• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제25권7호
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• pp.662-672
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• 2024

Since the emergence of the first photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) system in late 2021, its advantages and a wide range of applications in all fields of radiology have been demonstrated. Compared to standard energy-integrating detector-CT, PCCT allows for superior geometric dose efficiency in every examination. While this aspect by itself is groundbreaking, the advantages do not stop there. PCCT facilitates an unprecedented combination of ultra-high-resolution imaging without dose penalty or field-of-view restrictions, detector-based elimination of electronic noise, and ubiquitous multi-energy spectral information. Considering the high demands of orthopedic imaging for the visualization of minuscule details while simultaneously covering large portions of skeletal and soft tissue anatomy, no subspecialty may benefit more from this novel detector technology than musculoskeletal radiology. Deeply rooted in experimental and clinical research, this review article aims to provide an introduction to the cosmos of PCCT, explain its technical basics, and highlight the most promising applications for patient care, while also mentioning current limitations that need to be overcome.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.227-235
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• 2019

With slimmer, lighter and all-reflective imaging systems in high demand for consumer and military applications, coaxially folded optical image systems are widely considered because they can extend focal length and reduce track length. Most of these systems consist of multiple surfaces, and these surfaces are machined on one element or grouping processing on two elements. In this paper, we report and first experimentally demonstrate an all-aluminum all-reflective optical system which consists of two optical elements, with two high order aspherical surfaces in each element. The coaxially folded system is designed with Seidel aberration theory and advanced optimization with Zemax. The system is made of all-aluminum material processing by single point diamond turning (SPDT). On this basis, we completed the system integration and performed an imaging experiment. The final system has the advantages of short track length and long focal length and broad application prospects in the micro-unmanned aerial vehicle field.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.218-228
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• 2021

Due to their high degree of freedom to transfer and acquire light, fiber optics can be used in the presence of strong magnetic fields. Hence, optical sensing and imaging based on fiber optics can be integrated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostic systems to acquire valuable information on biological tissues and organs based on a magnetic field. In this article, we explored the combination of MRI and optical sensing/imaging techniques by classifying them into the following topics: 1) functional near-infrared spectroscopy with functional MRI for brain studies and brain disease diagnoses, 2) integration of fiber-optic molecular imaging and optogenetic stimulation with MRI, and 3) optical therapeutic applications with an MRI guidance system. Through these investigations, we believe that a combination of MRI and optical sensing/imaging techniques can be employed as both research methods for multidisciplinary studies and clinical diagnostic/therapeutic devices.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• 제7권5호
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• pp.545-556
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• 2023

This paper introduces volume-sharing multi-aperture imaging (VMAI), a potential approach proposed for volume reduction in space-borne imagers, with the aim of achieving high-resolution ground spatial imagery using deep learning methods, with reduced volume compared to conventional approaches. As an intermediate step in the VMAI payload development, we present a phase-1 design targeting a 1-meter ground sampling distance (GSD) at 500 km altitude. Although its optical imaging capability does not surpass conventional approaches, it remains attractive for specific applications on small satellite platforms, particularly surveillance missions. The design integrates one wide-field and three narrow-field cameras with volume sharing and no optical interference. Capturing independent images from the four cameras, the payload emulates a large circular aperture to address diffraction and synthesizes high-resolution images using deep learning. Computational simulations validated the VMAI approach, while addressing challenges like lower signal-to-noise (SNR) values resulting from aperture segmentation. Future work will focus on further reducing the volume and refining SNR management.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.179-201
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• 2019

Portable low-cost magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems have the potential to enable "point-of-care" and timely MRI diagnosis, and to make this imaging modality available to routine scans and to people in underdeveloped countries and areas. With simplicity, no maintenance, no power consumption, and low cost, permanent magnets/magnet arrays/magnet assemblies are attractive to be used as a source of static magnetic field to realize the portability and to lower the cost for an MRI scanner. However, when taking the canonical Fourier imaging approach and using linear gradient fields, homogeneous fields are required in a scanner, resulting in the facts that either a bulky magnet/magnet array is needed, or the imaging volume is too small to image an organ if the magnet/magnet array is scaled down to a portable size. Recently, with the progress on image reconstruction based on non-linear gradient field, static field patterns without spatial linearity can be used as spatial encoding magnetic fields (SEMs) to encode MRI signals for imaging. As a result, the requirements for the homogeneity of the static field can be relaxed, which allows permanent magnets/magnet arrays with reduced sizes, reduced weight to image a bigger volume covering organs such as a head. It offers opportunities of constructing a truly portable low-cost MRI scanner. For this exciting potential application, permanent magnets/magnet arrays have attracted increased attention recently. A magnet/magnet array is strongly associated with the imaging volume of an MRI scanner, image reconstruction methods, and RF excitation and RF coils, etc. through field patterns and field homogeneity. This paper offers a review of permanent magnets and magnet arrays of different kinds, especially those that can be used for spatial encoding towards the development of a portable and low-cost MRI system. It is aimed to familiarize the readers with relevant knowledge, literature, and the latest updates of the development on permanent magnets and magnet arrays for MRI. Perspectives on and challenges of using a permanent magnet/magnet array to supply a patterned static magnetic field, which does not have spatial linearity nor high field homogeneity, for image reconstruction in a portable setup are discussed.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.308-311
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• 2015

We design a crisscrossed double-layer birdcage (DLBC) coil by modifying the coil geometry of a standard single-layer BC (SLBC) coil to enhance the homogeneity of transmitting magnetic flux density ($B_1{^+}$) along the main magnetic field ($B_0$)-direction for small-animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 300 MHz. The performance assessment of the crisscrossed DLBC coil is conducted by computational analysis with the finite-difference time domain method (FDTD) and compared with SLBC coil in terms of the $B_1$ and the $B_1{^+}$ distribution. As per the computational calculation studies, the mean value in the two-dimensional $B_1{^+}$ map obtained at the mid-axial slice with the proposed DLBC coil is slightly lower than that obtained with the SLBC coil, but the $B_1{^+}$ value of the DLBC coil in the outermost plane (40 mm away from the central plane) shows improvements of 19.3% and 24.8% over the SLBC coil $B_1{^+}$ value when simulating a spherical phantom and realistic mouse body modeling. These simulation results indicate that, the $B_1{^+}$ homogeneity along the z-direction was improved by using DLBC configuration. Our approach enables $B_1{^+}$ homogeneity improvement along the zdirection, and it can also be applied to ultra-high field (UHF) MRI systems.

• 대한자기공명의과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한자기공명의과학회.한국자기공명학회 2005년도 공동학술대회
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• pp.12-12
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• 2005

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제63권4호
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• pp.546-550
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• 2014

In this research, we report all the elements are placed in the space above the patient table as a transmit coil to give optimized B1+ field for the body object. Through the simulations, we compared upper-and-lower parts combined 8 channel Tx array to upper only 8 channel Tx array and showed the utilities of B1+ shimming in multi-channel Tx body imaging at 3T. Half-cylinder shaped upper array shows weak B1+ field area around back of patient without B1+ shimming. After B1+ shimming, highly induced SAR places occurred in the arm region due to the close distance to the both end elements which were driven by very high RF current to enhance B1+ in back area. The proposed upper and lower combined array provides an enhanced homogeneous B1+ field in large ROI imaging as a result of shimming over the body size phantom. Through this research we proved the usefulness of the proposed insertional upper and lower parts combined transmit array for 3T body imaging.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지구물리탐사학회 2006년도 공동학술대회 논문집
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• pp.109-112
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• 2006

기존 상용 전기탐사장비의 한계는 간척지 갯벌 등 해성퇴적층 하부지반조사 적용이 매우 힘들거나, 불가능한 것으로 인지되어 왔다. 최근 전 세계적으로 해저면 또는 연안지역환경 전기탐사 필요성이 대두됨에 따라 자체개발 발전기 전원 5 Ampere 대전류 송신 전기탐사 현장적용이 광양만에서 확인된다. 항만관련 기반시설 연안투자는 지속 확대될 것으로 기존 탐사방법 지반조사에서 탈피하여 항만 교량, 해저터널, 해저 가스 층 등의 효과적 적용 가능성이 기대된다. 한편 조석변화를 고려한 대전류 전기 비저항탐사를 수위별로 시간대 측정하여 연약구역 효과를 비교 시도하였다. 대전류 송신은 탐사전선저항 길이를 고려한 덜 무거운 케이블 선택 설계가 현장야업 시 중요하다.

• 한국전자파학회논문지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.96-100
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• 2012

정 자장($B_0$)의 세기가 7 T(Tesla) 또는 9.4 T 고자기장 MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) 시스템은 정 자장의 세기가 1.5 T 또는 3 T MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) 시스템에 비하여 인가된 RF(Radio Frequency) 필드의 높은 불균질성을 보여준다. 다채널(multi-channel) RF 코일에서는 인가된 RF 자장($B_1^+$)의 불균질성을 개선시키기 위해서 각각의 코일 소자(element)에 인가되는 전류의 크기와 위상을 독립적으로 조절할 수 있다. 선택된 관심 영역에서의 RF 자장이 균일하도록 RF 코일의 각 요소로 들어가는 최적화된 전류의 크기와 위상 값을 얻기 위해서 iterative 방법과 함께 convex 최적화 방법이 사용된다. 이러한 방법을 입증하기 위하여 9.4 T MRI 시스템에 RF 코일의 공진 주파수가 400 MHz을 가지는 다채널 전송 선로 코일이 인체 두상 모형과 함께 모델링되었으며, 이 코일에 의하여 자장이 얻어진다. 9.4 T MRI 시스템을 위한 시뮬레이션 결과가 자세히 논의된다.