• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2017

Purpose: Evaluation of alveolar bone is important in the diagnosis of dental diseases. The periodontal ligament space is difficult to clearly depict in cone-beam computed tomography images because the reconstruction filter conditions during image processing cause image blurring, resulting in decreased spatial resolution. We examined different reconstruction filters to assess their ability to improve spatial resolution and allow for a clearer visualization of the periodontal ligament space. Materials and Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography projections of 2 skull phantoms were reconstructed using 6 reconstruction conditions and then compared using the Thurstone paired comparison method. Physical evaluations, including the modulation transfer function and the Wiener spectrum, as well as an assessment of space visibility, were undertaken using experimental phantoms. Results: Image reconstruction using a modified Shepp-Logan filter resulted in better sensory, physical, and quantitative evaluations. The reconstruction conditions substantially improved the spatial resolution and visualization of the periodontal ligament space. The difference in sensitivity was obtained by altering the reconstruction filter. Conclusion: Modifying the characteristics of a reconstruction filter can generate significant improvement in assessments of the periodontal ligament space. A high-frequency enhancement filter improves the visualization of thin structures and will be useful when accurate assessment of the periodontal ligament space is necessary.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.2 s.66
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• pp.57-69
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• 2006

For decades, scientists and clinicians have examined methods of measuring scalp hair growth. There has been a greater need for reliable, economical and minimally invasive means of measuring hair growth and, specifically, response to Oriental medicine therapy. We review the various methods of measurement described to date, their limitations and value to the clinician. In our opinion, the potential of computer-assisted technology in this field is yet to be maximized and the currently available tools are less than ideal. The most valuable means of measurement at the present time are global photography and phototrichogram-based techniques (with digital image analysis). Subjective scoring systems are also of value in the overall assessment of response to therapy and these are under-utilized and merit further refinement.

• Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.223-232
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• 2014

This paper describes a variant of the extended Gaussian image based registration algorithm for point clouds with surface color information. The method correlates the distributions of surface normals for rotational alignment and grid occupancy for translational alignment with hue filters applied during the construction of surface normal histograms and occupancy grids. In this method, the size of the point cloud is reduced with a hue-based down sampling that is independent of the point sample density or local geometry. Experimental results show that use of the hue filters increases the registration speed and improves the registration accuracy. Coarse rigid transformations determined in this step enable fine alignment with dense, unfiltered point clouds or using Iterative Common Point (ICP) alignment techniques.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.199-205
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• 2003

Purpose: To compare the visibility of the mandibular canal at the different radiographic methods such as conventional panoramic radiographs, Vimplant multi planar reformatting (MPR)-CT panoramic images, Vimplant MPR-CT paraxial images and film-based DentaScan MPR-CT images. Materials and Methods: Data of 11 mandibular dental implant patients, who had been planned treatment utilizing both panoramic and MPR-CT examination with DentaScan software (GE Medical systems, Milwaukee, USA), were used in this study. The archived axial CT data stored on CD-R discs were transferred to a personal computer with 17' LCD monitor. Paraxial and panoramic images were reconstructed using Vimplant software (CyberMed Inc., Seoul, Korea). Conventional panoramic radiographs, monitor-based Vimplant MPR-CT panoramic images, monitor-based Vimplant MPR-CT paraxial images, and film-based DentaScan MPR-CT images were evaluated for visibility of the mandibular canal at the mental foramen, 1 cm, 2 cm, and 3 cm posterior to mental foramen using the 4-point grading score. Results: Vimplant MPR-CT panoramic, paraxial, and DentaScan MPR-CT images revealed significantly clearer images than conventional panoramic radiographs. Particularly at the region 1 em posterior to mental foramen, conventional panoramic radiographs showed a markedly lower percentage of 'excellent' mandibular canal images than images produced by other modalites. Vimplant MPR-CT and DentaScan MPR-CT images did not show significant difference in visibility of the mandibular canal. Conclusion: The study results show that Vimplant and DentaScan MPR-CT imaging systems offer significantly better images of the mandibular canal than conventional panoramic radiograph.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.51
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• pp.6.1-6.9
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• 2021

Histopathology is a well-established standard diagnosis employed for the majority of malignancies, including breast cancer. Nevertheless, despite training and standardization, it is considered operator-dependent and errors are still a concern. Fractal dimension analysis is a computational image processing technique that allows assessing the degree of complexity in patterns. We aimed here at providing a robust and easily attainable method for introducing computer-assisted techniques to histopathology laboratories. Slides from two databases were used: A) Breast Cancer Histopathological; and B) Grand Challenge on Breast Cancer Histology. Set A contained 2480 images from 24 patients with benign alterations, and 5429 images from 58 patients with breast cancer. Set B comprised 100 images of each type: normal tissue, benign alterations, in situ carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma. All images were analyzed with the FracLac algorithm in the ImageJ computational environment to yield the box count fractal dimension (Db) results. Images on set A on 40x magnification were statistically different (p = 0.0003), whereas images on 400x did not present differences in their means. On set B, the mean Db values presented promising statistical differences when comparing. Normal and/or benign images to in situ and/or invasive carcinoma (all p < 0.0001). Interestingly, there was no difference when comparing normal tissue to benign alterations. These data corroborate with previous work in which fractal analysis allowed differentiating malignancies. Computer-aided diagnosis algorithms may beneficiate from using Db data; specific Db cut-off values may yield ~ 99% specificity in diagnosing breast cancer. Furthermore, the fact that it allows assessing tissue complexity, this tool may be used to understand the progression of the histological alterations in cancer.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2011

Objective: To determine whether characteristics of sperm motility obtained by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) could predict pregnancy after intrauterine insemination (IUI) in couples with unexplained infertility. Methods: Three hundred eighty-three cycles of intrauterine insemination with superovulation were retrospectively analyzed. Semen analysis was performed with CASA before and after swim-up and the parameters were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Results: The pregnancy rate per cycle was 14.1%. Pregnant and non-pregnant women were comparable in terms of age, infertility duration, the number of dominant follicles. While sperm concentration, motility, and parameters such as average path velocity (VAP) and percentage rapid (RAPID) before semen preparation were significantly different between the pregnancy and non-pregnancy groups, there were no differences in sperm parameters when comparing the two groups after preparation. Using a receiver operating characteristic curve to measure sensitivity and specificity, the optimal threshold value for the predictors of pregnancy was revealed to be a concentration of ${\geq}111{\times}10^6/mL$, a motility of ${\geq}$ 51.4%, and RAPID ${\geq}$ 30.1% before preparation for IUI. Conclusion: Sperm parameters including concentration, motility, and RAPID before sperm preparation could have predictive value for pregnancy outcome after intrauterine insemination with superovulation in couples with unexplained infertility, and would be helpful when counseling patients before they make the decision to proceed with IVF/ICSI-ET.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.240-252
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• 2023

Purpose To assess the effect of deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) for head CT in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods We collected 126 pediatric head CT images, which were reconstructed using filtered back projection, iterative reconstruction using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR)-V, and all three levels of DLIR (TrueFidelity; GE Healthcare). Each image set group was divided into four subgroups according to the patients' ages. Clinical and dose-related data were reviewed. Quantitative parameters, including the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and qualitative parameters, including noise, gray matter-white matter (GM-WM) differentiation, sharpness, artifact, acceptability, and unfamiliar texture change were evaluated and compared. Results The SNR and CNR of each level in each age group increased among strength levels of DLIR. High-level DLIR showed a significantly improved SNR and CNR (p < 0.05). Sequential reduction of noise, improvement of GM-WM differentiation, and improvement of sharpness was noted among strength levels of DLIR. Those of high-level DLIR showed a similar value as that with ASiR-V. Artifact and acceptability did not show a significant difference among the adapted levels of DLIR. Conclusion Adaptation of high-level DLIR for the pediatric head CT can significantly reduce image noise. Modification is needed while processing artifacts.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.201-206
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• 2002

Purpose : To evaluate the radiographic change of operation sites after orthognathic surgery using the digital image processing and fractal analysis. Materials and Methods : A series of panoramic radiographs of thirty-five randomly selected patients who had undergone mandibular orthognathic surgery (bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy) without clinical complication for osseous healing, were taken. The panoramic radiographs of each selected patient were taken at pre-operation (stage 0), 1 or 2 days after operation (stage 1), 1 month after operation (stage 2), 6 months after operation (stage 3), and 12 months after operation (stage 4). The radiographs were digitized at 600 dpi, 8 bit, and 256 gray levels. The region of interest, centered on the bony gap area of the operation site, was selected and the fractal dimension was calculated by using the tile-counting method. The mean values and standard deviations of fractal dimension for each stage were calculated and the differences among stage 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were evaluated through repeated measures of the ANOVA and paired t-test. Results : The mean values and standard deviations of the fractal dimensions obtained from stage 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 1.658±0.048, 1.580±0.050, 1.607±0.046, 1.624±0.049, and 1.641 ±0.061, respectively. The fractal dimensions from stage 1 to stage 4 were shown to have a tendency to increase (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The tendency of the fractal dimesion to increase relative to healing time may be a useful means of evaluating post-operative bony healing of the osteotomy site.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.281-286
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphology of the mandibular cortex in cases of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) in patients with osteoporosis or bone metastases using a computer programme. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four patients with MRONJ (35 with osteoporosis and 19 with bone metastases) were examined using panoramic radiography. The morphology of the mandibular cortex was evaluated using a computer programme that scanned the mandibular inferior cortex and automatically assessed the mandibular cortical index (MCI) according to the thickness and roughness of the mandibular cortex, as follows: normal (class 1), mildly to moderately eroded (class 2), or severely eroded (class 3). The MCI classifications of MRONJ patients with osteoporosis or bone metastases were evaluated with the Pearson chi-square test. In these analyses, a 5% significance level was used. Results: The MCI of MRONJ patients with osteoporosis(class 1: 6, class 2: 15, class 3: 14) tended to be higher than that of patients with bone metastases(class 1: 14, class 2: 5, class 3: 0)(P=0.000). Conclusion: The use of a computer programme to assess mandibular cortex morphology may be an effective technique for the objective and quantitative evaluation of the MCI in MRONJ patients with osteoporosis or bone metastases.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.161-168
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• 2020

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of voxel size and different post-processing algorithms on the analysis of dental materials using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Materials and Methods: Root-end cavities were prepared in extracted maxillary premolars, filled with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), Biodentine, and Intermediate Restorative Material (IRM), and scanned using micro-CT. The volume and porosity of materials were evaluated and compared using voxel sizes of 5, 10, and 20 ㎛, as well as different software tools(post-processing algorithms). The CTAn or MeVisLab/Materialise 3-matic software package was used to perform volume and morphological analyses, and the CTAn or MeVisLab/Amira software was used to evaluate porosity. Data were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA and the Tukey test(P<0.05). Results: Using MeVisLab/Materialise 3-matic, a consistent tendency was observed for volume to increase at larger voxel sizes. CTAn showed higher volumes for MTA and IRM at 20 ㎛. Using CTAn, porosity values decreased as voxel size increased, with statistically significant differences for all materials. MeVisLab/Amira showed a difference for MTA and IRM at 5 ㎛, and for Biodentine at 20 ㎛. Significant differences in volume and porosity were observed in all software packages for Biodentine across all voxel sizes. Conclusion: Some differences in volume and porosity were found according to voxel size, image-processing software, and the radiopacity of the material. Consistent protocols are needed for research evaluating dental materials.