• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.671-677
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• 2023

When a scintillator block is constructed using fine scintillator pixels, the scintillator block located at the edge of the scintillator block results in overlapping images. To solve this problem, a light guide was inserted between the scintillator block and the photosensor, and images of all scintillation pixels were separated and acquired. However, loss of light may occur through the light guide, which eventually affects the quality of the image due to a decrease in energy resolution. Therefore, in this study, a detector was designed that can separate scintilltion pixels better by using a reflector on the side of the light guide and can secre excellent energy resolution by minimizing light loss. For comparative evaluation with previous studies, flood images were obtained through DETECT2000 capable of light simulation, and the degree of separation and light collection rate were evaluated. When a reflector was used on the side of the light guide, all materials showed excellent separation regardless of the material of the light guide, which showed better separation results than previous studies. In addition, the light collection rate was more that five times better when the reflector was applied than when it wa not. If this detector is applied to a small animal positron emission tomography, it will be possilbe to secre excellent image quality through excellent spatial resolution and energy resolution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2024

Preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) requires excellent spatial resolution because the subject of imaging is a very small animal. To achieve this, a detector is configured using fine scintillation pixels. In this study, we aim to increase the scintillation pixel array by processing the bottom surface of the scintillation pixels differently from the array of scintillation pixels that can be imaged in the same photosensor performed in the previous study. To this end, we designed a detector using DETECT2000, which can simulate light in the scintillator, and performed a simulation. The detector was configured from an 11 × 11 array to a 16 × 16 array, and the bottom surface was configured as a polished surface (POLISH) and a rough surface (GROUND) to obtain a flood image. As a result, it was confirmed that the scintillation pixel images were better separated on the GROUND surface than on the POLISH surface as the scintillation pixel array expanded. Furthermore, on the GROUND surface, it was confirmed that the peaks of the scintillation pixel images in the corner area were separated and imaged even in the 16 × 16 array.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.239-244
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• 2011

In this study, we evaluated diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) to investigate whether the DWI parameters can predict characteristic parameters on pathologic specimens of tumor or not. CFPAC-1 was injected subcutaneously on the back flank of athymic nude mice (n=13) then two tumors were initiated on each mouse (2${\times}$13=26 tumors). The mice were sacrificed to make specimen immediately after initial MR imaging then were compared with the MR image. A dedicated high-field (7T) small-animal MR scanner was used for image acquisitions. A T1 and T2 weighted axial image using RARE technique was acquired to measure the T2 values and tumor size. DWI MR was performed for calculating ADC values. To evaluate tumor cellularity and determine the levels of MVD, tumor cells were excised and processed for H-E staining and immunostaining using CD31. T2 values and ADC values were computed and analyzed for each half of the tumors and compared to the correlated specimens slide. Median ADC within each half of mass was compared to the cellularity and MVD in the correlated area of pathologic slide. The mean of ADC value is $0.7327{\times}10^{-3}$ $mm^2/s$ and standard deviation is $0.1075{\times}10^{-3}$ $mm^2/s$. There is a linear relationship between ADC value and tumor necrosis (R2=0.697, p< 0.001). DW image parameters including the ADC values can be utilized as surrogate markers to assess intratumoral neoangiogenesis and change of the internal structure of tumor cells.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.74-84
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• 2004

Purpose: Since I-125 emits low energy (27-35 keV) radiation, thinner crystal and collimator could be employed and, hence, it is favorable to obtain high quality images. The purpose of this study was to derive the optimized parameters of I-125 SPECT using a new simulation tool, GATE (Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission). Materials and Methods: To validate the simulation method, gamma camera developed by Weisenberger et al. was modeled. Nal(T1) plate crystal was used and its thickness was determined by calculating detection efficiency. Spatial resolution and sensitivity curves were estimated by changing variable parameters for parallel-hole and pinhole collimator. Peformances of I-125 SPECT equipped with the optimal collimator were also estimated. Results: in the validation study, simulations were found to agree well with experimental measurements in spatial resolution (4%) and sensitivity (3%). In order to acquire 98% gamma ray detection efficiency, Nal(T1) thickness was determined to be 1 mm. Hole diameter (mm), length (mm) and shape were chosen to be 0.2:5:square and 0.5:10:hexagonal for high resolution (HR) and general purpose (GP) parallel-hole collimator, respectively. Hole diameter, channel height and acceptance angle of pinhole (PH) collimator were determined to be 0.25 mm, 0.1 mm and 90 degree. The spatial resolutions of reconstructed image of the I-125 SPECT employing HR:GP:PH were 1.2:1.7:0.8 mm. The sensitivities of HR:GP:PH were 39.7:71.9:5.5 cps/MBq. Conclusion: The optimal crystal and collimator parameters for I-125 Imaging were derived by simulation using GATE. The results indicate that excellent resolution and sensitivity imaging is feasible using I-125 SPECT.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 2009

Purpose: Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements need to be precise enough to be capable of detecting small changes in bone mass of rats. Using a regular dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), we measured many BMD of various skeletal sites in rats to examine precision of DXA in relation to the repositioning on the bones of rats. Materials and Methods: Using DXA and small animal software, scans were performed 4 times in all 12 male rats without repositioning (Group 1a). Another four scans for 6 of 12 rats were done with repositioning between scans (Group 2). Customized regions of interest (ROIs), encapsulate the right hind limb, L1-4, skull and pelvic bones were drawn at each measurement. The precision of the measurements was evaluated by measuring the coefficient of variation (CV) of four measurements of BMD at each skeletal site of all rats with or without repositioning. Significance of differences between group 1b (six rats out of group 1a, which were come under group 2) and group2 were evaluated with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Sum Test. Results: CVs obtained at different skeletal sites of all measurements in Group 1b and 2. It was $3.51{\pm}1.20$, $ 2.62{\pm}1.20$ for the hindlimb (p=0.173), $3.83{\pm}2.02$, $4.59{\pm}2.02$ for L1-4 (p=0.600), $3.73{\pm}1.87$, $1.53{\pm}0.89$ for skull (p=0.046), and $2.92{\pm}0.60$, $1.45{\pm}0.60$ for pelvic bones (p=0.075). Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the DXA technique has the precision necessary when used to assess BMD for various skeletal sites in rats regardless of repositioning.