• Title/Summary/Keyword: Low-contrast Image

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Evaluation of Validity Thyroid Scintigraphy Using Parallel Hole Collimator (갑상샘 신티그래피 검사 시 평행다공형 조준기 적용의 유효성 평가)

  • Su-Young Park;Ji-Youn Kim;Sung-Min Ahn
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.27-36
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    • 2024
  • In this study, When acquisition thyroid scintigraphy images, a parallel hole collimator was applied, and the difference from the pinhole collimator was quantitatively analyzed under each image acquisition condition. Visual size, resolution, sensitivity, signal to noise ratio (SNR), and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) were evaluated using thyroid phantom and point source. When comparing visual size, it was confirmed that an image similar to the size of the pinhole collimator could be obtained only when a magnification ratio of about 2.00 to 2.09 times when applying a parallel hole collimator. There was no tendency in FWHM(mm) measurement using a point source, and sensitivity was high in the parallel hole collimator. SNR and CNR were high when using a low magnification ratio, matrix size of 128×128, and a parallel hole collimator. In images of similar size to the naked eye, when the matrix size was the same, both SNR and CNR were high in the pinhole collimator. Therefore, when performing a thyroid scintigraphy test, if appropriate conditions are set according to the situation of each hospital and a parallel hole collimator is applied, it can be a good option in terms of equipment utilization and work efficiency.

Improved Image Quality and Radiation Dose Reduction in Liver Dynamic CT Scan with the Protocol Change (Liver CT 검사에서 프로토콜 변화에 따른 선량 감소와 영상의 질 개선에 관한 연구)

  • Cho, Yu-Jin;Cho, Pyong-Kon
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.38 no.2
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    • pp.107-114
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    • 2015
  • The purpose is reducing radiation dose while maintaining of image quality in liver dynamic CT(LDCT) scan, by protocols generally used and the tube voltage set at a low level protocol compared to the radiation dose and image quality. The target is body mass index, 18.5~24 patients out of 40 patients who underwent the ACT(abdominal CT). Group A(tube voltage : 120kVp, SAFIRE strength 1) of 20 people among 40 people, to apply the general abdominal CT scan protocol, group B(tube voltage : 100kVp, apply SAFIRE strength 0~5) was 20 people, set a lower tube voltage. Image quality evaluation was setting a region of interest(ROI) in the liver parenchyma, aorta, superior mesenteric artery (SMA), celiac trunk, visceral fat of arterial phase. In the ROI were compared by measuring the noise, signal to noise ratio(SNR), contrast to noise ratio(CNR), CT number. In addition, qualitative assessments to evaluate two people in the rich professional experience in Radiology by 0-3 points. We compared the total radiation dose, dose length product(DLP) and effective dose, volume computed tomography dose index(CTDIvol). The higher SAFIRE in the tube voltage 100 kVp, noise is reduced, CT number was increased. Thus, SNR and CNR was increased higher the SAFIRE step. Compared with the tube voltage 120kVp, noise, SNR, CNR was most similar in SAFIRE strength 2 and 3. Qualitative assessment SAFIRE strength 2 is the most common SAFIRE strength 2 the most common qualitative assessment, if the tube voltage of 100kVp when the quality of the images better evaluated was SAFIRE strength 1. Dose was reduced from 21.69%, in 100kVp than 120kVp. In the case of a relatively high BMI is not LDCT scan, When it is shipped from the factory tube voltage is set higher, unnecessary radiation exposure when considering the reality that is concerned, when according to the results of this study, set a lower tube voltage and adjust the SAFIRE strength to 1 or 2, the radiation without compromising image quality amount also is thought to be able to be reduced.

Effect of Human Implantable Medical Devices on Dose and Image Quality during Chest Radiography using Automatic Exposure Control (자동노출제어를 적용한 흉부 방사선 검사 시 인체 이식형 의료기기가 선량과 화질에 미치는 영향)

  • Kang-Min Lee
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.18 no.3
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    • pp.257-265
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    • 2024
  • In this study, we applied AEC(Auto Exposure Control), which is used in many chest examinations, to evaluate whether medical devices inserted into the body affect the dose and image quality of chest images. After attaching three HIMD(Human implantable medical devices) to the ion chamber, the Monte Carlo methodology-based program PCXMC(PC Program for X-ray Monte Carlo) 2.0 was applied to measure the effective dose by inputting the DAP(Dose Ares Product) value derived from the Pacemaker and CRT and Chemoport Additionally, to evaluate image quality, we set three regions of interest and one noise region on the chest and measured SNR and CNR. The final study results showed significant differences in DAP and Effective dose. There was a significant difference between Pacemaker and CRT when AEC was applied and not applied. (p<0.05) When applied, the dose increased by 37% for Pacemaekr and 52% for CRT. Chemoport showed a 10% increase in effective dose depending on whether AEC was applied, but there was no significant difference. (p>0.05) In the image quality evaluation, there was no significant difference in image quality between all HIMD insertions and AEC applied or not. (p>0.05) Therefore, when the HIMD was inserted into the chest during a chest x ray and overlapped with the ion chamber sensor, the effective dose increased, and there was no difference in image quality even at a low dose without AEC. Therefore, when performing a chest X-ray examination of a patient with a HIMD inserted, it is considered that performing the examination without applying AEC is a method that can be considered to reduce the patient's radiation exposure.

Change of Contrast Sensitivity in Peripheral Vision Following Eccentric Viewing Training (중심외주시 훈련 후 주변시야에서의 대비감도 변화)

  • Seo, Jae-Myoung;Lee, Ki-Young;Lim, Yong-Moo
    • Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.99-104
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    • 2014
  • Purpose: This study was to investigate the functional improvement in peripheral vision following eccentric viewing training. Methods: 14 subjects with normal vision took a part with their right eye, peripheral retinal which is $20^{\circ}$ lateral area from the fovea was examined for contrast sensitivity(CS). Eccentric viewing training was performed for 21days with an hour image viewing and examination was repeated. Results: The critical durations for 0.7 cpd were increased 2.67(467 ms) for pre-eccentric viewing training to 2.79(616 ms) for post-eccentric viewing training (p>0.05). The critical durations for 3.0 cpd were also increased 2.53(341 ms) for pre-eccentric viewing training to 3.04(1102 ms) for post-eccentric viewing training (p>0.05). Conclusions: It is recommended to use higher spatial frequency with higher CS for eccentric viewing training and to train more frequently for a short time. Moreover, the study on Korean standardizing of the visual rehabilitation for low vision based on the etiology is sorely required.

A Study on the Possibility of Pancreas Detection through Extraction of Effective Atomic Number using a Simulation such as Dual-energy CT (이중에너지 CT와 같은 시뮬레이션을 이용한 유효원자번호 추출을 통한 췌장 검출 가능성 연구)

  • Son, Ki-Hong;Lee, Soo-Yeul;Chung, Myung-Ae;Kim, Dae-Hong
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.16 no.5
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    • pp.537-543
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this simulation study was to evaluate the possibility of pancreas detection through effective atomic number information using dual-energy computed tomography(CT). The effective atomic number of 10 tissue-equivalent materials were estimated through stoichiometric calibration. For stoichiometric calibration, HU values at low-energy (80 kV) and high-energy (140 kV) for 10 tissue-equivalent materials were used. Based on this method, the effective atomic number image of the tissue-equivalent material was extracted through an iterative algorithm. According to the results, the attenuation ratio in accordance with the effective atomic number was estimated to have an R2 value of 0.9999, and the effective atomic number of Pancreas, Water, Liver, Blood, Spongiosa, and Cortical bone was overall within 1% accuracy compared to the theoretical value. Conventional pancreatic cancer examination uses a contrast medium, so there is a possibility of potential side effects of the contrast medium. In order to solve this problem, it is thought that it will be possible to contribute to an accurate and safe examination by extracting the effective atomic number using dual-energy CT without contrast enhancement. Based on this study, future research will be conducted on the detection of pancreatic cancer using the HU value of pancreatic cancer based on clinical images.

Clinical Application of $^{18}F-FDG$ PET in Bile Duct Cancer (담도암에서 $^{18}F-FDG$ PET의 임상 이용)

  • Yun, Mi-Jin;Kim, Tae-Sung;Hwang, Hee-Sung
    • Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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    • v.42 no.sup1
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    • pp.66-70
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    • 2008
  • Reports about FDG PET in biliary tumor are limited and there are almost no reports regarding its efficacy. Biliary tumor is divided to intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct cancer, and intrahepatic bile duct cancer can be further divided to peripheral type which occurs at lobular duct and hilar type which occurs at hepatic hilum. Surgical resection is the only curative method for bile duct tumor, and accurate staging plays an important role in deciding treatment modality. Among intrahepatic bile duct tumors, peripheral type and hilar type have the same histological characteristics, but different clinical manifestations and tumor growth pattern. On PET image, FDG uptake is also different between peripheral type and hilar type. Most of the former shows high FDG uptake at primary and metastasis site so it is very useful for determining stage and changing treatment plans. However, the later is diversified among low uptake and very high uptake. The FDG uptake pattern of hilar type is similar to that of extrahepatic bile duct cancer, and mucinous component is an important factor, which affects FOG uptake. When tumor cells are scattered in desmoplatsic stroma, then FDG uptake is low as well. In contrast, when FDG uptake is high, it is likely to be tubular type which has high tumor density. Tumor growth pattern also affects FDG uptake. Nodular type mostly takes higher FDG compared to infiltrative type. There are many cases where benign inflammatory diseases take high FDG that PET alone can not distinguish malignant lesion from benign lesion. In conclusion, studies about PET using FDG are still limited. Thus, it is hard to make accurate conclusion about the roles of PET or PET/CT in biliary cancers, but peripheral type intrahepatic bile duct cancers and mass forming hilar and extrahepatic bile duct cancers appear to be good indications performing FDG PET or PET/CT.

Low-noise reconstruction method for coded-aperture gamma camera based on multi-layer perceptron

  • Zhang, Rui;Tang, Xiaobin;Gong, Pin;Wang, Peng;Zhou, Cheng;Zhu, Xiaoxiang;Liang, Dajian;Wang, Zeyu
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.52 no.10
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    • pp.2250-2261
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    • 2020
  • Accurate localization of radioactive materials is crucial in homeland security and radiological emergencies. Coded-aperture gamma camera is an interesting solution for such applications and can be developed into portable real-time imaging devices. However, traditional reconstruction methods cannot effectively deal with signal-independent noise, thereby hindering low-noise real-time imaging. In this study, a novel reconstruction method with excellent noise-suppression capability based on a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) is proposed. A coded-aperture gamma camera based on pixel detector and coded-aperture mask was constructed, and the process of radioactive source imaging was simulated. Results showed that the MLP method performs better in noise suppression than the traditional correlation analysis method. When the Co-57 source with an activity of 1 MBq was at 289 different positions within the field of view which correspond to 289 different pixels in the reconstructed image, the average contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) obtained by the MLP method was 21.82, whereas that obtained by the correlation analysis method was 5.85. The variance in CNR of the MLP method is larger than that of correlation analysis, which means the MLP method has some instability in certain conditions.

A control dispersion of $TiO_2$ nano powder for electronic paper of electrophoresis (전기영동형 전자종이를 위한 $TiO_2$ 나노분말의 분산 제어)

  • Kim, Jung-Hee;Oh, Hyo-Jin;Lee, Nam-Hee;Hwang, Jong-Sun;Kim, Sun-Jae
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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    • 2005.07a
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    • pp.324-327
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    • 2005
  • An electrophoretic display using $TiO_2$ particles is the most promising candidate because it offers various advantages such as ink-on-paper appearance, good contrast ratio, wide viewing angle, image stability in the off-state and extremely low power consumption. The core technology of electrophoretic display is the dispersion controlling of $TiO_2$ nano particles in nonaqueous solution. To prepare an ink for electronic paper using electrophoretic properties of $TiO_2$ nano particles, cyclohexane with low dielectric constant and transparency, polyethylene for producing polymer coating layer which reduces apparent gravity of $TiO_2$, and $TiO_2$ powders were mixed together by planetary-mill. The zeta-potential value of $TiO_2$ particles in cyclohexane was measured about -40mV, but was measured over -110mV by dispersant attached to polyethylene-coated $TiO_2$ surface. Prepared electronic ink was filled in cross patterned micro-wall with $200{\mu}m$ in width and $40{\mu}m$ in height on ITO glass designed by photolithography. The response time of electronic paper evaluated by mobility of $TiO_2$ particle between micro-walls was measured 0.067sec, but the drift velocity from reflectance wave form during reverse from of electronic ink was measured 0.07cm/sec.

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THE FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE EXTERNAL RADIATION DOSE RATE OF PET-CT PATIENTS

  • Cho, Ihn Ho;Kim, Su Jin;Han, Eun Ok
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.231-236
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    • 2012
  • This study derived measures to reduce exposure doses by identifying factors which affect the external radiation dose rate of patients treated with radiopharmaceuticals for PET-CT tests. The external radiation dose rates were measured on three parts of head, thorax and abdomen at a distance of 50cm from the surface of 60 PET-CT patients. It showed there are changes in factors affecting the external radiation dose rate over time after the administration of F-18 FDG. The external radiation dose rate was lower in the patients with more water intake than those with less water intake before the injection of radiopharmaceuticals at all three points: right after the injection of radiopharmaceuticals (average 4.17 mins), after the pre-PEET-CT urination step (average 77.47 mins), and right after the PET-CT test (average 114.15 mins). The study also found there is a need to increase the amount of water intake before the injection of radiopharmaceuticals in order to maintain a low external radiation dose rate in patients. This strategy is only possible under the assumption that the quality of the video has not changed after conducting this study on the relations between the image and quality. This study also found a need to use radiopharmaceuticals with the minimum amount needed for each patient because F-FDG doses affects the external radiation dose rate at the point right after the injection of radiopharmaceuticals. Urination frequency was the most significant factor to affect the external radiation dose rates at the point right after the PET-CT test and the point after the pre-PET-CT urination step. There is a need to realize the strategy to increase the urination frequency of patients to maintain the external radiation dose rate low (average 77.47 mins) before and after the injection of radiopharmaceuticals. In addition, at this point, there is a need to take advantage of personal strategies because the external radiation dose rate is lower if the fasting time is shorter, the contrast medium is used, and the amount of water intake is increased after the administration of radiopharmaceuticals. Finally this study found the need to be able to generalize these findings through an in-depth research on the factors affecting the external radiation dose rate, which includes radiopharmaceutical dose, urination frequency, the amount of water intake, fasting time and the use of contrast medium.

Radiologic Findings of Cervical Mass Type Cervical Pregnancy (자궁경부 종괴형 자궁경부임신의 영상 소견)

  • Cho, Jae-Ho
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.43-51
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    • 2005
  • Background: To examine the ultrasonographic and magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging findings of a cervical mass type cervical pregnancy. Materials and Methods: The ultrasonographic and MRI findings of 5 patients pathologically confirmed as having a cervical pregnancy were analyzed retrospectively. On ultrasonography, the size and echo pattern of the uterine cervix, the shape and echo pattern of the lesion, the degree and the pattern of blood flow on the color Doppler study and the spectral Doppler pattern were analyzed. The shape, signal intensity, and degree and pattern of enhancement of the lesion were evaluated on MRI. Results: The uterine cervix was enlarged and the size of the lesion was 6.1 to 7.1 (average, 6.5) cm. The endocervical canal was irregularly dilated and showed heterogeneous echogenicity in all 5 cases. Four of the 5 lesions were heterogeneously hyper- or mixed echoic and remaining one was relatively homogeneous echogenic. Doppler ultrasonography revealed an increased vascularity of the peritrophoblastic flow pattern. In all 4 cases where MRI performed, the lesion was irregular in shape and the margin was not sharply demarcated. The T2-weighed image showed that the lesions were mixed signal intensity. Three of the 4 lesions contained high signal intensity nodular portions and a low signal intensity rim was observed along the margin of the nodular portions. The T1-weighted image revealed multiple signal voids along the periphery of the lesions and high signal intensity portions as a result of hemorrhage were noted. The dynamic enhanced study showed that the high signal intensity portions on the T2-weighted image were strongly enhanced similar to the vessels on the early phase and the contrast enhancement gradually decreased with time. Conclusion: A cervical mass type cervical pregnancy can be correctly diagnosed using the patient's clinical symptom, the elevation in the serum ${\beta}$-HCG level, and characteristic ultrasonographic and MRI findings.

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