• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.441-445
• /
• 2011

Objective : There are technical limitations of multi-level posterior pedicle screw fixation performed by the percutaneous technique. The purpose of this study was to describe the surgical technique and outcome of minimally invasive multi-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and to determine its efficacy. Methods : Forty-two patients who underwent mini-open PLIF using the percutaneous screw fixation system were studied. The mean age of the patients was 59.1 (range, 23 to 78 years). Two levels were involved in 32 cases and three levels in 10 cases. The clinical outcome was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) and Low Back Outcome Score (LBOS). Achievement of radiological fusion, intra-operative blood loss, the midline surgical scar and procedure related complications were also analyzed. Results : The mean follow-up period was 25.3 months. The mean LBOS prior to surgery was 34.5, which was improved to 49.1 at the final follow up. The mean pain score (VAS) prior to surgery was 7.5 and it was decreased to 2.9 at the last follow up. The mean estimated blood loss was 238 mL (140-350) for the two level procedures and 387 mL (278-458) for three levels. The midline surgical scar was 6.27 cm for two levels and 8.25 cm for three level procedures. Complications included two cases of asymptomatic medial penetration of the pedicle border. However, there were no signs of neurological deterioration or fusion failure. Conclusion : Multi-level, minimally invasive PLIF can be performed effectively using the percutaneous transpedicular screw fixation system. It can be an alternative to the traditional open procedures.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.345-349
• /
• 1999

We fused the promoter region of an H3.2 chicken histone gene, whose expression is dependent on the cell cycle, to the 5' coding region of an H3.3 chicken histone gene, which is expressed constitutively at a low level throughout the cell cycle. This fusion gene showed a cell cycle-regulated pattern of expression, but in a different manner. The mRNA level of the fusion gene increase during the S phase of the cell cycle by about 3.7-fold at 6 h and 2.7-fold at 12 h after the serum stimulation. The mRNA level of the intact H3.2 gene, however, increased by an average of 3.6-fold at 6 h and 8.7-fold at 12 h. This different expression pattern might be due to the differences in their 3' end region that is responsible for mRNA stability. The 3' end of the H3.2 mRNA contains a stem-loop structure, instead of a poly(A) tail present in the H3.3 mRNA. We also constructed a similar fusion gene using a H3.3 histone gene whose introns had been eliminated to rule out the possibility of involvement of the introns in cell cycle-regulated expression. The expression of this fusion gene was almost identical to the fusion gene made previously. These results indicate that the promoter region of the H3.2 gene is only partially responsible for its expression during the S phase of the cell cycle.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.2420-2433
• /
• 2014

Fusing the scores of multibiometrics is a very promising approach to improve the overall system's accuracy and the verification performance. In recent years, there are several approaches towards studying score level fusion of several biometric systems. However, most of them does not consider the genuine and imposter score distributions and result in a higher equal error rate usually. In this paper, a novel score level fusion approach of different biometric systems (dual iris, thermal and visible face traits) based on $Acz{\acute{e}}l$-Alsina triangular norm is proposed. It achieves higher identification performance as well as acquires a closer genuine distance and larger imposter distance. The experimental tests are conducted on a virtual multibiometrics database, which merges the challenging CASIA-Iris-Thousand database with noisy samples and the NVIE face database with visible and thermal face images. The rigorous results suggest that significant performance improvement can be achieved after the implementation of multibiometrics. The comparative experiments also ascertain that the proposed fusion approach outperforms the state-of-art verification performance.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.113-118
• /
• 2011

In this paper, we develop a speaker gender classification technique using collaborative sensor fusion for use in a wireless sensor network. The distributed sensor nodes remove the unwanted input data using the BER(Band Energy Ration) based voice activity detection, process only the relevant data, and transmit the hard labeled decisions to the fusion center where a global decision fusion is carried out. This takes advantages of power consumption and network resource management. The Bayesian sensor fusion and the global weighting decision fusion methods are proposed to achieve the gender classification. As the number of the sensor nodes varies, the Bayesian sensor fusion yields the best classification accuracy using the optimal operating points of the ROC(Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves_ For the weights used in the global decision fusion, the BER and MCL(Mutual Confidence Level) are employed to effectively combined at the fusion center. The simulation results show that as the number of the sensor nodes increases, the classification accuracy was even more improved in the low SNR(Signal to Noise Ration) condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.6 s.171
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2005

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2012

Objective : To evaluate radiographic results of anterior fusion methods in two-level cervical disc disease : tricortical autograft and plate fixation (ACDF-AP), cage and plate fixation (ACDF-CP), stand-alone cage (ACDF-CA), and corpectomy and plate fixation (ACCF). Methods: The numbers of patients were 70 with a minimum 6 month follow-up (ACDF-AP : 12, ACDF-CP : 27, ACDF-CA : 15, and ACCF : 16). Dynamic simple X-ray and computed tomography were evaluated preoperatively, postoperatively, 6 month, and at the final follow-up. The fusion and subsidence rates at the final were determined, and global cervical lordosis (GCL), cervical range of motion, fused segment angle (FSA), and fused segment height (FSH) were analyzed. Results: Nonunion was observed in 4 (25%) patients with ACDF-CA, 1 (8%) patient with ACDF-AP, 1 (4%) patient with ACDF-CP. The number of loss of FSH (%) more than 3 mm were 2 patients (16%) in ACDF-AP, 3 patients (11%) in ACDF-CP, 5 patients (33%) in ACDF-CA, and 3 patients (20%) in ACCF. The GCL was decreased with ACDF-CA and increased with others. The FSA was increased with ACDF-AP, ACDF-CP, and ACCF, but ACDF-CA was decreased. At the final follow-up, the FSH was slightly decreased in ACDF-CP, ACDF-AP, and ACCF, but ACDF-CA was more decreased. Graft related complication were minimal. Screw loosening, plate fracture, cage subsidence and migration were not identified. Conclusion: ACDF-CP demonstrated a higher fusion rate and less minimal FSH loss than the other fusions in two-level cervical disc disease. The ACDF-AP and ACCF methods had a better outcome than the ACDF-CA with respect to GCL, FSA, and FSH.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2013

Objective : We compared the results of two surgical techniques by retrospective study of 60 elderly patients (65 years or older) who underwent either decompression alone or fusion for the treatment of two-level or more lumbar spinal stenosis. Methods : During the period of 2003 and 2008, two-level or more decompression alone or fusion was performed for lumbar spinal stenosis by three surgeons at our institution. Patients were allocated to two groups by surgical modality, namely, to a decompression group (31 patients) or a fusion group (29 patients). Overall mean age was 71.1 years (range, 65-84) and mean follow-up was 5.5 years (range, 3-9). A retrospective review of clinical, radiological, and surgical data was conducted. Results : No significant difference between the two groups was found with respect to age, follow-up period, surgical levels, or preoperative condition. At the last follow-up, correction of lumbar lordotic angle (determined radiologically) was better in the fusion group. However, clinical outcomes including visual analogue scale, Oswestry Disability Index, and the Odom's criteria were not significantly different in the two groups. On the other hand, surgical outcomes, such as, operation time, estimated blood loss, and surgical complications were significantly better in the decompression alone group. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that decompressive laminectomy alone achieves good outcomes in patients with two-level or more lumbar spinal stenosis, associated with an advanced age, poor general condition, or osteoporosis.

• Neurospine
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.368-375
• /
• 2018

Objective: To evaluate the results of operative management of subaxial spine injuries managed with 2-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion with a cervical locking plate and autologous bone-filled titanium mesh cage. Methods: This study included 23 patients with a subaxial spine injury who matched the inclusion criteria, underwent 2-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion at our institution between 2013 and 2016, and were followed up for neurological recovery, axial pain, fusion, pseudarthrosis, and implant failure. Results: According to Allen and Ferguson classification, there were 9 cases of distractive extension; 4 of compressive extension; 3 each of compressive flexion, vertical compression, and distractive flexion; and 1 of lateral flexion. Sixteen patients had a score of 6 on the Subaxial Injury Classification system, and the rest had a score of more than 6. The mean follow-up period was 19 months (range, 12-48 months). Neurological recovery was observed in most of the patients (78.21%). All patients experienced relief of axial pain. None of the patients received a blood transfusion. Twenty-one patients (91.3%) showed solid fusion and 2 (8.69%) showed possible pseudarthrosis, with no complications related to the cage or plate. Conclusion: Two-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion, along with stabilization with a cervical locking plate and autologous bone graft-filled titanium mesh cage, can be considered a feasible and safe method for treating specific subaxial spine injuries, with the benefits of high primary stability, anatomical reduction, and direct decompression of the spinal cord.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.240-245
• /
• 2005

In order to implement nano-level accuracy of precision equipments, a nano control system is one of the key components. The control system consists of a controller, actuators and sensors having nano-level resolution. In this paper, application area and technical trend on the nano control system are introduced. Some required techniques for realizing nano-level resolution of a controller or actuator are presented. Technical innovation of a control system by IT-fusion and its effect are also described. Finally, domestic research activities for development of the IT-based nano control system are introduced.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.58-60
• /
• 2011

Ligamentum flavum hematoma (LFH) is a very rare condition of dural compression; most are observed in the mobile cervical and lumbar spine regions. A 67-year-old man who had a long level interbody fusion at L3-S1 four years ago presented with symptoms suggestive of dural compression. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a posterior semicircular mass located at the adjacent L2-L3 level. After decompression of the spinal canal and removal of the mass lesion, pathological examination of the surgical specimen revealed a hematoma within the ligamentum. The patient fully recovered to normal status after surgery. Here, we report our experience with a LFH in the adjacent segment after a long level fusion procedure and discuss the possible associated mechanisms.