• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.299-306
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• 2009

Purpose : To compare radiation dose for coronary CT angiography (CTA) obtained with 6 examination protocols such as a retrospectively ECG gated helical scan, a prospectively ECG gated sequential scan, low kVp technique, and cardiac dose modulation technique. Materials and Methods : Coronary CTA was performed by using 6 current clinical protocols to evaluate effective dose and organ dose in primary beam area with anthropomorphic female phantom and glass dosimetric system in 64 channel multi-detector CT. After acquiring topograms of frontal and lateral projection with 80 kVp and 10 mA, main coronary scan was done with 0.35 sec tube rotation time, 40 mm collimation ($0.625\;mm{\times}64\;ea$), small scan field of view (32 cm diameter), 105 mm scan length. Heart beat rate of phantom was maintained 60 bpm in ECG gating. In constant mAs technique 120 kVp, 600 mA was used, and 100 kVp for low kVp technique. In a retrospectively ECG gated helical CT technique 0.22 pitch was used, peak mA (600 mA) was adopted in range of $40{\sim}80%$ of R-R interval and 120mA(80% reduction) in others with cardiac dose modulation. And 210 mAs was used without cardiac dose modulation. In a prospectively ECG gated sequential CT technique data were acquired at 75% R-R interval (middle diastolic phase in cardiac cycle), and 120 msec additional padding of the tube-on time was used. For effective dose calculation region specific conversion factor of dose length product in thorax was used, which was recommended by EUR 16262. Results : The mean effective dose for conventional coronary CTA without cardiac dose modulation in a retrospectively ECG gated helical scan was 17.8 mSv, and mean organ dose of heart was 103.8 mGy. With low kVp and cardiac dose modulation the mean effective dose showed 54.5% reduction, and heart dose showed 52.3% reduction, compared with that of conventional coronary CTA. And at the sequential scan(SnapShot pulse mode) under prospective ECG gating the mean effective dose was 4.9 mSv, this represents an 72.5% reduction compared with that of conventional coronary CTA. And heart dose was 33.8 mGy, this represents 67.4% reduction. In the sequential scan technique under prospective ECG gating with low kVp the mean effective dose was 3.0 mSv, this represents an 83.2% reduction compared with that of conventional coronary CTA. And heart dose was 17.7 mGy, this represents an 82.9% reduction. Conclusion : In coronary CTA at retrospectively ECG gated helical scan, cardiac dose modulation technique using low kVp reduced dose to 50% above compared with the conventional helical scan. And the prospectively ECG gated sequential scan offers substantially reduced dose compared with the traditional retrospectively ECG gated helical scan.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2005

Non-invasive evaluation of cardiac function by nuclear medicine technologies are one of the major contribution of nuclear medicine. Gated cardiac blood pool scan was once a novel and robust technique which enabled evaluation of ventricular function. Concept of EKG gating was one of the major breakthrough in nuclear cardiology. According to the evolution of echocardiographic techniques, and as the evaluation of myocardial perfusion by perfusion SPECT became feasible, number of gated blood pool study dong in nuclear medicine laboratory is declining. And recently, evaluation of ventricular function with gated perfusion SPECT further decreased the use of gated blood pool scan. In this article, assessment of ventricular function using gated blood pool scan is discussed including some insight about the role of gated blood pool SPECT.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1980

Most of clinical morbidity in cardiology are associated with abnormalities of the left ventricle. Several methods have been developed to measure the left ventricular function, including cardiac catheterization with cineangiography, echocardiography, and systolic time interval. But these methods have many limitations. ECG gated cardiac blood pool scan provides a safe, noninvasive, repeatable method for determining the left ventricular function. Utilizing the cardiac blood pool scan, we measured the left ventricular function in 165 cardiac patients, and in 26 normal subject. 1. Left ventricular ejection fractions were measured by cardiac blood pool scan, and compared in 20 patients with that measured by x-ray cineangiography. Correlation coefficient was 0.885. 2. Ejection fractions were classified by funtional class made in New York Heart Association. Ejection fractions well represented the functional status. 3. Ejection fractions decreased in cardiomyopathy ($20.1{\pm}4.8%$) and ischemic heart disease ($34.4{\pm}16.7%$). Impaired ejection fractions in myocardial infarction were associated with the extent of infarction. 4. Regional left ventricular wall motion was evaluated from the end-diastolic and end-systolic images. In cardiomyopathy diffuse hypokinesia was noted and in myocardial infarction akinesia was noted on the infarcted areas.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2008

Purpose: The Gated cardiac blood pool scan is non-invasive method that a quantitative evaluation of left ventricular function. Also this scan have shown the value of radionuclide ejection fraction measurements during the course of chemotherapy as a predictor of cardiac toxicity. Therefore a reliable method of monitoring its cardiotoxic effects is necessary. the purpose of this study is to minimize the overestimate of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by modified body position to reduce the influence of scattered rays from surrounding organs of the heart in the background region of interest. Materials and Methods: Gated cardiac blood pool scan using in vivo $^{99m}Tc$-red blood cell (RBC) was carried out in 20 patients (mean $44.8{\pm}8.6$ yr) with chemotherapy for a breast carcinoma. Data acquisition requires about 600 seconds and 24 frames of one heart cycle by the multigated acquisition mode, Synchronization deteriorates toward the end of the cycle and with the distance from the trigger signal (R-wave) by ECG gating. Gated cardiac blood pool scan was studied with conventional method (supine position and the detector head in $30-45^{\circ}$ left anterior oblique position and caudal $10-20^{\circ}$ tilt) and compared with modified method (left lateral flexion position with 360 mL of drinking water). LVEF analysis was performed by using the automatically computer mode. Results: The ROI counts of modified scan method were lower than LV conventional method ($1429{\pm}251$ versus $1853{\pm}243$, <0.01). And LVEF of modified method was also decrease compared with conventional method ($58.3{\pm}5.6%$ versus $65.3{\pm}6.1%$, <0.01). Imaging analysis indicated that stomach was expanded because of water and spleen position was changed to lateral inferior compared with conventional method. Conclusion: This study shows that the modified method in MUGA reduce the influence of scattered rays from surrounding organs. Because after change the body position to left lateral flexion and drinking water, the location of spleen, left lobe of liver and stomach had changed and they could escaped from background ROI. Therefore, modified method could help to minimize the overestimate LVEF (%).

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.192-198
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• 2008

Purpose: The scan time reduction helps to yield more accurate results and induce the minimization of patient's motion. Also we can expect that satisfaction of examination will increase. Nowdays medical equipment companies have developed various programs to reduce scan time. We used Onco. Flash (Pixon method, SIEMENS) that is an image processing technique gated cardiac blood pool scan and going to evaluate its clinical usefullness. Materials and Method: We analyzed the 50 patients who were examined by gated blood pool scan in nuclear medicine department of Asan Mediacal Center from June $20^{th}$ 2008 to August $14^{th}$ 2008. We acquired the Full-time (6000 Kcounts) and Half-time (3000 Kcounts) LAO image in same position. And we acquired LVEF values ten times from Full-time, Half-time images acquired by the image processing technique and analyzed its mean and standard deviation values. To estimate LVEF in same conditions, we set automatic location of the LV ROI and background ROI based on same X and Y-axis. Also we performed blinding tests to physician. Results: After making a quantitative analysis of the 50 patients EF values, each mean${\pm}$standard deviation is shown at Full-time image $68.12{\pm}7.84%$, Half- time (acquired by imaging processing technique) $68.49{\pm}8.73%$. In the 95% confidence limit, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). After blinding test with a physician for making a qualitative analysis, there was no difference between Full-time image and Half-time image acquired by the image processing technique for observing LV myocardial wall motion. Conclusion: Gated cardiac blood pool scan has been reported its relatively exact EF measured results than ultrasound or CT. But gated cardiac blood pool scan takes relatively longer time than other exams and now it needs to improve time competitive power. If we adapt Half-time technique to gated cardiac blood pool scintigraphy based on this study, we expect to reduce possible artifacts and improve accessibility as well as flexibility to exam. Also we expect patient's satisfaction.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 1992

Gated blood pool scan is frequently used for evaluating the change in cardiac function in various cardiac diseases. But resting gated blood pool scan using only LVEF as a cardiac index has been consitently shown to have a low sensitivity, which is about 50%, in detecting coronary artery disease. So it is recommended to compare exercise gated blood pool scan to resting gated blood pool scan. Exercise tests, however, are not always possible, especially in patients with musculoskeletal diseases, recent myocardial infarction and in elderly persons. We studied the usefulness of resting gated blood pool scan using multiple indices in evaluating the patients with coronary artery disease. Studied cases were 185 patients with coronary artery disease (angina pectoris 31, myocardial infarction 154) and 25 normals with low likelihood of coronary artery disease. We used $^{99m}Tc-labeled$ RBC, 740 MBq labeled by in vivo method. The data were evaluated by Micro DELTA computer program. The results were as following: 1) The ejection rates (PER, AER) and filling rates (PFR, AFR) were different in normls and patients with angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. 2) Mean phase angle, ejection rates and filling rates could separate normals from coronary artery disease patients with normal LVEF. 3) Regional ejection fraction was decreased at the site of the infarct in patients with myocardial infarction. 4) Peak filling rate was the the most detectable index in evaluation of cardiac function in patients with coronary artery disease. 5) The threshold at 1.5 standard deviation of normal range was considered as the most reliable cut-off value from ROC analysis. These data suggest that the resting gated blood pool scan has an important role in the evaluation of cardiac functional changes using various cardiac indices in patients with coronary artery disease.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.25-33
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• 1983

Left ventricular wall motion was observed with EKG gated cardiac blood pool scan in 71 various cardiac diseases and 10 normal controls to evaluate its diagnostic and clinical significance in them. 1) In the presence of left ventricular dysfunction, visual evaluation of the left ventricular wall motion was useful to determine whether it was due to localized or diffuse abnormalities. In cardiomyopathy, marked left ventricular dilatation and severe hypokinesia were noted. 2) In myocardial infarction, regional wall motion abnormalities well represented the location of infarcted areas in majority of cases. Patients with inferior wall infarction had smaller decrease of the left ventricular ejection fraction and wall motion grade than anterior or combined groups. In whom persistent left ventricular failure was present, wall motion analysis with gated cardiac scan provided valuable information for the detection of ventricular aneurysms. 3) Evaluation of the left ventricular wall motion and its grading provided a reliable estimate of the left ventricular function. In conclusion, visual evaluation of left ventricular wall motion and its grading provided valuable information for analyzing the characteristics of regional and global left ventricular dysfunction.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.229-232
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• 2012

This study examined the correlation between MR cine and myocardium Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) by comparing the measured cardiac ejection fractions. The usefulness of cardiac MRI was also evaluated. Ten patients (8 men, 2 women and average age of 58.6 years), who underwent a myocardium SPECT scan and cardiac cine MRI scan among patients who visited the hospital for the chief complaint of cardiac disorder from June 1, 2010 to February 10, 2011, were enrolled in this study. The cardiac ejection fraction was calculated from the images obtained in both scans. The data was used to examine the correlation. The regression equation the cardiac ejection fraction values of the 10 patients obtained in myocardium SPECT and MRI cine was Y = 1.12X-8.91 ($R^2$ = 0.78, significance of F = 0.001639, and confidence level of 95%). The results were significant when the cardiac ejection fraction obtained from MRI cine was compared with that obtained from myocardium SPECT. Overall, a cardiac examination using MRI enables an investigation of not only the ejection fraction but also the ED and ES volumes, stroke volume, wall thickness, and wall thickening in a higher spatial resolution despite the examination being conducted once. This examination is believed to be very useful for diagnosing patients with cardiac disease.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.314-317
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical application of Patlak tool on GE PET workstation for quantitative analysis of dynamic PET images in cardiac patients. Three patients including coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), and angina were studied. All subjects underwent dynamic cardiac PET scan using a GE Advance scanner. After 10 min transmission scan for attenuation correction using two rotating $\^$68/Ge rod sources, three patients with cardiac disease were performed dynamic cardiac PET scan after the administration of approximately 370 MBq of FDG. The dynamic scan consisted of 36 frames with variable frame length (12${\times}$10s, 6${\times}$20s, 6${\times}$60s, 12${\times}$300s) for a total time of 70 min. Blood samples were obtained to determine the plasma substrate concentration. Region of interest of circular and rectangular shape to acquire input functions and tissue data were placed on left ventricle and myocardium. A value of 0.67 was used for lumped constant. Mean plasma substrate concentrations for three patients were 100 mg/dl (CAD), 100 mg/dl (MI), 132 mg/dl (angina), respectively. Regional MMRGlc values (mean${\pm}$SD) at lateral myocardium area for CAD, MI, and angina were 8.43${\pm}$0.24, 4.08${\pm}$0.16, and 6.15${\pm}$0.23 mg/min/100ml, respectively. Patlak tool on GE PET workstation appeared to be useful for quantitative analysis of dynamic PET images in cardiac patients, although further studies may be required for absolute quantitation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.179-184
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect according to the NEX, VENC, targeted cardiac phases on the velocity measurement of 4D phase-contrast MRI. Materials and Methods: The abdominal aortic phantom was made to experiment. The working fluid was mixed with water and glycerin to mimic the density and viscosity of human blood. The inlet velocity was Reynolds number 2000. The experimental conditions were NEX 1 and 4, VENC 102 cm/s and 200 cm/s, and 10 and 15 targeted cardiac phases, respectively. The average flow rate, average velocity, maximum velocity, and cross-section area were measured. Results: As a result of the case-by-case comparison, the error rate was less than 5%. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It is expected that this result will be useful for acquiring blood flow information in clinical practice.