• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.163-171
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• 2021

Various records on health, food and treatment are written in ancient documents of Korea such as old recipe books, Korean medical books and history books, through these records, the principle of Sikchi can be discovered. Sikchi includes the meaning of medicine and food work on the same principle, and it is not only as traditional knowledge but also affecting modern food culture. Based on this principle of Sikchi, this study tried to lay a foundation that can be used as a modern health food material through scientific verification of foods recorded in the ancient literature. For this purpose, Omigalsu, a traditional drink made from omija, soybean, and honey, which is related to blood glucose control, which is one of the representative metabolic diseases of modern people, was selected as the subject of this study. In order to compensate for the agglomeration of beverages caused by honey or the rise in postprandial blood glucose, which occurs when the traditional Omigalsu recorded in the ancient literature is reproduced, the raw material that can be substituted for honey was discovered. The health promotion and quality improvement effects of newly prepared Omigalsu using honey substitutive raw material were confirmed through a comparative test with traditional Omigalsu. Based on this study, through scientific research using the principle of Sikchi, we intend to lay a foundation that can be used as various contents in the medical and food fields such as food bio and healthcare in modern society.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.235-262
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• 2019

While traditionally threatening human infectious diseases are decreasing, chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, including cardiovascular diseases, are spreading rapidly. Reflecting the characteristics of chronic diseases that are difficult to treat, the management of risk factors and the preparation of health promotion policies corresponding to them have emerged as important concerns around the world. Providing so-called multi-sector approach such as health promotion and disease prevention policy and solution for community response, The value of primary care is once again highlighted in the changed medical environment. As the existing medical delivery system has become difficult to cope with the people's desire for rapid aging, disease paradigm change, and quality of life improvement, European Union countries have made various efforts to improve the quality of their primary medical system, which provides continuous, com- prehensive and coordinated management. This paper examines the current status and problems of the healthcare delivery system in Korea, draws implications from the European Union examples related to the strengthening of primary care, and discusses the plans for establishing a patient-centered future medical delivery system.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.345-356
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• 2023

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of physical therapy combined with a virtual reality (VR) game on pain, quality of life (QOL), engagement, and knee function in post-knee-surgery patients. Methods: Twenty-four patients who had undergone knee surgery four weeks or more before the study were recruited. Two withdrew from the study during the four-week experimental period, and a total of 22 patients were included in the final analysis. Routine physical therapy consisting of electrostimulation (10 min.) and therapeutic massage (10 min.) was the base intervention for all groups. The experimental group (n = 10) was additionally exposed to a VR game intervention, while the control group (n = 12) underwent an intervention involving similar motions as the experimental intervention but with no VR. The intervention for the experimental group used the game Rig Fit Adventure on Nintendo switch. Both groups underwent their respective interventions 3 times a week (35 min. per session) for 4 weeks. Pain was assessed using the numeric rating scale (NRS), and QOL was assessed using the EuroQol five-dimensional five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L). Engagement was assessed using the Korea flow state scale (K-FSS). Finally, knee movement and function were assessed based on knee flexion and extension, range of motion (ROM), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC). Results: After the four-week physical therapy, both groups showed significant reductions in pain (on the NRS), increased knee ROM (flexion), better WOMAC scores, and increased EQ-5D-5L scores (p < 0.05), with the experimental group showing significantly better improvements in EQ-5D-5L and K-FSS scores (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study confirm that a VR-game-integrated intervention is effective for improving pain, QOL, engagement, and knee function in post-knee surgery patients and that VR-game-integrated interventions could be therapeutic alternatives for patients bedridden for prolonged periods with little motivation for rehabilitation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-127
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• 2023

Purpose: Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) is increasingly used in nuclear medicine imaging for various conditions such as lymphoma and neuroendocrine tumors by labeling tracers like Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and DOTA-TOC. However, compared to Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F) used in conventional nuclear medicine imaging, ⁶⁸Ga has lower spatial resolution and relatively higher Signal to Background Ratio (SBR). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the optimized parameters and reconstruction methods for PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer through model-based image evaluation. Materials and Methods: Based on clinical images of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET/CT, a NEMA/IEC 2008 PET phantom model was prepared with a Hot vs Background (H/B) ratio of 10:1. Images were acquired for 9 minutes in list mode using DMIDR (GE, Milwaukee WI, USA). Subsequently, reconstructions were performed for 1 to 8 minutes using OS-EM (Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization) + TOF (Time of Flight) + Sharp IR (VPFX-S), and BSREM (Block Sequential Regularized Expectation Maximization) + TOF + Sharp IR (QCFX-S-400), followed by comparative evaluation. Based on the previous experimental results, images were reconstructed for BSREM + TOF + Sharp IR / 2 minutes (QCFX-S-2min) with varying β-strength values from 100 to 700. The image quality was evaluated using AMIDE (freeware, Ver.1.0.1) and Advanced Workstation (GE, USA). Results: Images reconstructed with QCFX-S-400 showed relatively higher values for SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), CNR (Contrast to Noise Ratio), count, RC (Recovery Coefficient), and SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) compared to VPFX-S. SNR, CNR, and SUV exhibited the highest values at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. RC showed the highest values for a 10 mm sphere at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. For small spheres of 10 mm and 13 mm, an inverse relationship between β-strength increase and count was observed. SNR and CNR peaked at β-strength 400 and then decreased, while SUV and RC exhibited a normal distribution based on sphere size for β-strength values of 400 and above. Conclusion: Based on the experiments, PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer yielded the most favorable quantitative and qualitative results with a 2 minutes/bed acquisition time and BSREM reconstruction, particularly when applying β-strength 400. The application of BSREM can enhance accurate quantification and image quality in ⁶⁸Ga PET/CT imaging, and an optimization process tailored to each institution's imaging objectives appears necessary.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2019

Fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5 refers to the atmospheric particulate matter that has a diameter less than 2.5 micrometer identified as dangerous element for human health and its concentration can provide us a clear picture about air dust concentration. Humans stay indoor almost 90% of their life time and also there is no official indoor dust concentration data, so our study is focused on measuring the indoor air quality. Indoor dust data monitoring is very important in hospital environments beside that other places can also be considered for monitoring like classrooms, cements factories, computer server rooms, petrochemical storage etc. In this paper, visible light communication system is proposed by Manchester encoding technique for electromagnetic interference (EMI)-free indoor dust monitoring. Important indoor environment information like dust concentration is transferred by visible light channel in wide range. An average voltage-tracking technique is utilized for robust light detection to eliminate ambient light and low-frequency noise. The incoming light is recognized by a photo diode and are simultaneously processed by a receiver micro-controller. We can monitor indoor air quality in real-time and can take necessary action according to the result.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

The medical environment, combined with IT technology, is changing the paradigm for medical services from treatment to prevention. In particular, as ICT convergence digital healthcare technology is applied to hospital medical systems, infrastructure technologies such as big data, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are being used in conjunction with the cloud. In particular, as medical services are used with IT devices, the quality of medical services is increasingly improving to make them easier for users to access. Medical institutions seeking to incorporate IoT services into cloud health care environment services are trying to reduce hospital operating costs and improve service quality, but have not yet been fully supported. In this paper, a patient information collection model from hospital IoT system, which has established a cloud environment, is proposed. The proposed model prevents third parties from illegally eavesdropping and interfering with patients' biometric information through IoT devices attached to the patient's body at hospitals in cloud environments that have established hospital IoT systems. The proposed model allows clinicians to analyze patients' disease information so that they can collect and treat diseases associated with their eating habits through IoT devices. The analyzed disease information minimizes hospital work to facilitate the handling of prescriptions and care according to the patient's degree of illness.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was designed to optimize the flip angle (FA) and scan timing of the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) using the 3D T1-weighted, gradient-echo (GRE) imaging with controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA) technique on gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3T liver MR imaging. Materials and Methods: Sixty-two patients who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3T liver MR imaging were included in this study. Four 3D T1-weighted GRE imaging studies using the CAIPIRINHA technique and FAs of $9^{\circ}$ and $13^{\circ}$ were acquired during HBP at 15 and 20 min after intravenous injection of gadoxetic acid. Two abdominal radiologists, who were blinded to the FA and the timing of image acquisition, assessed the sharpness of liver edge, hepatic vessel clarity, lesion conspicuity, artifact severity, and overall image quality using a five-point scale. Quantitative analysis was performed by another radiologist to estimate the relative liver enhancement (RLE) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and one-way analysis of variance. Results: The scores of the HBP with an FA of $13^{\circ}$ during the same delayed time were significantly higher than those of the HBP with an FA of $9^{\circ}$ in all the assessment items (P < 0.01). In terms of the delay time, images at the same FA obtained with a 20-min-HBP showed better quality than those obtained with a 15-min-HBP. There was no significant difference in qualitative scores between the 20-min-HBP and the 15-min-HBP images in the non-liver cirrhosis (LC) group except for the hepatic vessel clarity score with $9^{\circ}$ FA. In the quantitative analysis, a statistically significant difference was found in the degree of RLE in the four HBP images (P = 0.012). However, in the subgroup analysis, no significant difference in RLE was found in the four HBP images in either the LC or the non-LC groups. The SNR did not differ significantly in the four HBP images. In the subgroup analysis, 20-min-HBP imaging with a $13^{\circ}$ FA showed the highest SNR value in the LC-group, whereas 15-min-HBP imaging with a $13^{\circ}$ FA showed the best value of SNR in the non-LC group. Conclusion: The use of a moderately high FA improves the image quality and lesion conspicuity on 3D, T1-weighted GRE imaging using the CAIPIRINHA technique on gadoxetic acid, 3T liver MR imaging. In patients with normal liver function, the 15-min-HBP with a $13^{\circ}$ FA represents a feasible option without a significant decrease in image quality.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.69-83
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• 2023

Objective : This study sought to systematically examine the intervention effect of social stories when applied in relation to children with sleep disorders. Methods : Studies available in the SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, PsycArticles, and PubMed databases that were published from 2001 to 2022 were searched. The keywords used for the search were as follows: ("social story" OR "social stories") AND ("sleep" OR "sleep disorders" OR "sleep wake disorder bedtimes" OR "sleep initiation and maintenance disorders" OR "sleep wake disorder" OR "sleep arousal disorders"). Based on the selection criteria, six experimental studies were selected and analyzed. Results : The selected studies were two randomized controlled trials, three individual trials, and one case study. The subjects were mostly children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who were school-aged or adolescent. The intervention types were often complex interventions, including social stories and other interventions, while the durations of the interventions varied from one day to more than 40 days. The interventions had a positive effect on the subjects' sleep quality, with night wakings, sleep onset delay, and sleep anxiety all being improved. As standardized assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of social stories, the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist were used in two papers each, and were the most commonly used. As non-standardized assessment tools, each of the four papers used turbulence and sleep diaries as assessment tools. Conclusion : The effect of social story mediation can be divided into sleep quality and sleep-related behavior. In terms of sleep quality, studies showing improvements in night wakings, sleep onset delay, and sleep anxiety accounted for a large proportion of the sample. The detailed effect area of sleep quality showed a significant improvement after the interventions in most studies, and in all six studies analyzed in the present study, the continuation of the effect after the intervention was confirmed via follow-up tests. Thus, the findings of this study are expected to be helpful when applying social stories in children with sleep disorders in clinical practice due to presenting the intervention effects, outcome evaluation tools, and intervention periods in children with sleep disorders in prior investigations involving social stories.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.6
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• pp.1309-1323
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• 2023

Purpose To assess the quality of four images obtained using single-breath-hold (SBH), single-shot fast spin-echo (SSFSE) and multiple-breath-hold (MBH) SSFSE with and without deep-learning based reconstruction (DLR) in patients with Crohn's disease. Materials and Methods This study included 61 patients who underwent MR enterography (MRE) for Crohn's disease. The following images were compared: SBH-SSFSE with (SBH-DLR) and without (SBH-conventional reconstruction [CR]) DLR and MBH-SSFSE with (MBH-DLR) and without (MBH-CR) DLR. Two radiologists independently reviewed the overall image quality, artifacts, sharpness, and motion-related signal loss using a 5-point scale. Three inflammatory parameters were evaluated in the ileum, the terminal ileum, and the colon. Moreover, the presence of a spatial misalignment was evaluated. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated at two locations for each sequence. Results DLR significantly improved the image quality, artifacts, and sharpness of the SBH images. No significant differences in scores between MBH-CR and SBH-DLR were detected. SBH-DLR had the highest SNR (p < 0.001). The inter-reader agreement for inflammatory parameters was good to excellent (κ = 0.76-0.95) and the inter-sequence agreement was nearly perfect (κ = 0.92-0.94). Misalignment artifacts were observed more frequently in the MBH images than in the SBH images (p < 0.001). Conclusion SBH-DLR demonstrated equivalent quality and performance compared to MBH-CR. Furthermore, it can be acquired in less than half the time, without multiple BHs and reduce slice misalignments.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2013

Purpose: In the PET/CT images, various artifacts cause degradation of the quantitative assessment. Most hotspot generated by radiopharmaceutical injection errors cause an artifact and degrade the quality of the images as well as the accuracy of the quantitative evaluation. The purpose of this study is to assess effectiveness of the elimination of the hotspot at the injection sites using shifting the center of DFOV (Display Field of View, DFOV) method and evaluate the quantitative evaluation of result. Materials and Methods: GE Discovery STE 16 (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, USA) and 1994 NEMA phantom were used for imaging acquisition. Phantom was filled with 0.005 MBq/mL of $^{18}F-FDG$. A hotspot was artificially placed on the outside of the phantom. The ratio of hotspot area activity to background area activity was regulated as 200:1. After image acquisition with routine protocol, all of the images were reconstructed using the shifting the center of DFOV method that wasn't overlapped with hotspot. Those images obtained before and after applying the shifting reconstruction method were compared. ROIs (Region Of Interests) were set in the hotspot areas, meanSUVs and standard deviations were calculated. Percentage differences were calculated with those meanSUVs and standard deviations. The evaluation on the effects of the shifting reconstruction method was done by comparison of the meanSUVs and the standard deviations, which were calculated for background areas unaffected by hotspot. Results: In the areas of unaffected by hotspot, meanSUVs before and after applying the shifting of center of DFOV method were $0.67{\pm}0.06g/mL$ and $0.65{\pm}0.06g/mL$, respectively. In the artifact areas affected by hotspot, meanSUVs before and after applying the shifting of center of DFOV method were $0.32{\pm}0.08g/mL$ and $0.56{\pm}0.12g/mL$, respectively. The percentage differences of the area adjacent to the hotspot and the area distant from the hotspot were 65.3% and 97.4%, respectively. Conclusion: In the PET/CT images, meanSUV was improved by 32.1% when the effect of artifact was removed with application of the shifting the center of DFOV methode. In other areas unaffected by artifacts, meanSUVs were not significantly different after applying DFOV center shift method. As shown in the result, adverse effects of hotspot made by swelling in the injection site can be reduced by applying DFOV center shift method. Therefore, DFOV center shift method can be applied for the more precise quantitative evaluation, and contribute to the increase of the diagnostic value of the images.