• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2001

Purpose : To evaluate the usefulness of the reconstructed 3-dimensional image on the personal computer in comparison with that of the CT workstation by quantitative comparison and analysis. Materials and Methods : The spiral CT data obtained from 27 persons were transferred from the CT workstation to a personal computer, and they were reconstructed as 3-dimensional image on the personal computer using V-works 2.0/sup TM/. One observer obtained the 14 measurements on the reconstructed 3-dimensional image on both the CT workstation and the personal computer. Paired Nest was used to evaluate the intraobserver difference and the mean value of the each measurement on the CT workstation and the personal computer. Pearson correlation analysis and % incongruence were also performed. Results: I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, and G-Op did not show any statistically significant difference (p>0.05), B-O, B-N, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, Biw, D-D, Orbrd R, and L had statistically significant difference (p<0.05), but the mean values of the differences of all measurements were below 2 mm, except for D-D. The value of correlation coefficient y was greater than 0.95 at I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, B-N, G-Op, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, and Biw, and it was 0.75 at B-O, 0.78 at D-D, and 0.82 at both Orbrd Rand L. The % incongruence was below 4% at I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, B-N, G-Op, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, and Biw, and 7.18%, 10.78%, 4.97%, 5.89% at B-O, D-D, Orbrd Rand L respectively. Conclusion : It can be considered that the utilization of the personal computer has great usefulness in reconstruction of the 3-dimensional image when it comes to the economics, accessibility and convenience, except for thin bones and the landmarks which are difficult to be located.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.756-763
• /
• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the effects of attenuation threshold on CT pulmonary vascular volume ratios in children and young adults with congenital heart disease, and to suggest an optimal attenuation threshold. Materials and Methods: CT percentages of right pulmonary vascular volume were compared and correlated with percentages calculated from nuclear medicine right lung perfusion in 52 patients with congenital heart disease. The selected patients had undergone electrocardiography-synchronized cardiothoracic CT and lung perfusion scintigraphy within a 1-year interval, but not interim surgical or transcatheter intervention. The percentages of CT right pulmonary vascular volumes were calculated with fixed (80-600 Hounsfield units [HU]) and adaptive thresholds (average pulmonary artery enhancement [PA_avg] divided by 2.50, 2.00, 1.75, 1.63, 1.50, and 1.25). The optimal threshold exhibited the smallest mean difference, the lowest p-value in statistically significant paired comparisons, and the highest Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The PA_avg value was 529.5 ± 164.8 HU (range, 250.1-956.6 HU). Results showed that fixed thresholds in the range of 320-400 HU, and adaptive thresholds of PA_avg/1.75-1.50 were optimal for quantifying CT pulmonary vascular volume ratios. The optimal thresholds demonstrated a small mean difference of ≤ 5%, no significant difference (> 0.2 for fixed thresholds, and > 0.5 for adaptive thresholds), and a high correlation coefficient (0.93 for fixed thresholds, and 0.91 for adaptive thresholds). Conclusion: The optimal fixed and adaptive thresholds for quantifying CT pulmonary vascular volume ratios appeared equally useful. However, when considering a wide range of PAavg, application of optimal adaptive thresholds may be more suitable than fixed thresholds in actual clinical practice.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.103-111
• /
• 2020

Liver cancer is the most fatal cancer that occurs worldwide. In order to diagnose liver cancer, the patient's physical condition was checked by using a CT technique using radiation. Segmentation was needed to diagnose the liver on the patient's abdominal CT scan, which the radiologists had to do manually, which caused tremendous time and human mistakes. In order to automate, researchers attempted segmentation using image segmentation algorithms in computer vision field, but it was still time-consuming because of the interactive based and the setting value. To reduce time and to get more accurate segmentation, researchers have begun to attempt to segment the liver in CT images using CNNs, which show significant performance in various computer vision fields. The pixel value, or numerical value, of the CT image is called the Hounsfield Unit (HU) value, which is a relative representation of the transmittance of radiation, and usually ranges from about -2000 to 2000. In general, deep learning researchers reduce or limit this range and use it for training to remove noise and focus on the target organ. Here, we observed that the range of HU values was limited in many studies but different in various liver segmentation studies, and assumed that performance could vary depending on the HU range. In this paper, we propose the possibility of considering HU value range as a hyper parameter. U-Net and ResUNet were used to compare and experiment with different HU range limit preprocessing of CHAOS dataset under limited conditions. As a result, it was confirmed that the results are different depending on the HU range. This proves that the range limiting the HU value itself can be a hyper parameter, which means that there are HU ranges that can provide optimal performance for various models.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.183-192
• /
• 2017

The mammary gland tumor (MGT) is the most common neoplasia in intact female dogs. Of these, 50% are malignant and metastasis to the other sites are often occurred. Therefore, it is very important for decision of treatment plan and prognosis to differentiate benign tumor from malignancies. Calcification of MGT is a very important imaging finding. The purpose of this study was to investigate the radiological and computed tomographic images of the MGT and the morphology and distribution of calcifications in the MGT using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System classification. A total of 42 dogs with MGT were included in this study. The dogs were divided into two groups into benign and malignant groups based upon histologic or cytologic results. The appearance of calcification in the tumor on radiographs and CT images was analyzed for the HU value of pre- and post-contrast injection, margin, surface, and shape of the tumor and the lymph node abnormalities. On radiographs, the positive predictive value of malignant and benign tumors was 72.72 and 85.71%, respectively. On CT examinations, the positive predictive value of malignant and benign tumors was the same value of 83.33%. The maximum diameter of the tumor and the presence of abnormal lymph nodes on CT images showed a strong correlation with malignancies. Therefore, it is thought that radiographs and CT provide useful information for evaluating MGT in dogs.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2008

Purpose: National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study (NEXUS) criteria and the Canadian Cervical Spine rule (CCR) are commonly used in cervical trauma patients to determine whether a plain cervical X-ray should be performed. However, plain cervical X-rays are so inaccurate that cervical spine computed tomography (CT) is often considered as a screening test. We studied the usefulness of the NEXUS criteria and the CCR for determining the need for a CT evaluation in the emergency department (ED). Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from January 2007 to March 2008. Plain X-ray and CT scans of the cervical spine were performed on blunt trauma patients with neck pain. The relevancy of CT was examined using the NEXUS criteria and the CCR. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value, and negative predicted value analyses were performed to diagnose the cervical spine injury. Results: During the study period, 284 patients were enrolled in this study. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value, and negative predicted value of the NEXUS criteria were 87.5%, 1.1%, 5.0%, and 60.0% respectively, while those of the CCR were 87.5%, 8.2%, 5.3%, and 91.6%. There were two missed fracture cases when the NEXUS criteria and the CCR were applied independently, however, no cases were missed when both were applied. Conclusion: This study suggests the NEXUS and the CCR in combination can be used as a guide to CT evaluation for cervical spine injury in the ED.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.13-18
• /
• 2004

Purpose : This study was to evaluate the influence of slice thickness of computed tomography (CT) and rapid protyping (RP) type on the accuracy of 3-dimensional medical model. Materials and Methods: Transaxial CT data of human dry skull were taken from multi-detector spiral CT. Slice thickness were 1, 2, 3 and 4 mm respectively. Three-dimensional image model reconstruction using 3-D visualization medical software (V-works /sup TM/ 3.0) and RP model fabrications were followed. 2-RP models were 3D printing (Z402, Z Corp., Burlington, USA) and Stereolithographic Apparatus model. Linear measurements of anatomical landmarks on dry skull, 3-D image model, and 2-RP models were done and compared according to slice thickness and RP model type. Results: There were relative error percentage in absolute value of 0.97, 1.98,3.83 between linear measurements of dry skull and image models of 1, 2, 3 mm slice thickness respectively. There was relative error percentage in absolute value of 0.79 between linear measurements of dry skull and SLA model. There was relative error difference in absolute value of 2.52 between linear measurements of dry skull and 3D printing model. Conclusion: These results indicated that 3-dimensional image model of thin slice thickness and stereolithographic RP model showed relative high accuracy.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers A
• /
• v.52 no.7
• /
• pp.387-392
• /
• 2003

During a fault the remanent flux in a current transformer (CT) may cause severe saturation of its core. The resulting distortion in the secondary current could cause the mal-operation of a protection relay. This paper proposes an algorithm for compensating for the errors in the secondary current caused by CT saturation and the remanent flux. The algorithm compensates the distorted current irrespective of the level of the remanent flux. The second-difference function of the current is used to detect when the CT first starts to saturate. The negative value of the second-difference function at the start of saturation, which corresponds to the magnetizing current, is inserted into the magnetization curve to obtain the core flux at the instant. This value is then used as an initial flux to calculate the actual flux of the CT during the course of the fault with the secondary current. The magnetizing current is then estimated using the magnetization curve and the calculated flux value. The compensated secondary current can be estimated by adding the magnetizing current to the secondary current. Test results indicate that the algorithm can accurately compensate a severely distorted secondary current signal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.473-479
• /
• 2019

PET-CT improves performance and reduces the time by combining PET and CT of spatial resolution, and uses CT scan for attenuation correction. This study analyzed PET image evaluation. The condition of the tube voltage and current of CT will be changed using. Uniformity phantom and resolution phantom were injected with 37 MBq $^{18}F$ (fluorine ; 511 keV, half life - 109.7 min), respectively. PET-CT (Biograph, siemens, US) was used to perform emission scan (30 min) and penetration scan. And then the collected image data were reconstructed in OSEM-3D. The same ROI was set on the image data with a analyzer (Vinci 2.54, Germany) and profile was used to analyze and compare spatial resolution and image quality through FWHM and SI. Analyzing profile with pre-defined ROI in each phantom, PET image was not influenced by the change of tube voltage or exposure dose. However, CT image was influenced by tube voltage, but not by exposure dose. When tube voltage was fixed and exposure dose changed, exposure dose changed too, increasing dose value. When exposure dose was fixed at 150 mA and tube voltage was varied, the result was 10.56, 24.6 and 35.61 mGy in each variables (in resolution phantom). In this study, attenuation image showed no significant difference when exposure dose was changed. However, when exposure dose increased, the amount of dose that patient absorbed increased too, which indicates that CT exposure dose should be decreased to minimum to lower the exposure dose that patient absorbs. Therefore future study needs to discuss the conditions that could minimize exposure dose that gets absorbed by patient during PET-CT scan.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.48-56
• /
• 2014

Purpose $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA renal scintigraphy serves as a key indicator to measure a kidney donor's Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and determine the possibility of kidney transplant. The Gates method utilized to measure GFR considers 3 variables of renal depth, injection dose, and net kidney counts. In this research, we seek to compare changes in kidney donors' GFR according to renal depth measurement methods of the 3 variables. Materials and Methods We investigated 32 kidney donors who had visited the hospital from October, 2013 to March, 2014 and received abdominal CT and $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA GFR examination. With the cross-section image of the CT and the lateral image from a gamma camera, we measured the renal depth and compared with renal depth calculation equations-Tonnesen, Taylor, and Itoh methods. Renal depth-specific GFR was calculated by using Xeleris Ver. 2.1220 of GE. Then the results were compared with MDRD (Modification of Diet Renal Disease) GFRs based on serum creatinine level. Results The renal depths measured based on the CT and gamma camera images showed high correlation. Tonessen equation gave the lowest GFR value while the value calculated by using the renal depth of CT image was the highest with a 16.62% gap. MDRD GFR showed no statistically significant difference among values calculated through Taylor, Itoh, CT and gamma camera renal depth application (P>0.05), but exhibited a statistically significant change in the value based on Tonnesen equation (P<0.05). Conclusion This research has found that, in GFR evaluation in kidney donors by utilizing $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA, Tonnesen equation-based Gates method underestimated the value than the MDRD GFR. Therefore, if a MDRD GFR value shows a huge difference from the actual examination value, using an image-based renal depth measurement, instead of Tonnesen equation applied to Gates method, is expected to give an accurate GFR value to kidney donors.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 2012

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative neck lymph node (LN) assessment with $^{18}F$-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ($^{18}F$-FDG PET), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients with pathologically positive LN. Materials and Methods: In total, 47 OSCC patients with pathologically positive LN were retrospectively reviewed with preoperative $^{18}F$-FDG PET and CT/MRI. All patients underwent surgical resection, neck dissection and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy between March 2002 and October 2010. Histologic correlation was performed for findings of $^{18}F$-FDG PET and CT/MRI. Results: Thirty-six (76.6%) of 47 cases were correctly diagnosed with neck LN metastasis by $^{18}F$-FDG PET and 32 (68.1%) of 47 cases were correctly diagnosed by CT/MRI. Follow-up ranged from 20 to 114 months (median, 56 months). Clinically negative nodal status evaluated by $^{18}F$-FDG PET or CT/MRI revealed a trend toward better clinical outcomes in terms of overall survival, disease-free survival, local recurrence-free survival, regional nodal recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival rates even though the trends were not statistically significant. However, there was no impact of neck node standardized uptake value ($SUV_{max}$) on clinical outcomes. Notably, $SUV_{max}$ showed significant correlation with tumor size in LN (p < 0.01, $R^2$ = 0.62). PET and CT/MRI status of LN also had significant correlation with the size of intranodal tumor deposit (p < 0.05, $R^2$ = 0.37 and p < 0.01, $R^2$ = 0.48, respectively). Conclusion: $^{18}F$-FDG PET and CT/MRI at the neck LNs might improve risk stratification in OSCC patients with pathologically positive neck LN in this study, even without significant prognostic value of $SUV_{max}$.