• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 1982

As the computerized methods and equipments in nuclear medicine imaging increases, quantitative information is needed on the single photon emission computed tomographic images as well as on the conventional nuclear medicine images. In this paper, the authors investigated the effect of several clinician - friendly reconstrution filters on the resultant transverse slices of backprojected profiles of radioisotope distribution from the quantitative point of view, and reduced the filter Parameters such as cutoff frequency and order of filter which are necessary to minimize the quantification error using computer -generated phantoms.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2935-2940
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• 2023

A polystyrene phantom was developed following the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) for gamma knife (GK) quality assurance. Its performance was assessed by measuring the absorbed dose rate to water and dose distributions. The phantom was made of polystyrene, which has an electron density (1.0156) similar to that of water. The phantom included one outer phantom and four inner phantoms. Two inner phantoms held PTW T31010 and Exradin A16 ion chambers. One inner phantom held a film in the XY plane of the Leksell coordinate system, and another inner phantom held a film in the YZ or ZX planes. The absorbed dose rate to water and beam profiles of the machine-specific reference (msr) field, namely, the 16 mm collimator field of a GK Perfexion^TM or Icon^TM, were measured at seven GK sites. The measured results were compared to those of an IAEA-recommended solid water (SW) phantom. The radius of the polystyrene phantom was determined to be 7.88 cm by converting the electron density of the plastic, considering a water depth of 8 g/cm². The absorbed dose rates to water measured in both phantoms differed from the treatment planning program by less than 1.1%. Before msr correction, the PTW T31010 dose rates (PTW Freiberg GmbH, New York, NY, USA) in the polystyrene phantom were 0.70 (0.29)% higher on average than those in the SW phantom. The Exradin A16 (Standard Imaging, Middleton, WI, USA) dose rates were 0.76 (0.32)% higher in the polystyrene phantom. After msr correction factors were applied, there were no statistically significant differences in the A16 dose rates measured in the two phantoms; however, the T31010 dose rates were 0.72 (0.29)% higher in the polystyrene phantom. When the full widths at half maximum and penumbras of the msr field were compared, no significant differences between the two phantoms were observed, except for the penumbra in the Y-axis. However, the difference in the penumbra was smaller than variations among different sites. A polystyrene phantom developed for gamma knife dosimetry showed dosimetric performance comparable to that of a commercial SW phantom. In addition to its cost effectiveness, the polystyrene phantom removes air space around the detector. Additional simulations of the msr correction factors of the polystyrene phantom should be performed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2341-2347
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• 2021

Because single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is one of the widely used nuclear medicine imaging systems, it is extremely important to acquire high-quality images for diagnosis. In this study, we designed a super-resolution (SR) technique using dense block-based deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and evaluated the algorithm on real SPECT phantom images. To acquire the phantom images, a real SPECT system using a^99mTc source and two physical phantoms was used. To confirm the image quality, the noise properties and visual quality metric evaluation parameters were calculated. The results demonstrate that our proposed method delivers a more valid SR improvement by using dense block-based deep CNNs as compared to conventional reconstruction techniques. In particular, when the proposed method was used, the quantitative performance was improved from 1.2 to 5.0 times compared to the result of using the conventional iterative reconstruction. Here, we confirmed the effects on the image quality of the resulting SR image, and our proposed technique was shown to be effective for nuclear medicine imaging.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2005

Purpose : (1) To analyse the effect of exposure time, ROI size and one impact factor in the image processing procedure on estimates of fractal dimension; and (2) to analyse the correlated relationship between the fractal dimension and the Cu-Eq value (bone density). Materials and Methods : The cylindric bone phantoms of 6 large and 5 small diameter having different bone densities respectively and human dry mandible segment with copper step wedge were radiographed at 1.0 and 1.2 sec esposure (70 kVp, 7 mA) using one occlusal film and digitized. Eleven rectangular ROIs from 11 cylindric bone phantoms and 4 rectan-gular ROIs from cortical, middle, periodontal regions, and socket of bone were selected. Gaussian blurred Image was subtracted from original image of each ROI and multiplied respectively by 1, 0.8, and 0.5, and then the image was made binary, eroded and dilated once, and skeletonized. The fractal dimension was calculated by means of a box counting method in the software ImageJ. Results : The fractal dimension was decreased gradually with continued bone density decrease showing strong correlations (bone phantom; r> 0.87, bone; r> 0.68) under 70 kVp 1.0 sec M = 0.8. Fractal dimensions showed the significant differerence (p < 0.05) between two different exposure times on the same small ROI of bone phantom. Fractal dimensions between two different sizes of ROI on bone phantom showed the significant differerence (p < 0.05) under 1.2 sec exposure, but did not show it (p > 0.05) under 1.0 sec exposure. Conclusions : Exposure time, ROI size, and modifying factor during subtracting could become impacting on the results of fractal dimension. Fractal analysis with thoroughly evaluated method considering the various impacting factors on the results could be useful in assessing the bone density in dental radiography.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1995 no.11
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• pp.124-127
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• 1995

Due to the self-diffusion of nuclear spins, the edge of phantoms is enhanced in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially in the case of microscopy [1]. According to several published works, theory has been established that the edge enhancement is caused by the motion narrowing around bounded regions due to diffusions of nuclear spins during data acquisition. It is found, however, that the signal decreases due to the diffusion attenuation and image is distorted as edge of the image is sharpened. In this paper, we wilt investigate this signal loss during data acquisition and its effects on image, i.e., image edge enhancement due to the diffusion phenomenon. This result is new and different from the previously discussed edge enhancement due to the diffusion, namely, by motion narrowing effect or spin bouncing effect at the boundary.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.11
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• pp.169-172
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• 1996

In this paper, we present the evaluation of signal to noise ratio(SNR) and images of Magnetic resonance imaging system which is underdevelopement. For the evaluation of such parameters, we used two different phantoms, one for SNR and image homogeneity, and the other is for the slice thickness measurement. Further, comparison with other leading MR systems may be needed for the better image quality assessment.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.647-659
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• 2023

Objective: The study was conducted to investigate the effect of correct occlusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA) on intracardiac blood flow and thrombus formation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) using four-dimensional (4D) flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and three-dimensional (3D)-printed phantoms. Materials and Methods: Three life-sized 3D-printed left atrium (LA) phantoms, including a pre-occlusion (i.e., before the occlusion procedure) model and correctly and incorrectly occluded post-procedural models, were constructed based on cardiac computed tomography images from an 86-year-old male with long-standing persistent AF. A custom-made closed-loop flow circuit was set up, and pulsatile simulated pulmonary venous flow was delivered by a pump. 4D flow MRI was performed using a 3T scanner, and the images were analyzed using MATLAB-based software (R2020b; Mathworks). Flow metrics associated with blood stasis and thrombogenicity, such as the volume of stasis defined by the velocity threshold ($\left|\vec{V}\right|$ < 3 cm/s), surface-and-time-averaged wall shear stress (WSS), and endothelial cell activation potential (ECAP), were analyzed and compared among the three LA phantom models. Results: Different spatial distributions, orientations, and magnitudes of LA flow were directly visualized within the three LA phantoms using 4D flow MRI. The time-averaged volume and its ratio to the corresponding entire volume of LA flow stasis were consistently reduced in the correctly occluded model (70.82 mL and 39.0%, respectively), followed by the incorrectly occluded (73.17 mL and 39.0%, respectively) and pre-occlusion (79.11 mL and 39.7%, respectively) models. The surfaceand-time-averaged WSS and ECAP were also lowest in the correctly occluded model (0.048 Pa and 4.004 Pa^-1, respectively), followed by the incorrectly occluded (0.059 Pa and 4.792 Pa^-1, respectively) and pre-occlusion (0.072 Pa and 5.861 Pa^-1, respectively) models. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a correctly occluded LAA leads to the greatest reduction in LA flow stasis and thrombogenicity, presenting a tentative procedural goal to maximize clinical benefits in patients with AF.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2018

Purpose: Imaging plays a significant role in diagnosing leptomeningeal metastases. However, the most appropriate sequence for the detection of leptomeningeal metastases has yet to be determined. This study compares the efficacies of contrast-enhanced T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and contrast-enhanced 3D T1 black-blood fast spin echo (FSE) imaging for the detection of leptomeningeal metastases. Materials and Methods: Tube phantoms containing varying concentrations of gadobutrol solution were scanned using T2 FLAIR and 3D T1 black-blood FSE. Additionally, 30 patients with leptomeningeal metastases were retrospectively evaluated to compare conspicuous lesions and the extent of leptomeningeal metastases detected by T2 FLAIR and 3D T1 black-blood FSE. Results: The signal intensities of low-concentration gadobutrol solutions (< 0.5 mmol/L) on T2 FLAIR images were higher than in 3D T1 black-blood FSE. The T2 FLAIR sequences exhibited significantly greater visual conspicuity scores than the 3D T1 black-blood sequence in leptomeningeal metastases of the pial membrane of cistern (P = 0.014). T2 FLAIR images exhibited a greater or equal extent (96.7%) of leptomeningeal metastases than 3D T1 black-blood FSE images. Conclusion: Because of its high sensitivity even at low gadolinium concentrations, contrast-enhanced T2 FLAIR images delineated leptomeningeal metastases in a wider territory than 3D T1 black-blood FSE.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1947-1954
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• 2021

In the nuclear medicine imaging, quality control (QC) process using quadrant bar phantom is fundamental aspect of evaluating the spatial resolution. In addition, QC process of gamma camera is performed by daily or weekly. Recently, Monte Carlo simulation using the Geant4 application for tomographic emission (GATE) is widely applied in the pre-clinical nuclear medicine field for modeling gamma cameras with pixelated cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor detector. In this study, we modeled a pixelated CdTe semiconductor detector and quadrant bar phantom (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mm bar thicknesses) using the GATE tool. Similarity analysis based on correlation coefficients and peak signal-to-noise ratios was performed to compare image qualities for various source to collimator distances (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 cm) and collimator lengths (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 cm). To this end, we selected reference images based on collimator length and source to collimator distance settings. The results demonstrate that as the collimator length increases and the source to collimator distance decreases, the similarity to reference images improves. Therefore, our simulation results represent valuable information for the modeling of CdTe-based semiconductor gamma imaging systems and QC phantoms in the field of nuclear medicine.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4652-4659
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• 2022

Among the detector materials available at room temperature, thallium bromide (TlBr), which has a relatively high atomic number and density, is widely used for gamma camera imaging. This study aimed to verify the usefulness of TlBr through quantitative evaluation by modeling detectors of various compound types using Monte Carlo simulations. The Geant4 application for tomographic emission was used for simulation, and detectors based on cadmium zinc telluride and cadmium telluride materials were selected as a comparison group. A pixel-matched parallel-hole collimator with proven excellent performance was modeled, and phantoms used for quality control in nuclear medicine were used. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast to noise ratio (CNR), sensitivity, and full width at half maximum (FWHM) were used for quantitative analysis to evaluate the image quality. The SNR, CNR, sensitivity, and FWHM for the TlBr detector material were approximately 1.05, 1.04, 1.41, and 1.02 times, respectively, higher than those of the other detector materials. The SNR, CNR and sensitivity increased with increasing detector thickness, but the spatial resolution in terms of FWHM decreased. Thus, we demonstrated the feasibility and possibility of using the TlBr detector material in comparison with commercial detector materials.