• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.701-710
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• 2008

Including a TV set and a monitor, personal audio system is raising a great interest. In this study, we applied a method to make a good bright zone around the user and dark zone to other region by maximizing the ratio of sound energy between the bright and dark zone. It has been well known as acoustic contrast control. We have attempted to use a line loudspeaker array system to localize the sound in our listening zone. It depends on the size of the zone and array parameters, for example, array size, loudspeaker unit spacing, wave length of sound. We have considered these parameters as spatial variables and studied the effects. And we have found that each spatial variable has its own characteristic and shows very different effect. Genetic algorithms are introduced to find out the optimum value of spatial variables. As a result, we can improve the result of the acoustic contrast control by optimum value of spatial variables.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.589-594
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to evaluate the enhancement effects of the quantum denoising system (QDS) on brain CT images. This retrospective study was conducted with 45 adults who visited G Radiology located in Gyungbuk for having brain CT tests between Jul 2017 and Oct 2017 after receiving consents. Subjects were divided into a control group (A group; no QDS(-) application during the brain CT test) and a treatment group (B Group; QDS(+) application during the brain CT test). The following conclusions were obtained from the study. The noise values at the Pons part and the Vermis part were significantly (p<0.05) lower in B Group ($Pons=5.41{\pm}1.05HU$; $Vermis=5.28{\pm}0.73HU$) than A Group ($Pons=6.92{\pm}0.98HU$; Vermis=6.72). The SNR values at the Pons part and the Vermis part were significantly (p<0.05) higher in B Group ($Pons=7.28{\pm}2.56$; $Vermis=8.63{\pm}3.04$) than A Group ($Pons=5.21{\pm}1.28$; $Vermis=6.23{\pm}1.49$). In conclusion, the results of this study suggested that the application of QDS to the brain CT test would enhance the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) to provide an image more appropriate for diagnosis.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to evaluate optimal CT scan parameters to minimize patient dose to the irradiation and maintain satisfactory image quality in low-dose chest computed tomography (CT) scans. In a chest anthropomorphic phantom, chest CT scans were performed at different kVp and mA within reference of 3.4mGy in volume CT Dose Index (CTDI_vol). The following quantitative parameters had been statistically evaluated: image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and figure of merit (FOM). Nine radiographers conducted the blind test to select the optimal kVp-mA combination. Results indicated that the kVp-mA combination of 80kVp-90mA, 100kVp-50mA, 120kVp-30mA and 140kVp-30mA were obtained high SNR and CNR. The 120kVp-30mA combination offered good compromise in the FOM, which showed the quality and dose performance. In the blind test, an image of 80kVp-90mA obtained a high score with 4.7 points, and 120kVp-10mA or 140kVp-10mA with a low tube current were observed severe noise and poor image quality, thus resulting in decreased diagnostic accuracy. On the other hand, in the combination of high kVp and high mA(140kVp-90mA), the image quality was improved, but the radiation dose was also increased. the FOM value of 140kVp-90mA was lower than 120kVp-30mA. The application of appropriate scan parameters in low-dose chest CT scans produced satisfactory results in dose and image quality for the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.719-722
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• 2019

Gamma-ray images generally suffer from a lot of noise because of low photon detection in the gamma camera system. The purpose of this study is to improve the image quality in gamma-ray images using a gamma camera system with a fast nonlocal means (FNLM) noise reduction algorithm with an acceleration function. The designed FNLM algorithm is based on local region considerations, including the Euclidean distance in the gamma-ray image and use of the encoded information. To evaluate the noise characteristics, the normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and coefficient of variation (COV) were used. According to the NNPS result, the lowest values can be obtained using the FNLM noise reduction algorithm. In addition, when the conventional methods and the FNLM noise reduction algorithm were compared, the average CNR and COV using the proposed algorithm were approximately 2.23 and 7.95 times better than those of the noisy image, respectively. In particular, the image-processing time of the FNLM noise reduction algorithm can achieve the fastest time compared with conventional noise reduction methods. The results of the image qualities related to noise characteristics demonstrated the superiority of the proposed FNLM noise reduction algorithm in a gamma camera system.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2018

Recently, the use of contrast agents has been increasing as a broader range of tests and dynamic tests have become common due to the development of equipment and imaging techniques such as Multi-Detector CT. However, the side effects of using contrast agents have been reduced by the development of non-ionic contrast agents, but they are still occurring often. The purpose of this study was to propose a method to minimize the side effect of contrast agent by using the amount of contrast agent injected to the brain angiography test to suppress excessive use of contrast agent and analyze the amount of contrast agent. Patients who were prescribed Brain Angiography due to cerebrovascular disease, According to the results of the comparison of the results obtained by dividing into 4 groups of 10ml each according to the amount of contrast medium injected with contrast agent according to the BMI of the patient, BA and SNR were not different between groups, and even if the amount of contrast injection was reduced, there was no problem in the evaluation of CT angiography through 3D reconstruction. This result shows that even if the contrast medium is injected into the blood vessels of the patient first and then the contrast medium is used as the physiological saline solution, the contrast medium is reduced by 40% it can be expected to minimize.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.593-598
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• 2016

In order to reduce the amount of noise component in X-ray imaging system, various reduction techniques were frequently used in the field of diagnostic imaging. Although the previous techniques -such as median, Wiener filters and Anscombe noise reduction technique - were able to reduce the noise, the edge information was still damaged. In order to cope with this problem, total variation (TV) noise reduction technique has been developed and researched. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the image quality using normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) through simulations and experiments with respect to the above-mentioned noise reduction techniques. As a result, not only lowest NNPS value but also highest CNR values were acquired using a TV noise reduction technique. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that TV noise reduction technique is proved as the most practical method to ensure accurate denoising in X-ray imaging system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2024

In this study, When acquisition thyroid scintigraphy images, a parallel hole collimator was applied, and the difference from the pinhole collimator was quantitatively analyzed under each image acquisition condition. Visual size, resolution, sensitivity, signal to noise ratio (SNR), and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) were evaluated using thyroid phantom and point source. When comparing visual size, it was confirmed that an image similar to the size of the pinhole collimator could be obtained only when a magnification ratio of about 2.00 to 2.09 times when applying a parallel hole collimator. There was no tendency in FWHM(mm) measurement using a point source, and sensitivity was high in the parallel hole collimator. SNR and CNR were high when using a low magnification ratio, matrix size of 128×128, and a parallel hole collimator. In images of similar size to the naked eye, when the matrix size was the same, both SNR and CNR were high in the pinhole collimator. Therefore, when performing a thyroid scintigraphy test, if appropriate conditions are set according to the situation of each hospital and a parallel hole collimator is applied, it can be a good option in terms of equipment utilization and work efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.553-558
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• 2022

The purpose of this work was a simulation study to evaluate the virtual monochromatic (VM) image quality of blood vessels compared to the monochromatic image. Dual-energy images were obtained based on the linear attenuation coefficients of five materials at 50 keV and 80 keV at low- and high-energies, respectively. A weighting factor is required to synthesize the VM image, and the liver and bone were used as basis materials to obtain the weighting factor. VM images were synthesized at energies ranging from 30 keV to 100 keV. Image quality was evaluated by Contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and noise by setting calcium and contrast medium as signals and blood as background. According to the results, the energies with the maximum CNR were 50 keV and 60 keV for calcium and contrast medium, respectively. The energies showing the minimum noise were 70 keV, 70 keV, and 60 keV in calcium, iodine contrast medium, and blood, respectively. The VM image can contribute to the improvement of diagnostic performance in CT examination because it can implement an image at the optimal energy that minimize noise and maximize CNR.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 1997

This paper presents an optimal design for the SPECT reconstruction filter, based on a physical limit of SPECT lesion detection capability. To increase the performance of the filter on lesion detectability, the filter design was focused on increasing the local SyW ratio of a threshold lesion, that was determined by minimum detectable lesion size (MDU) from SPECT lesion detectabllity contrast-detail curve. The proposed filter showed flexible window characteristics of resolution recovery and noise smoothing for MDLSs in the resolution-limited and photon-limited regions, respectively, compennting for the relative impact of the main limitation factors on threshold detectability. The simulated results showed good adaptability of the proposed filter to the changes in physical parameters of photon counts, object contrast, and detector system resolution.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2018

We aims to perform comparative analysis on the dose area and image qualities varying on the slice thickness when using Automatic Exposure Controller (AEC) and manual exposure; thus, it wants to suggest a measure to reduce exposure dose by setting the optimal examination condition for each slice thickness. The method was to set the thickness as Thin, Normal, and Heavy adult and evaluate the dose area, spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR) according to each slice thickness by using the AEC and the manual exposure controller. The dose area according to each slice thickness all increased both when using the AEC and the manual exposure. However, the manual exposure showed lower dose area product than the AEC. Spatial resolutions and low contrast resolutions were all observed to be higher than the evaluation standard. Also, the SNR and CNR of each thickness all increased when using the AEC. When using the manual exposure, SNR and CNR increased in all cases other than the Heavy Adult. Consequently, the Thin and Normal Adult showed dose reduction about 2 times when using the manual exposure controller, while ensuring the image quality. Heavy adult was able to maintain good image quality by using AEC.