• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.390-396
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• 2015

We propose a partial occlusion removal method for computational integral imaging reconstruction (CIIR) based on the usage of the exemplar based inpainting technique. The proposed method is an improved version of the original linear inpainting based CIIR (LI-CIIR), which uses the inpainting technique to fill in the data missing region. The LI-CIIR shows good results for images which contain objects with smooth surfaces. However, if the object has a textured surface, the result of the LI-CIIR deteriorates, since the linear inpainting cannot recover the textured data in the data missing region well. In this work, we utilize the exemplar based inpainting to fill in the textured data in the data missing region. We call the proposed method the neighboring elemental image exemplar based inpainting (NEI-exemplar inpainting) method, since it uses sources from neighboring elemental images to fill in the data missing region. Furthermore, we also propose an automatic occluding region extraction method based on the use of the mutual constraint using depth estimation (MC-DE) and the level set based bimodal segmentation. Experimental results show the validity of the proposed system.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.798-802
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• 2007

The synthetic focusing in the ultrasonic imaging systems has been formed in the way that one element transmits a circular wave and receives an echo signal. The amplitude of the signal transmitted from one element is too small to propagate a long distance so that the SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) is very low in an image obtained by the synthetic focusing. To solve this problem, a defocusing method which uses several elements has been proposed. In this method, the SNR is improved due to using several elements to transmit the circular wave. But if the number of transmitting elements increases, the phase distortion is severe in the defocusing method. In this paper, we propose a new method that can generate a circular wave using a lot of elements without phase distortion. At first, we generate limited plane waves with different propagation angles and then superpose them to make a circular wave. We show that the circular wave can be used to improve SNR in the real-time 3D ultrasonic imaging as well as the synthetic focusing through computer simulation and experiments.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1363-1368
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• 2011

This paper describes an analysis on the granular noise in pixel-to-pixel mapping-based computational integral imaging. The pixel mapping-based method provides a high-resolution reconstructed images and also its computational cost is very lower than the previous back-projection-based method. In this paper, a signal model for the pixel mapping-based method is introduced, which defines and analyzes the granular noise. Computer experiments provides the granular noise properties based on the proposed signal model. The experimental results indicates that the granular noise pattern differs from that of the back-projection based method. The results is also utilized in the pixel mapping-based method.

• The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.8-17
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• 2008

Objectives: For the traditional pulse diagnosis in Oriental Medicine, not only the pulse shape in time domain, but the width, length and depth of arterial pulse also should be measured. However, conventional pulse diagnostic systems have failed to measure the spatial parameters of the arterial pulse e.g. effective length of arterial pulse in the wrist. In fact, there are many ways to measure that kind of spatial features in arterial pulsation, but among them, the method using image sensor provides relatively cheap and simple way, therefore I tested feasibility of measuring 2-dimensional pressure distribution by imaging devices. Methods: Using widely used PC cameras and dotted balloons, the subtle oscillation of skin over the radial artery was recorded continuously, and then the displacement of every dot was calculated. Consequently, the time course of that displacements shows arterial pulse wave. Results: By the proposed method I could get pressure distribution map with 30Hz sampling rate, 21steps quantization resolution, and approximately 1mm spatial resolution. With reduced quantization resolution, $3cm{\times}4cm$ view angle could be achieved. Conclusion: Although this method has some limitations, it would be useful method for detecting 2-dimensional features of arterial pulse, and accordingly, this method provides a novel way to detect 'narrow pulse', 'wide pulse', 'long pulse', 'short pulse', and their derivatives.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.34 no.10B
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• pp.1124-1132
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• 2009

We proposed a new method to improve the resolution of elemental image set in the integral imaging system using super-resolution image reconstruction method. Adjacent elemental images have same image region which is projected from the common area of object. These projected images in the elemental image can be used for low resolution images of super-resolution method. Two methods for resolution improvement of elemental image set using super-resolution method are proposed. One is super-resolution among the elemental image sets and the other is among the elemental images. Simulation results are compared with resolution improved elemental image set using interpolated method.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.385-393
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• 2005

This paper presents an application of digital signal processing to data acquired by the radio imaging method (RIM) that was adopted to measure moisture distribution inside the human body. RIM was originally developed for the mining industry; we are applying the method to a biomedical measurement because of its simplicity, economy, and safety. When a two-dimensional image was constructed from the measured data, the method provided insufficient resolution because the wavelength of the measurement medium, a weak electromagnetic wave in a VHF band, was longer than human tissues. We built and measured a phantom, a model simulating the human body, consisting of two water tanks representing large internal organs. A digital equalizer was applied to the measured values as a weight function, and images were reconstructed that corresponded to the original shape of the two water tanks. As a result, a two-dimensional image containing two individual peaks corresponding to the original two small water tanks was constructed. The result suggests the method was applicable to biomedical measurement by the assistance of digital signal processing. This technique may be applicable to home-based medical care and other situations in which safety, simplicity, and economy are important.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.26 no.6_spc
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• pp.687-696
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• 2016

A series of process to design an acoustic lens for underwater imaging is reviewed and the method to evaluate characteristics of the lens is investigated. If the target specification of lens is given, the design process consists of the material selection, evaluation of its properties, lens geometry design, prediction of lens characteristics, manufacturing, and evaluation by measurement. In this study, an actual acoustical lens is made by cutting polymethylpentene block. The characteristics of lens are predicted by the hybrid method, combination of ray tracing and Rayleigh integral. For the direct comparison between the prediction and measurement results, a simulation method based on the equivalent source method is suggested to reflect the actual radiation pattern of transducer used for measurements. Finally, the measurement is conducted in a small water tank to observe the actual characteristics of the manufactured lens.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.199-207
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• 2021

This paper deals with accurate image reconstruction of gamma camera using a coded-aperture mask based on pixel-type CsI(Tl) scintillator coupled with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) array. Coded-aperture imaging (CAI) system typically has a smaller effective viewing angle than Compton camera. Thus, if the position of the gamma source to be searched is out of the fully-coded field-of-view (FCFOV) region of the CAI system, artifacts can be generated when the image is reconstructed by using the conventional cross-correlation (CC) method. In this work, we propose an effective method for more accurate reconstruction in CAI considering the source distribution of partially-coded field-of-view (PCFOV) in the reconstruction in attempt to overcome this drawback. We employed an iterative algorithm based on compressed-sensing (CS) and compared the reconstruction quality with that of the CC algorithm. Both algorithms were implemented and performed a systematic Monte Carlo simulation to demonstrate the possiblilty of the proposed method. The reconstructed image qualities were quantitatively evaluated in sense of the root mean square error (RMSE) and the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). Our simulation results indicate that the proposed method provides more accurate location information of the simulated gamma source than the CC-based method.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2009

Micro-columnar CsI(Tl) is the most popular scintillator material which is used for many indirect digital X-ray imaging detectors. The light scattering at the surface of micro-columnar CsI(Tl) scintillator was studied to find the correlation between the surface roughness and the resultant image resolution of indirect X-ray imaging detectors. Using a commercially available optical simulation program, Light Tools, MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) curves of the CsI(Tl) film thermally evaporated on glass substrate with different thickness were calculated and compared with the experimental estimation of MTF values by the edge X-ray image method and CCD camera. It was found that the standard deviation value of Gaussian scattering model which is determined by the surface roughness of micro-columns could certainly change the MTF value of image sensors. This model and calculation methodology will be beneficial to estimate the overall performance of indirect X-ray imaging system with CsI(Tl) scintillator film for optimum design depending on its application.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.351-364
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• 2002

Conventional 3D ultrasound imaging using mechanical ID arrays suffers from poor elevation resolution due to the limited depth-of-focus (DOF). On the other hand, 3D imaging systems using 2D phased arrays have a large number of active channels and hence require a very expensive and bulky beamforming hardware. To overcome these limitations, a new real-time volumetric imaging method using curved 2-D arrays is presented, in which a small subaperture, consisting of 256 elements, moves across the array surface to scan a volume of interest. For this purpose, a 2-D curved array is designed which consists of 90$\times$46 elements with 1.5λ inter-element spacing and has the same view angles along both the lateral and elevation directions as those of a commercial mechanical 1-D array. In the proposed method, transmit and receive subapertures are constructed by cutting the four corners of a rectangular aperture to obtain a required image qualify with a small number of active channels. In addition the receive subaperture size is increased by using a sparse array scheme that uses every other elements in both directions. To suppress the grating lobes elevated due to the increase in clement spacing, fold-over array scheme is adopted in transmit, which doubles the effective size of a transmit aperture in each direction. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method can provide almost the same and greatly improved resolutions in the lateral and elevation directions, respectively compared with the conventional 3D imaging with a mechanical 1-D array.