• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.117-122
• /
• 1999

Purpose : We studied the correlation between urinalysis and radiologic findings in infants and children with urinary tract infection. Method : Urine Dipstick test and unstained urine microscopic examination were carried out in 56 infants and children who were hospitallized with the diagnosis of urinary infection by pocitive urine culture at Seoul Adventist from September 1996 through August 1998. Urine was collected by midsream, catheter, urine bag after cleansing or bladder puncture. Renal sonography and $^{99m}Tc-DMSA$ renal scan or voiding cystoureterography were studied. Results : 1)In dipstick analysis, leukocyte esterase(LE) were positive in 30 cases of 56 patients(54%) and Nitrite were positive in 20 cases of 56 patients(36%) and LE or Nitrite were positive in 38 cases of 56 children with UTI(68%). 2)In microscopic analysis, WBC were positive in 38 cases of patients(68%) and bacteria were positive in 23 cases of 56 patients(41%) and WBC or bacteria were positive in 41 cases of 56 children with UTI(71%). 3)Ten cases of 56 UTI patients(18%) showed negative finding in Dipstick and microscopic analysis. 4)There was no significant difference in positive rate of dipstick(71% vs 66%) and microscopia analysis(83% vs 66%) between two group with or without renal scar on $^{99m}Tc-DMSA$ scan (P=0.117). 5)There was no significnt difference in positive rate of dipstick(100% vs 91%) and microscopic analysis(100% vs 100%) between two groups with or without vesicoureteral reflux on VCUG. Conclusion : There was no specific relationships between the abnormal urinalysis and the abnormal findings on $^{99m}Tc-DMSA$ scan or VCUG.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.223-228
• /
• 2004

Purpose and Methods: Urinary tract infection(UTI) is one of the most important diseases of childhood, especially for young infants. To characterize the patients diagnosed with febrile UTI in their first 6 months of life and to explore the risk factors of recurrent UTI, a retrospective study was performed. Results: Among the 90 patients studied, 77 were boys(86%). First episodes of UTI were diagnosed at the age of $2.5{\pm}1.4$ months. These patients underwent ultrasonographic evaluation of urinary tract(n=90) and voiding cystourethrography(n=81) where 53 and 35 studies showed abnormal findings respectively, and a total of 45 cases of urinary tract anomaly including vesicoureteral reflux(VUR, n=35) were diagnosed. Normal findings on ultrasonography indicated decreased risk of VUR in boys of 1-3 months of age(n=30). 53 patients were followed up more than 6 months and 45 episodes of subsequent UTI developed in 29 patients during the first 6-month period. Patients with relapse were older than patients without relapse at the diagnosis of first UTI, but other clinical parameters including abnormal findings on the imaging studies and prophylactic antibiotics prescription were not different between the two groups. Conclusion: UTI in early infancy occurred mainly in male infants and half of the patients had structural anomalies. USG was of clinical value in detecting anomalies requiring surgical intervention, and to rule out high grade VUR in 1-3 months old boys. Results of the imaging study or prophylactic antibiotics could not modify the risk of recurrent UTI. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2004;8:223-228)

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.71-81
• /
• 1995

Consecutive brain 〔Tc-99m〕ECD SPECT studies before and after acetazolamide (Diamox) administration have been performed with patients for the evaluation of cerebrovascular hemodynamic reserve. However, the quantitaitve potential of SPECT Diamox imaging is limited as a result of degrading fractors such as finite detector resolution, attenuation, scatter, poor counting statistics, and methods of data analysis. Making physical measurements in phantoms filled with known amounts of radioactivity can help characterize and potentially quantify the sensitivities. However, it is often very difficult to make a realistic phantom simulating patients in clinical situations. By computer simulation, we studied the sensitivities of ECD SPECT before and after Diamox administration. The sensitivity is defined as ($\Delta$N/N)/($\Delta$S/S)$\times$100％, where $\Delta$N denotes the differences in mean counts between post-and pre-Diamox in the measured data, N denotes the mean counts before Diamox in the measure data, $\Delta$S denotes the differences in mean counts between post-and pre-Diamox in the model, and S denotes the mean counts before Diamox in the model. In clinical Diamox studies, the percentage changes of radioactivity could be determined to measure changes in radioactivity concentration by Diamox after subtracting pre-from post-Diamox data. However, the optimal amount of subtraction for 100％ sensitivity is not known since this requires a thorough sensitivity analysis by computer simulation. For consecutive brain SPECT imaging model before and after Diamox, when 30％ increased radioactivity concentrations were assingned for Diamox effect in model, the sensitivities were measured as 51.03, 73.4, 94.00, 130.74％ for 0, 100, 150, 200％ subtraction, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the partial voluming effects due to finite detector resolution and statistical noise result in a significant underestimation of radioactivity measurements and the amount of underestimation depends on the. ％ increase of radioactivity concentration and ％ subtraction of pre-from post-Diamox data. The 150％ subtraction appears to be optimal in clinical situations where we expect approximately 30％ changes in radioactivity concentration. The computer simulation may be a powerful technique to study sensitivities of ECD SPECT before and after Diamox administration.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.29 no.spc1
• /
• pp.63-64
• /
• 1996

The nature of distant faint blue field galaxies remains a mystery, despite the fact that much attention has been devoted to this subject in the last decade. Galaxy counts, particularly those in the optical and near ultraviolet bandpasses, have been demonstrated to be well in excess of those expected in the 'no-evolution' scenario. This has usually been taken to imply that galaxies were brighter in the past, presumably due to a higher rate of star formation. More recently, redshift surveys of galaxies as faint as B$\~$24 have shown that the mean redshift of faint blue galaxies is lower than that predicted by standard evolutionary models (de-signed to fit the galaxy counts). The galaxy number count data and redshift data suggest that evolutionary effects are most prominent at the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. While these data constrain the form of evolution of the overall luminosity function, they do not constrain evolution in individual galaxies. We are carrying out a series of observations as part of a long-term program aimed at a better understanding of the nature and amount of luminosity evolution in individual galaxies. Our study uses the luminosity-linewidth relation (Tully-Fisher relation) for disk galaxies as a tool to study luminosity evolution. Several studies of a related nature are being carried out by other groups. A specific experiment to test a 'no-evolution' hypothesis is presented here. We have used the AUTOFIB multifibre spectro-graph on the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the Rutgers Fabry-Perot imager on the Cerro Tolalo lnteramerican Observatory (CTIO) 4-metre tele-scope to measure the internal kinematics of a representative sample of faint blue field galaxies in the red-shift range z = 0.15-0.4. The emission line profiles of [OII] and [OIII] in a typical sample galaxy are significantly broader than the instrumental resolution (100-120 km $s^{-l}$), and it is possible to make a reliable de-termination of the linewidth. Detailed and realistic simulations based on the properties of nearby, low-luminosity spirals are used to convert the measured linewidth into an estimate of the characteristic rotation speed, making statistical corrections for the effects of inclination, non-uniform distribution of ionized gas, rotation curve shape, finite fibre aperture, etc.. The (corrected) mean characteristic rotation speed for our distant galaxy sample is compared to the mean rotation speed of local galaxies of comparable blue luminosity and colour. The typical galaxy in our distant sample has a B-band luminosity of about 0.25 L$\ast$ and a colour that corresponds to the Sb-Sd/Im range of Hub-ble types. Details of the AUTOFIB fibre spectroscopic study are described by Rix et al. (1996). Follow-up deep near infrared imaging with the 10-metre Keck tele-scope+ NIRC combination and high angular resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope's WFPC2 are being used to determine the structural and orientation parameters of galaxies on an individual basis. This information is being combined with the spatially resolved CTIO Fabry-Perot data to study the internal kinematics of distant galaxies (Ing et al. 1996). The two main questions addressed by these (preliminary studies) are: 1. Do galaxies of a given luminosity and colour have the same characteristic rotation speed in the distant and local Universe? The distant galaxies in our AUTOFIB sample have a mean characteristic rotation speed of $\~$70 km $s^{-l}$ after correction for measurement bias (Fig. 1); this is inconsistent with the characteristic rotation speed of local galaxies of comparable photometric proper-ties (105 km $s^{-l}$) at the > $99\%$ significance level (Fig. 2). A straightforward explanation for this discrepancy is that faint blue galaxies were about 1-1.5 mag brighter (in the B band) at z $\~$ 0.25 than their present-day counterparts. 2. What is the nature of the internal kinematics of faint field galaxies? The linewidths of these faint galaxies appear to be dominated by the global disk rotation. The larger galaxies in our sample are about 2"-.5" in diameter so one can get direct insight into the nature of their internal velocity field from the $\~$ I" seeing CTIO Fabry-Perot data. A montage of Fabry-Perot data is shown in Fig. 3. The linewidths are too large (by. $5\sigma$) to be caused by turbulence in giant HII regions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2002

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging modality that consists of systemic administration to a subject of a radiopharmaceutical labeled with a positron-emitting radionuclide. Following administration, its distribution in the organ or structure under study can be assessed as a function of time and space by (1) defecting the annihilation radiation resulting from the interaction of the positrons with matter, and (2) reconstructing the distribution of the radioactivity from a series of that used in computed tomography (CT). The nuclides most generally exhibit chemical properties that render them particularly desirable in physiological studies. The radionuclides most widely used in PET are F-18, C-11, O-15 and N-13. Regarding to the number of the current PET Centers worldwide (based on ICP data), more than 300 PET Centers were in operation in 2000. The use of PET technology grew rapidly compared to that in 1992 and 1996, particularly in the USA, which demonstrates a three-fold rise in PET installations. In 2001, 194 PET Centers were operating in the USA. In 1994, two clinical and research-oriented PET Centers at Seoul National University Hospital and Samsung Medical Center, was established as the first dedicated PET and Cyclotron machines in Korea, followed by two more PET facilities at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Ajou Medical Center, Yonsei University Medical Center, National Cancer Center and established their PET Center. Catholic Medical School and Pusan National University Hospital have finalized a plan to install PET machine in 2002, which results in total of nine PET Centers in Korea. Considering annual trends of PET application in four major PET centers in Korea in Asan Medical Center recent six years (from 1995 to 2000), a total of 11,564 patients have been studied every year and the number of PET studies has shown steep growth year upon year. We had 1,020 PET patients in 1995. This number increased to 1,196, 1,756, 2,379, 3,015 and 4,414 in 1996,1997,1998,1999 and 2000, respectively. The application in cardiac disorders is minimal, and among various neuropsychiatric diseases, patients with epilepsy or dementia can benefit from PET studios. Recently, we investigated brain mapping and neuroreceptor works. PET is not a key application for evaluation of the cardiac patients in Korea because of the relatively low incidence of cardiac disease and less costly procedures such as SPECT can now be performed. The changes in the application of PET studios indicate that, initially, brain PET occupied almost 60% in 1995, followed by a gradual decrease in brain application. However, overall PET use in the diagnosis and management of patients with cancer was up to 63% in 2000. The current medicare coverage policy in the USA is very important because reimbursement policy is critical for the promotion of PET. In May 1995, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) began covering the PET perfusion study using Rubidium-82, evaluation of a solitary pulmonary nodule and pathologically proven non-small cell lung cancer. As of July 1999, Medicare's coverage policy expanded to include additional indications: evaluation of recurrent colorectal cancer with a rising CEA level, staging of lymphoma and detection of recurrent or metastatic melanoma. In December of 2001, National Coverage decided to expand Medicare reimbursement for broad use in 6 cancers: lung, colorecctal, lymphoma, melanoma, head and neck, and esophageal cancers; for determining revascularization in heart diseases; and for identifying epilepsy patients. In addition, PET coverage is expected to further expand to diseases affecting women, such as breast, ovarian, uterine and vaginal cancers as well as diseases like prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.90-100
• /
• 2004

Objective : Urinary tract infection(UTI) is a frequent serious bacterial infection in young infants. The clinical presentation may be non-specific and variable, depends on factors such as the age and the level of infection. Children with renal involvement may be at risk of permanent renal damage. Experimental studies have shown that renal lesions caused by acute febrile UTI may be prevented or diminished by early diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is important to find a method that can permit early diagnosis and identification of patients who are at risk for progressive renal damage. We designed this study to identify related factors in culture positive UTI infants, and also to identify related factors in culture negative UTI infants, who are febrile with pyuria, by using renal imaging and functional studies including renal sonography, DMSA scan and VCUG. Methods : Retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 136 febrile infants with pyuria over 2 years(from January 2001 to February 2003). Urine culture was done in all cases, and regardless of urine culture findings, renal imaging study was done if symptomatic UTI suspected. Results : Total 57 organisms were isolated in 53 patients. E. coli was the most common organism(86%), followed by E. faecalis, M. morganii, Proteus species, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and E. fergusonii. Most of the isolates had high sensitivity on cephalosporins or amikacin and had low sensitivities on aminopenicillins. Abnormal acute phase DMSA scan or VCUG findings were seen in both urine culture positive and negative group without statistical differences(P>0.05). In febrile infants with pyuria, fever over 48 hours, older age and high CRP related to abnormal acute phase DMSA scan findings regardless urine culture results. Conclusion : 1st or 3rd generation cephalosporins with amikacin could be the first choice of treatment for UTI. Febrile infants with positive urine culture dose mean urinary tract infection but not acute pyelonephritis which directly relates to cortical damage which could be confirmed by acute phase DMSA scan. Even cases with negative urine culture findings, acute pyelonephritis should be concerned in febrile infants with pyuria who are older than 3 months of age, has fever over 48 hours or high CRP level. And in such cases, acute phase DMSA scan and VCUG should be evaluated for early treatment and long term prognosis.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.36-43
• /
• 2007

Purpose: The ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) are popular diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children, but there are many debates about their clinical significance. The purpose of this study is to clarify the clinical significance of USG, CT and follow-up CT performed subsequently to USG, especially in perforated acute appendicitis in children. Methods: We have reviewed 419 cases of surgically confirmed acute appendicitis in children under the age of sixteen, who had been treated in Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital from March 2002 to February 2006. All the clinical data including the results of USG and CT were collected and analyzed. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of USG were 98.7%, 96.8%, 98.1%, 97.8% in non-perforation group and 90.8%, 100%, 100%, 81.9% in perforation group. Those of CT were 96.4%, 100%, 100%, 96.5% and 86.6%, 100%, 100%, 87.5% respectively. Those of follow-up CT after USG were 100%, 100%, 100%, 100% and 87.5%, 100%, 100%, 92.0% respectively. The duration of using antibiotics in seven patients showed positive correlation with the interval between two imaging studies (r=0.0472, p=0.019). There was no statistical significance of correlation when these imaging studies performed within 30 hours together. Conclusion: In most of the cases, single choice between USG and CT would be enough to diagnose the acute appendicitis in children. But, it may be helpful to perform CT as early as possible subsequently to USG when there is discrepancy between initial USG and clinical impression.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.66-73
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Various diagnostic imaging modalities have been used to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for osteosarcoma early and noninvasively. We evaluated the effectiveness of imaging studies of plain radiographs and positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in predicting neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect for osteosarcoma and tried to establish a general principle in interpretation of PET/CT parameters. Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients who underwent two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical excision for osteosarcoma were enrolled. There were 13 males and 5 females, with a median age of 19 (11-63) years. Fifteen patients of 18 had the American Joint Committe on Cancer (AJCC) stage IIB. They had plain radiographs and PET/CT before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The resected tumor specimens were pathologically examined to determine histological response grade using a conventional mapping method. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between histopathological necrosis rate, and radiographic finding category, post-chemotherapy maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), average standardized uptake value and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) as well as reduction rates of them. Results: Eight patients were good responders to neoadjuvant chemotherapy based on histological evaluation. Median SUVmax reduction rate was 73 (23-77) % in good responders and 42 (-32-76) % in poor responders. Median MTV reduction rate was 93.5 (62-99) % in good responders and 46 (-81-100) % in poor responders. While radiographic finding category was not different according to histological response (p=1.0), SUVmax reduction rate was significantly different (p=0.041). Difference in MTV reduction rates approached statistical significance as well (p=0.071). Conclusion: While radiographic finding category was not reliable to assess neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect for osteosarcoma, reduction rate of SUVmax was a useful indicator in this study. As parameters of PET/CT can be influenced by various factors of settings, different centers have to make an effort to establish their own standard of judgement with reference of previous studies.

• Ultrasonography
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.59-65
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to establish the methodology regarding synthesis of ultrasound contrast agent imaging, and to evaluate the characteristics of the synthesized ultrasound contrast agents, including size or degradation interval and image quality. Materials and Methods: The ultrasound contrast agent, composed of liposome and SF6, was synthesized from the mixture solution of $21{\mu}mol$ DPPC (1, 2-Dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, $C_{40}H_{80}NO_8P$), $9{\mu}mol$ cholesterol, $1.9{\mu}mol$ of DCP (Dihexadecylphosphate, $[CH_3(CH_2)_{15}O]_2P(O)OH$), and chloroform. After evaporation in a warm water bath and drying during a period of 12-24 hours, the contrast agent was synthesized by the sonication process by addition of buffer and SF6 gas. The size of the contrast agent was controlled by use of either extruder or sonication methods. After synthesis of contrast agents, analysis of the size distribution of the bubbles was performed using dynamic light scattering measurement methods. The degradation curve was also evaluated by changes in the number of contrast agents via light microscopy immediate, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, 60 hours, 72 hours, and 84 hours after synthesis. For evaluation of the role as an US contrast agent, the echogenicity of the synthesized microbubble was compared with commercially available microbubbles (SonoVue, Bracco, Milan, Italy) using a clinical ultrasound machine and phantom. Results: The contrast agents were synthesized successfully using an evaporation-drying-sonication method. The majority of bubbles showed a mean size of 154.2 nanometers, and they showed marked degradation 24 hours after synthesis. ANOVA test revealed a significant difference among SonoVue, synthesized contrast agent, and saline (p < 0.001). Although no significant difference was observed between SonoVue and the synthesized contrast agent, difference in echogenicity was observed between synthesized contrast agent and saline (p < 0.01). Conclusion: We could synthesize ultrasound contrast agents using an evaporation-drying-sonication method. On the basis of these results, many prospective types of research, such as anticancer drug delivery, gene delivery, including siRNA or microRNA, targeted molecular imaging, and targeted therapy can be performed.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.106-118
• /
• 2009

Satellite imagery with high resolution of about one meter is used widely in commerce and government applications ranging from earth observation and monitoring to national digital mapping. Due to the expensiveness of IKONOS Pro and Precision products, it is attractive to use the low-cost IKONOS Geo product with vendor-provided rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs), to produce highly accurate mapping products. The imaging geometry of IKONOS high-resolution imagery is described by RFs instead of rigorous sensor models. This paper presents four different polynomial models, that are the offset model, the scale and offset model, the Affine model, and the 2nd-order polynomial model, defined respectively in object space and image space to improve the accuracies of the RF-derived ground coordinates. Not only the algorithm for RF-based ground coordinates but also the algorithm for accuracy improvement of RF-based ground coordinates are developed which is based on the four models, The experiment also evaluates the effect of different cartographic parameters such as the number, configuration, and accuracy of ground control points on the accuracy of geopositioning. As the result of a experimental application, the root mean square errors of three dimensional ground coordinates which are first derived by vendor-provided Rational Function models were averagely 8.035m in X, 10.020m in Y and 13.318m in Z direction. After applying polynomial correction algorithm, those errors were dramatically decreased to averagely 2.791m in X, 2.520m in Y and 1.441m in Z. That is, accuracy was greatly improved by 65% in planmetry and 89% in vertical direction.