• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.25-32
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• 2020

Objective: To comparatively evaluate the scan coverage and diagnostic performance of the two-view scan technique (2-VST) of the automated breast ultrasound system (ABUS) versus the conventional three-view scan technique (3-VST) in women with small breasts. Materials and Methods: Between March 2016 and May 2017, 136 asymptomatic women with small breasts (bra cup size A) suitable for 2-VST were enrolled. Subsequently, 272 breasts were subjected to bilateral whole-breast ultrasound examinations using ABUS and the hand-held ultrasound system (HHUS). During ABUS image acquisition, one breast was scanned with 2-VST, while the other breast was scanned with 3-VST. In each breast, the breast coverage and visibility of the HHUS detected lesions on ABUS were assessed. The sensitivity and specificity of ABUS were compared between 2-VST and 3-VST. Results: Among 136 breasts, eight cases of breast cancer were detected by 2-VST, and 10 cases of breast cancer were detected by 3-VST. The breast coverage was satisfactory in 94.1% and 91.9% of cases under 2-VST and 3-VST, respectively (p = 0.318). All HHUS-detected lesions were visible on the ABUS images regardless of the scan technique. The sensitivities and specificities were similar between 2-VST and 3-VST (100% [8/8] vs. 100% [10/10], and 97.7% [125/128] vs. 95.2% [120/126], respectively), with no significant difference (p > 0.05). Conclusion: 2-VST of ABUS achieved comparable scan coverage and diagnostic performance to that of conventional 3-VST in women with small breasts.

• 한국기계가공학회지
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.60-66
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• 2016

This study used an ultrasound infrared thermography technique to detect issues in the motor core of typical power equipment. The current defect inspection method of the motor core is often incomplete (due to the limits of visual inspection) and thus the reliability of the motor core is reduced. Therefore, in this study, experiments were carried out to increase the reliability of the test by using an ultrasonic infrared thermal non-destructive inspection method to image the motor core. The ambient temperature of the experimental system was maintained at $25^{\circ}C$. Experiments were carried out to examine a damaged motor core and a defect-free motor core. Experimental results confirm the technique clearly detected defects in the motor core, thereby confirming the possibility of using this technique in the field.

• 한국음향학회지
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• 제42권5호
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• pp.422-428
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• 2023

초고속 초음파 영상은 탄성 영상, 초고속 도플러, 초해상도 영상과 같은 다양한 초음파 기반의 기능성 영상기술에 폭넓게 적용되고 있다. 하지만, 획득하는 데이터의 양이 많아 실시간 영상 재구성이나 3차원 또는 모바일 초음파 영상 응용으로의 확장이 제한된다. 본 논문은 적응 양자화 기법을 통해 초고속 초음파 영상으로 획득되는 대용량 Radio frequency(RF) 데이터의 전송 효율을 높이는 방법을 제안한다. 인체에서 반사된 초음파 신호는 높은 동적 범위를 가져 대부분의 현재 시스템에서 사용되는 고정 양자화 기법은 10 bits ~ 14 bits 이상의 높은 양자화 단계를 가진다. 양자화 단계 저감에 대한 화질 저하의 한계를 극복하기 위해, 본 연구는 영상 깊이에 따라 구간을 설정하고, 각 영역별 RF 데이터를 정규화하고 양자화하는 방안을 제안한다. 정량적인 검증을 위해, Field II 컴퓨터 모사 실험을 활용하여, 고정 양자화 방법과 제안하는 방법의 대조도 대 잡음 비, 공간 해상도 및 원본 대비 유사도를 비교하였다. 또한, 연구용 초음파 장비를 활용한 인체 모사 실험 및 인체 실험을 통해 최종 3-bit로 재구성한 영상에서도 제안하는 방법이 효과적으로 적용되는 것을 입증하였다.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제41권5호
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• pp.195-202
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• 2020

Needle detection in ultrasound images is sometimes difficult due to obstruction of fat tissues. Accurate needle detection using continuous ultrasound (CUS) images is a vital stage of treatment planning for tissue biopsy and brachytherapy. The main goal of the study is classified into two categories. First, new detection model, i.e. D-Attention Unet, is developed by combining the context information of 3D medical data and CUS images. Second, the D-Attention Unet model was compared with other models to verify its usefulness for needle detection in continuous ultrasound images. The continuous needle images taken with ultrasonic waves were converted into still images for dataset to evaluate the performance of the D-Attention Unet. The dataset was used for training and testing. Based on the results, the proposed D-Attention Unet model showed the better performance than other 3 models (Unet, D-Unet and Attention Unet), with Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), Recall and Precision at 71.9%, 70.6% and 73.7%, respectively. In conclusion, the D-Attention Unet model provides accurate needle detection for US-guided biopsy or brachytherapy, facilitating the clinical workflow. Especially, this kind of research is enthusiastically being performed on how to add image processing techniques to learning techniques. Thus, the proposed method is applied in this manner, it will be more effective technique than before.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제17권5호
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• pp.751-759
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• 2023

유방 초음파 검사는 지방형 유방에서 영상화가 어렵고 미세 석회화를 찾는 데 어려움이 있지만, 미세 석회화의 발견은 유방암 선별 검사에 매우 중요하다. 초음파의 컬러 도플러 허상 중 반짝 허상은 영상에서 주로 결석이나 석회화 같은 강한 반사체에 발생되며 이를 이용한 평가 방법이 임상적으로 사용 중이다. 본 연구는 유방 석회화 중 가장 많이 차지하는 인산칼슘을 이용한 유방 모의 팬텀을 제작하여 초음파 장비의 컬러 도플러 설정 변수인 펄스 반복 주파수, 앙상블, 퍼시스트, 월 필터, 평활화, 선밀도, 임계값에 대해 실험을 진행했고 이를 통해 유방 초음파 검사에서 반짝 허상의 대조도를 개선하는 조건과 임상에서 이를 최대한 활용하기 위한 방안을 연구하고자 하였다. 그 결과 펄스 반복 주파수가 3.6 kHz ~ 7.2 kHz 범위에서 반짝 허상이 발생하며 10.5 kHz 이상에서는 발생하지 않았다. 앙상블의 경우 낮은 조건에서는 모든 크기의 석회화에 반짝 허상이 발생하였고 임계값 설정에서는 80에서 100 조건에서만 반짝 허상이 조금 증가했으며 1 mm 크기의 석회화에서는 발생하지 않았다. 퍼시스트, 월 필터, 평활화, 선밀도 설정은 반짝 허상이 발생하긴 했으나 조건별로 증가하지는 않아 설정 변수에 큰 의미가 없었으며 반짝 허상에 가장 큰 영향을 미친 것은 펄스 반복 주파수, 앙상블, 임계값으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 검사자가 컬러 도플러 설정을 조절하여 반짝 허상을 효과적으로 증가시키는 최적의 조건을 선택하는 데 도움이 될 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제33권5호통권133호
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• pp.29-37
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• 2005

A previous study verified that the SIRT (simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique) method is more efficient than the back-projection method as a CT algorithm for wood. However, it was expected that the determination of the initial model function of the SIRT method would influence the quality of CT image. Therefore, in this study, we intended to develop a technique that could be used to determine an adequate initial model function. For this purpose, we proposed several techniques, and for each technique we examined the effects of the initial model function on the average errors and the CT image at each iteration. Through this study, it was shown that the average error was decreased and the image quality was improved using the proposed techniques. This tendency was most pronounced when the back-projection method was used to determine the initial model function. From the results of this study, we drew the following conclusions: 1) The initial model function of the SIRT method should be determined with careful attention, and 2) the back-projection method efficiently determines the initial model function of the SIRT method.

• 센서학회지
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.124-130
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• 2011

In this study, in order to evaluate the yield of bubble by ultrasonic cavitation in HIFU sonication, the bubble image analysis was performed. The changing phenomenon of cavitation effect according to the sonication condition was discussed by analyzing the bubble image. Especially the appearance of bubble cloud, the size of micro-bubble, and the yield of bubble were considered. The 500 KHz and 1.1 MHz concave type ultrasonic transducers were used for HIFU sonication. Computer controlled digital camera was used to obtain the bubble image, and the binary image processing(binarization coefficient : 0.15) was performed to analyze them. In results of 500 KHz and 1.1 MHz transducer, the area of bubble cloud was increased in proportion to the rise in sonication intensity($R^2$ : 0.7031 and 0.811). The mean size of single microbubble was measured as 98.18 um in 500 KHz sonication, and 63.38 um in 1.1 MHz sonication. In addition, the amount of produced bubble was increased in proportion to sonication intensity. Through the result of this study and further study for variable image processing method, the quantitative evaluation of ultrasonic cavitation effects in HIFU operation could be possible with the linearity associated with the sonication conditions.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.957-964
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• 2023

본 연구는 시중에 판매되고 있는 다양한 성분과 제형의 손 소독제들을 전파 매질로 활용하여 초음파 검사를 진행한 후 획득한 영상을 평가·비교하여 기존의 초음파 젤의 대체 가능성을 확인하고자 하였다. 연구 방법으로는 점도가 낮은 liquid type을 제외한 gel type, cream type, foam type의 제형의 제품들을 선정해 에탄올 62% gel type 1개와 cream type 1개, 벤잘코늄 염화물 0.066% cream type 1개와 foam type 1개를 각각 초음파 매질로 사용하여, 축방향 & 측방향 분해능, 투과심도, probe와 phantom 사이의 공기층 형성유무에 관한 영상 평가를 진행하였다. 그 결과, 축방향 & 측방향 분해능 평가와 투과심도 평가에서 4개 실험군 모두 평가 기준에 적합한 결과가 나왔다. 그러나 foam type의 경우 분해능과 투과심도의 평가 기준에는 적합하지만 영상 평가 시 관찰 중심부를 제외한 양 측면부에서 어두운 음영으로 나타났다. 해당 실험을 통해 foam type을 제외한 나머지 3종의 손 소독제는 초음파 젤을 대체할 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• 공학기술논문지
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.245-251
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• 2018

Terahertz waves (T-ray) was extensively studied for the NDE (nondestructive evaluation) of characterization of trailing edges for a use of turbines composed with composite materials. The used NDE system were consisted of both CW(Continuous wave) and TDS (Time domain spectroscopy). The FRP composites were utilized for two kinds of both trailing edges of wind energy (non-conducting polymeric composites) and carbon fiber composites with conducting properties. The signals of T-ray in the TDS (Time domain spectroscopy) mode resembles almost that of ultrasound waves; however, a terahertz pulse could not penetrate a material with conductivity unlike ultrasound. Also, a method was suggested to obtain the "n" in the materials, which is called the refractive index (n). The data of refractive index (n) could be solved for the trailing edges. The trailing edges were scanned for characterization and inspection. C-scan and B-scan images were obtained and best optimal NDE techniques were suggested for complicated geometry samples by terahertz radiation. Especially, it is found that the defect image of T-ray corresponded with defect locations for the trailing edges of wind mill.

• Applied Microscopy
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• 제50권
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• pp.25.1-25.11
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• 2020

Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) or Acoustic Micro Imaging (AMI) is a powerful, non-destructive technique that can detect hidden defects in elastic and biological samples as well as non-transparent hard materials. By monitoring the internal features of a sample in three-dimensional integration, this technique can efficiently find physical defects such as cracks, voids, and delamination with high sensitivity. In recent years, advanced techniques such as ultrasound impedance microscopy, ultrasound speed microscopy, and scanning acoustic gigahertz microscopy have been developed for applications in industries and in the medical field to provide additional information on the internal stress, viscoelastic, and anisotropic, or nonlinear properties. X-ray, magnetic resonance, and infrared techniques are the other competitive and widely used methods. However, they have their own advantages and limitations owing to their inherent properties such as different light sources and sensors. This paper provides an overview of the principle of SAM and presents a few results to demonstrate the applications of modern acoustic imaging technology. A variety of inspection modes, such as vertical, horizontal, and diagonal cross-sections have been presented by employing the focus pathway and image reconstruction algorithm. Images have been reconstructed from the reflected echoes resulting from the change in the acoustic impedance at the interface of the material layers or defects. The results described in this paper indicate that the novel acoustic technology can expand the scope of SAM as a versatile diagnostic tool requiring less time and having a high efficiency.