• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2004

Pixel values of contrast enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) images are randomly changed. Also, the middle liver part has a problem to segregate the liver structure because of similar gray-level values of a pancreas in the abdomen. In this paper, an automatic liver segmentation method using a partial histogram threshold (PHT) algorithm is proposed for overcoming randomness of CE-CT images and removing the pancreas. After histogram transformation, adaptive multi-modal threshold is used to find the range of gray-level values of the liver structure. Also, the PHT algorithm is performed for removing the pancreas. Then, morphological filtering is processed for removing of unnecessary objects and smoothing of the boundary. Four CE-CT slices of eight patients were selected to evaluate the proposed method. As the average of normalized average area of the automatic segmented method II (ASM II) using the PHT and manual segmented method (MSM) are 0.1671 and 0.1711, these two method shows very small differences. Also, the average area error rate between the ASM II and MSM is 6.8339 ％. From the results of experiments, the proposed method has similar performance as the MSM by medical Doctor.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.303-314
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• 2013

Image quality of computed tomography (CT) is very vulnerable to metal artifacts. Recently, the thickness and background normalization techniques have been introduced. Since they provide flat sinograms, it is easy to determine metal traces and a simple linear interpolation would be enough to describe the missing data in sinograms. In this study, we have developed a theory describing two normalization methods and compared two methods with respect to various sizes and numbers of metal inserts by using simple numerical simulations. The developed theory showed that the background normalization provide flatter sinograms than the thickness normalization, which was validated with the simulation results. Numerical simulation results with respect to various sizes and numbers of metal inserts showed that the background normalization was better than the thickness normalization for metal artifact corrections. Although the residual artifacts still existed, we have showed that the background normalization without the segmentation procedure was better than the thickness normalization for metal artifact corrections. Since the background normalization without the segmentation procedure is simple and it does not require any users' intervention, it can be readily installed in conventional CT systems.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1055-1066
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• 2022

Objective: The clinical relevance of myosteatosis has not been well evaluated in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), although sarcopenia has been extensively researched. Therefore, we evaluated the prognostic value of muscle quality, including myosteatosis, in patients with resectable PDAC treated surgically. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 347 patients with resectable PDAC who underwent curative surgery (mean age ± standard deviation, 63.6 ± 9.6 years; 202 male). Automatic muscle segmentation was performed on preoperative computed tomography (CT) images using an artificial intelligence program. A single axial image of the portal phase at the inferior endplate level of the L3 vertebra was used for analysis in each patient. Sarcopenia was evaluated using the skeletal muscle index, calculated as the skeletal muscle area (SMA) divided by the height squared. The mean SMA attenuation was used to evaluate myosteatosis. Diagnostic cutoff values for sarcopenia and myosteatosis were devised using the Contal and O'Quigley methods, and patients were classified according to normal (nMT), sarcopenic (sMT), myosteatotic (mMT), or combined (cMT) muscle quality types. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were conducted to assess the effects of muscle type on the overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) after surgery. Results: Eighty-four (24.2%), 73 (21.0%), 75 (21.6%), and 115 (33.1%) patients were classified as having nMT, sMT, mMT, and cMT, respectively. Compared to nMT, mMT and cMT were significantly associated with poorer OS, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.49 (95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.22) and 1.68 (1.16-2.43), respectively, while sMT was not (HR of 1.40 [0.94-2.10]). Only mMT was significantly associated with poorer RFS, with an HR of 1.59 (1.07-2.35), while sMT and cMT were not. Conclusion: Myosteatosis was associated with poor OS and RFS in patients with resectable PDAC who underwent curative surgery.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2016

In Korea, prostate cancer accounted for generating growth rate second the following thyroid cancer, because of western dietary habits. Survival rate of prostate cancer after clinical behavior is changed depend on follow-up management. A telemedicine have been applied to replacement of medical specialist in rural area, and a quick reaction to emergency situation. Our study developed prostate 3-dimensional (3D) visualization program and designed prostate aftercare system architecture, called smart care, using a device that can access the Internet. Region of interest (ROI) in prostate was manually segmented by physicians and visualized to 3D objects and sent to PACS Server as DICOM images. So, medical personnel could confirm patients' data along with 3D images not only PACS system, but also portable device like a smart phone. As a result, we conducted the aftercare service to 98 patients and visualize 3D prostate images. 3D images had advantage to instinctively apprehend where lesion is and make patients to understand state of their disease easily. In the future, should conduct an aftercare service to more patients, and will obtain numerical index through follow-up study to an accurate analysis.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Next Generation Computing
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.40-50
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• 2019

In recent years, it is important to visualize an accurate human body model for the low-end system in the medical imaging field where augmented reality technology and virtual reality technology are used. Decreasing the geometry of a model causes a difference from the original shape and considers the difference as an error. So, the error should be minimized while reducing geometry. In this study, the organ areas of a human body in the tomographic images such as CT or MRI is segmented and 3D geometric model is generated, thereby implementing the reconstruction method of multiple resolution level-of-detail model. In the experiment, a virtual reality platform was constructed to verify the shape of the reconstructed model, targeting the spine area. The 3D human body model and patient information can be verified using the virtual reality platform.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.231-240
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• 2015

Medical imagery require to protect the privacy with preserving the quality of the original contents. Therefore, reversible watermarking is a solution for this purpose. Previous researches have focused on general imagery and achieved high capacity and high quality. However, they raise a distortion over entire image and hence are not applicable to medical imagery which require to preserve the quality of the objects. In this paper, we propose a novel reversible watermarking for medical imagery, which preserve the quality of the objects and achieves high capacity. First, object and background region is segmented and then predicted error histogram-based reversible watermarking is applied for each region. For the efficient watermark embedding with small distortion in the object region, the embedding level at object region is set as low while the embedding level at background region is set as high. In experiments, the proposed algorithm is compared with the previous predicted error histogram-based algorithm in aspects of embedding capacity and perceptual quality. Results support that the proposed algorithm performs well over the previous algorithm.

• Transactions of the KSME C: Technology and Education
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2014

Drug delivery in human upper airway was studied by the numerical simulation of oral airflow. We created an anatomically accurate upper airway model from CT scan data by using a medical image processing software (Mimics). The upper airway was composed of oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea, and second generations of branches. Thin sliced CT data and meticulous refinement of model surface under the ENT doctor's advice provided more sophisticated nasal cavity models. With this 3D upper airway models, numerical simulation was conducted by ANSYS/FLUENT. The steady inspiratory airflows in that model was solved numerically for the case of flow rate of 250 mL/s with drug-laden spray(Q= 20, 40, 60 mL/s). Optimal parameters for mechanical drug aerosol targeting of predetermined areas was to be computed, for a given representative upper airways. From numerical flow visualization results, as flow-rate of drug-laden spray increases, the drag spray residue in oral cavity was increased and the distribution of drug spray in trachea and branches became more homogeneous.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.43-47
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• 2015

Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint disease in the world. With its progression, cartilage thickness tends to diminish, which causes severe pain to human being. One way to examine the stage of osteoarthritis is to measure the cartilage thickness. When it comes to inter-subject study, however, it is not easy task to compare cartilage thickness since every human being has different cartilage structure. In this paper, we propose a method to assess cartilage defect using MRI inter-subject thickness comparison. First, we used manual segmentation method to build accurate atlas images and each segmented image was labeled as articular surface and bone-cartilage interface in order to measure the thickness. Secondly, each point in the bone-cartilage interface was assigned the measured thickness so that the thickness does not change after registration. We used affine transformation and SyGN to get deformation fields which were then applied to thickness images to have cartilage thickness atlas. In this way, it is possible to investigate pixel-by-pixel thickness comparison. Lastly, the atlas images were made according to their osteoarthritis grade which indicates the degree of its progression. The result atlas images were compared using the analysis of variance in order to verify the validity of our method. The result shows that a significant difference is existed among them with p < 0.001.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.416-421
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• 2010

The KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information) began to produce the Korean human information called Visible Korean and Digital Korean since 2000 because there was no human information in Korea which could represent the physical characteristics of Korean human body. The Visible Korean consists of CT, MR, sectioned and segmented images of Korean human body. We obtained the serially sectioned images by grinding the Korean cadaver in horizontal direction and segmented these images by outlining the inner organs of human. We have produced the sectioned images of Korean male whole body, male head, and female pelvis in2008. The segmentation and 3D reconstruction of these images are now in proceeding. The Digital Korean consists of CT images of about 100 Korean cadavers. These CT images were segmented by individual bone, reconstructed to produce the 3D bone models and the skin surface model was also added. The mechanical properties of individual bones were obtained by measuring the property of individual bone sample. We have distributed these Korean human informations to users in domestic and abroad. About 70 institutes in domestic, and 20 institutes in abroad have used our data in research use and nearly 160 proceedings and articles were published since 2001. We think these human informations have a role of medical information infrastructure that could be used in the field of medical education, biomechanics, virtual reality etc.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.19B no.2
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• pp.123-126
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• 2012

This paper proposed a method to separate a liver into left and right liver lobes for simple and exact volumetry of the river graft at abdominal MDCT(Multi-Detector Computed Tomography) image before the living donor liver transplantation. A medical team can evaluate an accurate river graft with minimized interaction between the team and a system using this algorithm for ensuring donor's and recipient's safe. On the image of segmented liver, 2 points(PMHV: a point in Middle Hepatic Vein and PPV: a point at the beginning of right branch of Portal Vein) are selected to separate a liver into left and right liver lobes. Middle hepatic vein is automatically segmented using PMHV, and the cutting line is decided on the basis of segmented Middle Hepatic Vein. A liver is separated on connecting the cutting line and PPV. The volume and ratio of the river graft are estimated. The volume estimated using 2 points are compared with a manual volume that diagnostic radiologist processed and estimated and the weight measured during surgery to support proof of exact volume. The mean ${\pm}$ standard deviation of the differences between the actual weights and the estimated volumes was $162.38cm^3{\pm}124.39$ in the case of manual segmentation and $107.69cm^3{\pm}97.24$ in the case of 2 points method. The correlation coefficient between the actual weight and the manually estimated volume is 0.79, and the correlation coefficient between the actual weight and the volume estimated using 2 points is 0.87. After selection the 2 points, the time involved in separation a liver into left and right river lobe and volumetry of them is measured for confirmation that the algorithm can be used on real time during surgery. The mean ${\pm}$ standard deviation of the process time is $57.28sec{\pm}32.81$ per 1 data set ($149.17pages{\pm}55.92$).