• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.829-839
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• 2021

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced radial T1-weighted gradient-echo 3-tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) for the detection of visceral pleural surface invasion (VPSI). Visceral pleural invasion by non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be classified into two types: PL1 (without VPSI), invasion of the elastic layer of the visceral pleura without reaching the visceral pleural surface, and PL2 (with VPSI), full invasion of the visceral pleura. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three patients with pathologically confirmed VPSI by NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. Multidetector CT and contrast-enhanced 3T MRI with a free-breathing radial three-dimensional fat-suppressed volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) pulse sequence were compared in terms of the length of contact, angle of mass margin, and arch distance-to-maximum tumor diameter ratio. Supplemental evaluation of the tumor-pleura interface (smooth versus irregular) could only be performed with MRI (not discernible on CT). Results: At the tumor-pleura interface, radial VIBE MRI revealed a smooth margin in 20 of 21 patients without VPSI and an irregular margin in 10 of 12 patients with VPSI, yielding an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and F-score for VPSI detection of 91%, 83%, 95%, 91%, 91%, and 87%, respectively. The McNemar test and receiver operating characteristics curve analysis revealed no significant differences between the diagnostic accuracies of CT and MRI for evaluating the contact length, angle of mass margin, or arch distance-to-maximum tumor diameter ratio as predictors of VPSI. Conclusion: The diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced radial T1-weighted gradient-echo 3T MRI and CT were equal in terms of the contact length, angle of mass margin, and arch distance-to-maximum tumor diameter ratio. The advantage of MRI is its clear depiction of the tumor-pleura interface margin, facilitating VPSI detection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1609-1614
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• 2013

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intravenous contrast on dose calculation in radiation treatment planning for oesophageal cancer. Methods: A total of 22 intravein-contrasted patients with oesophageal cancer were included. The Hounsfield unit (HU) value of the enhanced blood stream in thoracic great vessels and heart was overridden with 45 HU to simulate the non-contrast CT image, and 145 HU, 245 HU, 345 HU, and 445 HU to model the different contrast-enhanced scenarios. 1000 HU and -1000 HU were used to evaluate two non-physiologic extreme scenarios. Variation in dose distribution of the different scenarios was calculated to quantify the effect of contrast enhancement. Results: In the contrast-enhanced scenarios, the mean variation in dose for planning target volume (PTV) was less than 1.0%, and those for the total lung and spinal cord were less than 0.5%. When the HU value of the blood stream exceeded 245 the average variation exceeded 1.0% for the heart V40. In the non-physiologic extreme scenarios, the dose variation of PTV was less than 1.0%, while the dose calculations of the organs at risk were greater than 2.0%. Conclusions: The use of contrast agent does not significantly influence dose calculation of PTV, lung and spinal cord. However, it does have influence on dose accuracy for heart.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2019.01a
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• pp.465-467
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• 2019

본 논문에서는 영상생성이 가능한 딥러닝 네트워크를 이용하여 조영증강 CT 영상을 획득하는 연구를 수행하였다. CT는 고해상도 영상을 바탕으로 환자의 질병 및 암 세포 진단에 사용되는 의료영상 기법 중 하나이다. 특히, 조영제를 투여한 다음 CT 영상을 획득되는 영상을 조영증강 CT 영상이라 한다. 조영증강된 CT 영상은 물질의 구성 성분의 영상대비를 강조하여 임상의로 하여금 진단 및 치료반응 평가의 정확성을 향상시켜준다. 하지많은 수의 환자들이 조영제 부작용을 갖기 때문에 이에 해당되는 환자의 경우 조영증강 CT 영상 획득이 불가능해진다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 조영증강 영상을 얻지 못하는 환자 및 일반 환자의 불필요한 방사선의 노출을 최소화 하기 위하여 영상생성 딥러닝 기법을 이용하여 CT 영상에서 조영증강 CT 영상을 생성하는 연구를 진행하였다. 영상생성 딥러닝 네트워크는 generative adversarial network (GAN) 모델을 사용하였다. 연구결과 아무런 전처리도 거치지 않은 CT 영상을 이용하여 영상을 생성하는 것 보다 히스토그램 균일화 과정을 거친 영상이 더 좋은 결과를 나타냈으며 생성영상이 기존의 실제 영상과 영상의 구조적 유사도가 높음을 확인할 수 있다. 본 연구결과 딥러닝 영상생성 모델을 이용하여 조영증강 CT 영상을 생성할 수 있었으며, 이를 통하여 환자의 불필요한 방사선 피폭을 최소하며, 생성된 조영증강 CT 영상을 바탕으로 정확한 진단 및 치료반응 평가에 기여할 수 있을거라 기대된다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7719-7724
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• 2014

Background: Lymph node metastasis is believed to be a dependent negative prognostic factor of esophageal cancer. To explore detection methods with high sensitivity and accuracy for metastases to regional and distant lymph nodes in the clinic is of great significance. This study focused on clinical application of FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced multiple-slice helical computed tomography (MSCT) in lymph node staging of esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifteen cases were examined with enhanced 64-slice-MSCT scan, and FDG PET/CT imaging was conducted for neck, chest and upper abdomen within one week. The primary lesion, location and numbers of metastatic lymph nodes were observed. Surgery was performed within one week after FDG PET/CT detection. All resected lesions were confirmed histopathologically as the gold standard. Comparative analysis of the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy based on FDG PET/CT and MSCT was conducted. Results: There were 946 lymph node groups resected during surgery from 115 patients, and 221 were confirmed to have metastasis pathologically. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting lymph node metastasis were 74.7%, 97.2% and 92.0%, while with MSCT they were 64.7%, 96.4%, and 89.0%, respectively. A significance difference was observed in sensitivity (p=0.030), but not the others (p>0.05). The accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting regional lymph node with or without metastasis were 91.9%, as compared to 89.4% for MSCT, while FDG PET/CT and MSCT values for detecting distant lymph node with or without metastasis were 94.4% and 94.7%. No significant difference was observed for either regional or distant lymph node metastasis. Additionally, for detecting para-esophageal lymph nodes metastasis, the sensitivity of FDG PET/CT was 72%, compared with 54.7% for MSCT (p=0.029). Conclusions: FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than MSCT in detecting lymph node metastasis, especially for para-esophageal lymph nodes in esophageal cancer cases, although no significant difference was observed between FDG PET/CT and MSCT in detecting both regional and distant lymph node metastasis. However, enhanced MSCT was found to be of great value in distinguishing false negative metastatic lymph nodes from FDG PET/CT. The combination of FDG PET/CT with MSCT should improve the accuracy in lymph node metastasis staging of esophageal cancer.

• Journal of Korea Association of Health Promotion
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2006

"본 논문은 대한영상의학회지 2005년 제52권 제1호에 실렸던 논문으로 대한영상의학회의 승인을 득하고 본 협회지에 게재함. Purpose: We wished to compare CT colonography with conventional colonoscopy for the detection of colorectal poiypoid lesions, and we wanted to evaluate the role of IV contrast-enhanced CT colonography for the differentiation between benign polypoid lesions and malignant polypoid lesions. Materials and Methods: Thirty-four consecutive patients underwent CT colonography prior to conventional colonoscopy, Precontrast prone-position CT images and post contrast supine position CT images were obtained and the virtual colonoscopic images were reconstructed, Axial, sagittal and presence, size and morphologic features of colorectal polypoid lesions, and thor these findings were compared with the colonoscopic findings. The degree of enhancement of colorecralpolypoid lesions was measured by subtracting the attenuation valves obtained with precontrastand postcontrast CT images for the differentiation of benignity and malignancy of the colorectal polypoid lesions. Results. Among 75 colorectal polypoid lesions identified on conventional colonoscopy, 49neoplasms were found on CT coloaographv, and the overall detection rate was 65,3%.Detection rate of lesions smaller than l0mm was 52.1%(24/46), and the detection rate for lesions equal to or larger than 10mm was 86.2%(25/29), Morphologic features of the sessile type lesions on CT colonography were well correlated with those noted on colonoscopy, but the stalks were not identified in 6 of 13 polyps on CT colonography. There was no statistical correlation between benignity and malignancy and the degree of contrast enhancement on CT colonography, Conclusion CT colonography is a useful modality for the detection of colorectal polypoid lesionsequal to or polyps. However, CT colonography cannot differentiate benignity from malignancy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2023

Objective: To assess the contrast-enhanced CT and ultrasonography (US) findings of intracholecystic papillary neoplasm (ICPN) and determine the imaging features predicting ICPN associated with invasive carcinoma (ICPN-IC). Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled 119 consecutive patients, including 60 male and 59 female, with a mean age ± standard deviation of 63.3 ± 12.1 years, who had pathologically confirmed ICPN (low-grade dysplasia [DP] = 34, high-grade DP = 35, IC = 50) and underwent preoperative CT or US. Two radiologists independently assessed the CT and US findings, focusing on wall and polypoid lesion characteristics. The likelihood of ICPN-IC was graded on a 5-point scale. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify significant predictors of ICPN-IC separately for wall and polypoid lesion findings. The performances of CT and US in distinguishing ICPN-IC from ICPN with DP (ICPN-DP) was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: For wall characteristics, the maximum wall thickness (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-1.9) and mucosal discontinuity (aOR = 5.6; 95% CI: 1.3-23.4) on CT were independently associated with ICPN-IC. Among 119 ICPNs, 110 (92.4%) showed polypoid lesions. Regarding polypoid lesion findings, multiplicity (aOR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.6-10.4), lesion base wall thickening (aOR = 6.0; 95% CI: 2.3-15.8) on CT, and polyp size (aOR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0-1.2) on US were independently associated with ICPN-IC. CT showed a higher diagnostic performance than US in predicting ICPN-IC (AUC = 0.793 vs. 0.676; p = 0.002). Conclusion: ICPN showed polypoid lesions and/or wall thickening on CT or US. A thick wall, multiplicity, presence of wall thickening in the polypoid lesion base, and large polyp size are imaging findings independently associated with invasive cancer and may be useful for differentiating ICPN-IC from ICPN-DP.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.145-152
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• 2006

Radiographic contrast medium may cause tissue injury by extravasation during intravenous automated injection during CT examination. A large - volume extravasation (140 mL) occurred in an adult during contrast-enhanced CT The patient had a swelling and injury on the dorsum right hand of intravenous catheter region. The extravasation injury site was determined by CT scanning. The extavasation compartment syndrome case was examined using four separate display techniques. These 3D MDCT findings might help to determine the best course of treatment for patient with contrast extravasation. 3D image reconstructions provide accurate views of high-resolution and soft-tissue imaging. This paper introduces extravasation with the radiography and 3D MDCT findings.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1998 no.11
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• pp.271-272
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• 1998

Contrast-enhanced CT has an important role in the assessment of liver lesions. However, the optimal protocol to get most effective result is not clear. The main principle for deciding injection protocol is to optimize lesion detectability by rapid scanning when lesion-to-liver contrast is maximum. For this purpose, we developed a physiological model of contrast medium enhancement based on the compartment modeling and pharmacokinetics. Blood supply to liver was modeled in two paths. This dual supply character distinguishes the CT enhancement of liver from that of the other organs. The first path is by hepatic artery and the second is by portal vein. It is assumed that only hepatic artery can supply blood to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compartment. It is known that this causes the difference of contrast enhancement between normal liver tissue and hepatic tumor. By solving differential equations for each compartment simultaneously using computer program Matlab, CT contrast-enhancement curves were simulated. Simulated enhancement curves for aortic, hepatic, portal vein, and HCC compartments were compared with mean enhancement curves from 24 patients exposed to the same protocols as simulation. These enhancement curves were in a good agreement. Furthermore, we simulated lesion-to-liver curves for various injection protocols, and analyzed the effects. These may help to optimize the scanning protocols for good diagnosis.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.78-83
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• 2013

Purpose: SPECT/CT, a combination of SPECT and CT, is capable of expressing the results of attenuation correction on images biased by automatic program. As a result, this research evaluates the usefulness of images with CT attenuation correction, using various phantoms and images of patients. Materials and Methods: From July of 2012 to September of 2012, this research was conducted on the contrast, spatial resolution, and images of patients. We studied the contrast with IEC body phantom and Jaszczak phantom, while the spatial resolution was evaluated with NEMA triple line phantom. Further, a comparative study was carried out on the quality of the images, on the difference between the images before and after the CT attenuation correction. Results: Compared the differences between the contrast before and after the CT attenuation correction in IEC body phantom. The contrast was improved by 33.6% at minimum, 89.8% at maximum. In case of Jaszczak Phantom, the contrast was enhanced by 9.9% at minimum, 27.8% at maximum. In NEMA Triple line phantom, the resolution was raised by 4.5% in average: 4.4% in horizontal, 4.5% in vertical. In Anthropomorphic Torso Phantom, the perfusion score of the interior wall with the most severe attenuation was measured to be 29.4%. In the experiment carried out on myocardial perfusion SPECT/CT patients, 9% improvement was discovered in the interior wall, where the most dramatic attenuation occurred, after the CT attenuation correction. Conclusion: SPECT/CT proved its clinical usefulness by enabling the acquisition of images with enhanced contrast and spatial resolution compare to the ones resulted from SPECT.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.53-56
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• 2018

Computed tomography (CT) findings of hepatic adenoma in veterinary medicine are variable and unlike in human medicine, not defined clearly. A 12-year-old neutered male Shih Tzu presented after a seizure, with weight loss, salivation, and cachexia. An abdominal mass was identified on radiography, and ultrasonographic images showed a mixed echo pattern with marked vascularity. CT showed that the mass originated from caudate lobe, was heterogeneously hypoattenuated compared with the hepatic parenchyma, and had irregular margins. Contrast enhanced CT showed that the mass enhanced like the surrounding liver parenchyma. However, it contained unenhanced areas and enhanced vessels were observed in the arterial phase at the periphery of the mass. The margins of mass were more enhanced in the venous phase than the arterial phase and the hypoattenuating regions within the mass were not enhanced. Greater enhancing in the venous phase is seen with adenomas; however, the heterogeneous enhancement pattern, especially the marginal vascular enhancement and internal hypoattenuating regions, is seen with malignancy. Although this is a single case of hepatic adenoma, the atypical enhanced pattern of this case can provide useful information to predict the malignancy of primary liver tumor.