• The KIPS Transactions:PartA
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• v.13A no.5 s.102
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• pp.465-472
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• 2006

Recently, many suggestions have been made in image segmentation methods for extracting human organs or disease affected area from huge amounts of medical image datasets. However, images from some areas, such as brain, which have multiple structures with ambiruous structural borders, have limitations in their structural segmentation. To address this problem, clustering technique which classifies voxels into finite number of clusters is often employed. This, however, has its drawback, the influence from noise, which is caused from voxel by voxel operations. Therefore, applying image enhancing method to minimize the influence from noise and to make clearer image borders would allow more robust structural segmentation. This research proposes an efficient structural segmentation method by filtering based clustering to extract detail structures such as white matter, gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid from brain MR. First, coherence enhancing diffusion filtering is adopted to make clearer borders between structures and to reduce the noises in them. To the enhanced images from this process, fuzzy c-means clustering method was applied, conducting structural segmentation by assigning corresponding cluster index to the structure containing each voxel. The suggested structural segmentation method, in comparison with existing ones with clustering using Gaussian or general anisotropic diffusion filtering, showed enhanced accuracy which was determined by how much it agreed with the manual segmentation results. Moreover, by suggesting fine segmentation method on the border area with reproducible results and minimized manual task, it provides efficient diagnostic support for morphological abnormalities in brain.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.533-544
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• 2016

Objectives: We aimed to examine levels of physical activity, anthropometric features, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Korean breast cancer survivors who reported changes in their diet after diagnosis. Methods: A total of 380 women who had been diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer and had breast cancer surgery at least six months before the interview were included. Participants provided information on dietary change after diagnosis, post-diagnostic diet, physical activity, anthropometric measures, and HRQoL through face-to-face interview. We assessed HRQoL levels of breast cancer survivors using a validated Korean version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and Breast Cancer Module (BR23). We used the logistic regression and generalized linear models to identify the associations of dietary changes in relation with physical activity, anthropometry, and HRQoL. Results: The majority of participants (72.6%) reported that they have changed their diet to a healthier diet after diagnosis. Breast cancer survivors who reported to have change to a healthy diet had higher intakes of vegetables and fruits and lower intakes of red and processed meats, and refined grains than those who did not. Also, survivors with a healthy change in their diet were more likely to engage in physical activity (top vs. bottom tertile: odds ratio [OR], 1.85; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.02-3.36) and have lower body mass index (BMI) (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82-0.98 for one $kg/m^2$ increment in BMI) compared to those who did not. We found that a healthy change in diet was associated with higher scores of physical functioning (p=0.02) and lower scores of constipation (p=0.04) and diarrhea (p=0.006) compared to those who did not. Conclusions: Healthy changes in diet after breast cancer diagnosis may be associated with lower levels of BMI, and higher levels of physical activity and HRQoL.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

Mammography is commonly used for screening early breast cancer. However, mammographic images, which depend on the physical properties of breast components, are limited to provide information about whether a lesion is malignant or benign. Although a dual-energy subtraction technique decomposes a certain material from a mixture, it increases radiation dose and degrades the accuracy of material decomposition. In this study, we simulated a breast phantom using attenuation characteristics, and we proposed a technique to enable the accurate material decomposition by applying weighting factors for the dual-energy mammography based on a photon-counting detector using a Monte Carlo simulation tool. We also evaluated the contrast and noise of simulated breast images for validating the proposed technique. As a result, the contrast for a malignant tumor in the dual-energy weighted subtraction technique was 0.98 and 1.06 times similar than those in the general mammography and dual-energy subtraction techniques, respectively. However the contrast between malignant and benign tumors dramatically increased 13.54 times due to the low contrast of a benign tumor. Therefore, the proposed technique can increase the material decomposition accuracy for malignant tumor and improve the diagnostic accuracy of mammography.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.356-364
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• 2010

Objectives : This study was done to evaluate the effect of stopping drinking, using alcoholic liver disease questionnaire, Diagnosis System of Oriental Medicine (DSOM) and Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL). Methods : 49 men who satisfied the requirement participated in this trial. They stopped drinking for 6 weeks. They were analyzed using DSOM, alcoholic liver disease questionnaire and SF-36. The data were classified by age (<47,$\geq$48) and alcoholic intake per day (<100g,$\geq$100g). For HRQOL, the SF-36v2 Health Survey was used and Quality Metric Health Outcomes Scoring Software 2.0 (QualityMetric, Lincoln, RI, USA) was applied for the analysis. Results : The alcoholic liver disease questionnaire had a partial correlation with DSOM. Generally stopping drinking decreased Heat (熱). Especially in the group drinking over 100g per day, the correlation was high. In the group over 48 years old, spleen (脾) was improved comparatively. In the group with low HRQOL (PCS<31.43, MCS<23.33) deficiency (虛) was improved. Conclusions : We found that stopping drinking can improve pathogenic factors of alcoholic liver disease and the alcoholic liver disease questionnaire be a useful diagnostic method on alcoholic liver disease by comparison with DSOM.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.290-300
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• 2000

Background: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of EBT(Electron Beam Tomography) in the diagnosis of conotruncal anomaly and to determine whether it can be used as a substitute for cardiac angiography. Material and Method: 20 patients(11M & 9F) with TOF(n=7, pulmonary atresia 2), DORV(n=7), complete TGV(n=4), & corrected TGV(n=2) were included. The age ranged from 7 days to 26 years(median 60 days). We analyzed the sequential chamber localization, the main surgical concenrn in each disease category (PA size, LVED volume and coronary artery pattern for TOF & pulmonary atresia, the LV mass, LVOT obstruction, coronary artery pattern for complete TGV, and type of VSD and TV-PV distance for DORV, etc) and other associated anomalies(e.g., VSD, arch anomalies, tracheal stenosis, etc). Those were compared with the results of echocardiography(n=19), angiography (n=9), and surgery(n=11). The interval between EBT and echocardiography/angiography was within 20/11 days, respectively except for an angiography in a patient with corrected TGV (48 days). Result: EBT correctly diagnosed the basic components of conotruncal anomalies in all subjects, compared to echocardiography, angiography or surgery. These included the presence, type and size of VSD(n=20), pulmonic/LV outflow tract stenosis(n=15/2), relation of great arteries and the pattern of the proximal epicardial coronary arteries(16 out of 20). EBT proved to be accurate in quantitation of the intrapericardial and hilar pulmonary arterial dimension and showed high correlation and no difference compared with echocardiography, angiography, or surgery(p>0.05) except for left pulmonary arterial & ascending arterial dimension by echocardiography. LVED volume in seven TOF(no difference: p>0.05 & high correlation: r=0.996 with echocardiography), and LV mass in 4 complete TGV were obtained. Additionally, EBT enabled the cdiagnosis of subjlottic tracheal stenosis and tracheal bronchus in 1 respectively. Some peripheral PA stenosis were not detected by echocardiography, while echocardiography appeared to be slightly more accurate than EBT in detecing ASD or PDA. Conclusion: EBT can be a non-invasive and accurate modality of for the evaluation of most anatomical alteration including peripheral PS or interruption in patients with conotruncal anomalies. Combined with echocardiography, EBT study provides sufficient information for the palliative or total repair of anomalies.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.845-850
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• 2011

Norovirus (NoV) causes major acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. NoV genus is a member of the family Caliciviridae, which is transmitted by contaminated food and water or from human to human. Many genotypes of genogroups I and II have been reported because of their high genetic diversity. To obtain molecular epidemiological information on gastroenteritis sporadic cases in Busan, Korea, we analyzed the nucleotide sequences of NoV strains detected during 2008~2010. We performed one step RT-PCR amplifying the open reading frame (ORF) 2 (capsid region) followed by semi-nested PCR. Fecal samples were collected from 4,071 acute gastroenteritis, and genotypes of the 421 positive samples were determined by sequence analysis. Based on partial sequence of capsid region, 7 NoV were categorized into genogroup I and 13 into genogroup II. Prevalent genotypes among gastroenteritis patients within Busan were GII.4, GI.6, GII.5 in 2008~2010. The results of this study will contribute to the currently available epidemiological data and improve public health and hygiene via development of diagnostic methods and sustainable surveillance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2017

Background and Objectives : Adductor type spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) is neurogenic disorder and focal laryngeal dystonia, while muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is caused by functional voice disorder. Both ADSD and MTD may be associated with excessive supraglottic contraction and compensation, resulting in a strained voice quality with spastic voice breaks. The aim of this study was to determine the utility of spectrogram analysis in the differentiation of ADSD from MTD. Materials and Methods : From 2015 through 2017, 17 patients of ADSD and 20 of MTD, underwent acoustic recording and phonatory function studies, were enrolled. Jitter (frequency perturbation), Shimmer (amplitude perturbation) were obtained using MDVP (Multi-dimensional Voice Program) and GRBAS scale was used for perceptual evaluation. The two speech therapist evaluated a wide band (11,250 Hz) spectrogram by blind test using 4 scales (0-3 point) for four spectral findings, abrupt voice breaks, irregular wide spaced vertical striations, well defined formants and high frequency spectral noise. Results : Jitter, Shimmer and GRBAS were not found different between two groups with no significant correlation (p>0.05). Abrupt voice breaks and irregular wide spaced vertical striations of ADSD were significantly higher than those of MTD with strong correlation (p<0.01). High frequency spectral noise of MTD were higher than those of ADSD with strong correlation (p<0.01). Well defined formants were not found different between two groups. Conclusion : The wide band spectrograms provided visual perceptual information can differentiate ADSD from MTD. Spectrogram analysis is a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating ADSD from MTD where perceptual analysis and clinical evaluation alone are insufficient.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.389-394
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• 2015

There is a progressive development in the medical imaging technology, especially of descriptive capability for anatomical structure of human body thanks to advancement of information technology and medical devices. But however maintenance of correct posture is essential for the medical imaging checkup on the shoulder joint requiring rotation of the upper limb due to the complexity of human body. In the cases of MRI examination, long duration and fixed posture are critical, as failure to comply with them leads to minimal possibility of reproducibility only with the efforts of the examiner and will of the patient. Thus, this study aimed to develop an auxiliary device that enables rotation of the upper limb as well as fixing it at quantitative angles for medical imaging examination capable of providing diagnostic values. An auxiliary device has been developed based on the results of precedent studies, by designing a 3D model with the CATIA software, an engineering application, and producing it with the 3D printer. The printer is Objet350 Connex from Stratasys, and acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene(ABS) is used as the material of the device. Dimensions are $120{\times}150{\times}190mm$, with the inner diameter of the handle being 125.9 mm. The auxiliary device has 4 components including the body (outside), handle (inside), fixture terminal and the connection part. The body and handle have the gap of 2.1 mm for smooth rotation, while the 360 degree of scales have been etched on the handle so that the angle required for observation may be recorded per patient for traceability and dual examination.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2015

Digital Radiography is a big part of diagnostic radiology. Because uncorrected digital radiography image supported false effect of Patient's health care. We must be manage the correct digital radiography image. Thus, the artifact images can have effect to make a wrong diagnosis. We report types of occurrence by analyzing the artifacts that occurs in digital radiography system. We had collected the artifacts occurred in digital radiography system of general hospital from 2007 to 2014. The collected data had analyzed and then had categorize as the occurred causes. The artifacts could be categorized by hardware artifacts, software artifacts, operating errors, system artifacts, and others. Hardware artifact from a Ghost artifact that is caused by lag effect occurred most frequently. The others cases are the artifacts caused by RF noise and foreign body in equipments. Software artifacts are many different types of reasons. The uncorrected processing artifacts and the image processing error artifacts occurred most frequently. Exposure data recognize (EDR) error artifacts, the processing error of commissural line, and etc., the software artifacts were caused by various reasons. Operating artifacts were caused when the user didn't have the full understanding of the digital medical image system. System artifacts had appeared the error due to DICOM header information and the compression algorithm. The obvious artifacts should be re-examined, and it could result in increasing the exposure dose of the patient. The unclear artifact leads to a wrong diagnosis and added examination. The ability to correctly determine artifact are required. We have to reduce the artifact occurrences by understanding its characteristic and providing sustainable education as well as the maintenance of the equipments.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.313-321
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• 2016

Placenta accrete patients whose mother mortality rates are rather high due to massive bleeding during childbirth need to have Prophylactic placement of Internal Iliac Artery Balloon Occlusion Catheters procedure to reduce amount of blood loss and inoperative transfusion. Nevertheless, studies for mothers inevitably exposed to dose during PIIABOCs procedure have not been published many yet. Therefore, this study is to investigate exact information on radiation dose exposed to fetus during PIIABOCs procedure. Average effective dose of fetus per organ is 2.38~8.83 mGy, measured highest at beam center and followed by eyeball, stomach and bladder. The result showed that the longer fluoroscopy time is used, the closer beam center is and the thicker abdominal thickness is, the more effective dose on fetus is increasing. When using the collimator and protection shown to decrease the effective dose and when using higher the patient table shown to decrease the effective dose. It has been reported that the threshold of deterministic effect is about 100mGy. Deterministic effect was regarded as a factor that would influence on fetus exposed by medical radiation than stochastic effect. Consequently, it concluded that dose exposed on fetus in PIIABOCs procedure was approximately 10% of threshold of deterministic effect with effective dose of 0.49~18.27 mGy.