchronized calcium oscillations were dependent on voltage-gated ion channel-mediated action potentials and were repressed by chemogenetic inhibition, suggesting that the network within the ARN and between the kisspeptin population mediates the oscillation. This minireview describes that ultradian rhythms are a general theme that underlies biological features, with special reference to calcium oscillations in the hypothalamic ARN from a developmental perspective. We expect that more attention to these oscillations might provide insight into physiological or developmental mechanisms, since many oscillatory features in nature still remain to be explored.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.503-510
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• 2016

Even though children are exposed to the same amount of radiation, their effective dose amount is higher than those of adults. Therefore, it is very important to reduce the amount of unnecessary radiation exposure because children have a higher radiosensitivity and a smaller body size than adults. In this study, the proposal to seek ways to reduce the amount of radiation is drawn by comparing and analyzing CT Dose Index(CTDI) on the pediatric head CT which was performed at the Busan regional hospitals, to the national diagnostic reference levels. For this, the pediatric head CT scan was conducted among the CT equipments that were installed in downtown Busan. From 2,043 children 10 years old or less who were referred to the pediatric head CT scan, targeting the 28 CT equipments in the 24 hospitals that transmit dose reports to PACS, were examined retrospectively. As a result, the average value of CTDIvol, computed tomography dose index (CTDI) of infant brain, across the hospital, was 31.18 mGy, with DLP of $444.73mGy{\cdot}cm$, which exceeded the diagnostic reference level. The lower the age, the more management is needed for radiation. However, the reality is that the CT examinations are being conducted with a dose that exceeds the reference level as the age of the aged is exceeded. For this purpose, the study seeks to determine the degree of doses of doses outside the diagnostic reference level and analyze the cause of the excess dose and devise measures to reduce the dose reduction.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartA
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• v.11A no.5
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• pp.391-400
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• 2004

Within multimodal medical image registration techniques, which correlate different images and Provide integrated information, surface registration methods generally minimize the surface distance between two modalities. However, the features of two modalities acquired from one subject are similar. So, it can improve the accuracy of registration result to match two images based on optimization of both surface distance and shape feature. This research proposes a registration method which optimizes surface distance and surface curvature of two brain modalities. The registration process has two steps. First, surface information is extracted from the reference images and the test images. Next, the optimization process is performed. In the former step, the surface boundaries of regions of interest are extracted from the two modalities. And for the boundary of reference volume image, distance map and curvature map are generated. In the optimization step, a transformation minimizing both surface distance and surface curvature difference is determined by a cost function referring to the distance map and curvature map. The applying of the result transformation makes test volume be registered to reference volume. The suggested cost function makes possible a more robust and accurate registration result than that of the cost function using the surface distance only. Also, this research provides an efficient means for image analysis through volume visualization of the registration result.