• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2004

A thromboembolic stroke is believed to be precipitated by a rupture of vulnerable atheromatous plaques. Until recently the assessment of a further risk of stroke in high-risk patients in whom atherosclerosis has presented with a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), has been confined to a quantitative assessment of the luminal patency of the internal carotid artery. These traditional stratification parameters are no longer believed to be the most accurate predictors of a thrombo-embolism. This is because the process of vessel wall remodeling can maintain a luminal patency, and consequently, quite large friable plaques may remain unidentified. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved risk assessment. The fibrous cap of a vulnerable plaque is thinner, and an intraplaque hemorrhage and inflammation can occur during the development of atherosclerotic plaque. Several imaging methods for identifying vulnerable plaques have been developed. Recently, high resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has emerged as an accurate non-invasive tool that can characterize the carotid plaque components in vivo. A High resolution carotid magnetic resonance is capable of distinguishing an intact, thick fibrous cap from a thin and ruptured cap in carotid plaque. In addition, a plaque MR can identify the active inflammation and detect a hemorrhage. High resolution carotid MR imaging is a valuable noninvasive method for quantifying the plaque components and identifying vulnerable plaque.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.581-593
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• 2023

In the catheterization laboratory, the measurement of physiological indexes can help identify functionally significant lesions and has become one of the standard methods to guide treatment decision-making. Plaque vulnerability refers to a coronary plaque susceptible to rupture, enabling risk prediction before coronary events, and it can be detected by defining a certain type of plaque morphology on coronary imaging modalities. Although coronary physiology and plaque vulnerability have been considered different attributes of coronary artery disease, the underlying pathophysiological basis and clinical data indicate a strong correlation between coronary hemodynamic properties and vulnerable plaque. In prediction of coronary events, emerging data have suggested independent and additional implications of a physiology-based approach to a plaque-based approach. This review covers the fundamental interplay between coronary physiology and plaque morphology during disease progression with clinical data supporting this relationship and examines the clinical relevance of physiological indexes in prediction of clinical outcomes and therapeutic decision-making along with plaque vulnerability.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.739-745
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• 2020

A major concern associated with carotid artery angioplasty and stenting (CAS) is a periprocedural distal cerebral embolization. To prevent distal embolization, embolic protection devices (EPDs) have been developed. However, the risk of cerebral embolism after protected CAS in patents with a vulnerable plaque is controversial and either a silent or a symptomatic stroke can occur despite the use of EPDs. Here, we report a case of a massive cerebral microemboli after a protected CAS using a distal filter EPD for a vulnerable plaque with a lipid rich necrotic core and intraplaque hemorrhage.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.224-227
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• 2010

In the present study, the characteristics of blood flow inside a carotid artery numerically investigated with shear rate specific blood viscosity. To simulate the blood flow with a patient-specific arterial geometry, the geometry of a carotid artery was constructed from 2D rain MRA data. The measured data of blood flow velocity at the common carotid artery were used as boundary conditions of the simulation. For the blood rheology data to be used in the simulation, the patient specific blood viscosity over the whole ranges of shear rate was obtained using $BioVisco^{TM}$. From the numerical results of the blood flow in the carotid artery, the increase of blood viscosity and the decrease of wall shear stress could be found in the carotid bifurcated region, more specifically at the post-plaque dilated region. These characteristics of blood viscosity and wall shear stress can be used more precisely and efficiently to predict the region vulnerable to plaque growht or thrombosis on top of the plaque.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2022

Ginseng has been widely studied due to its various therapeutic properties on various diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular disease has been canonically known to be caused by high levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in the bloodstream, in addition to the impaired vasodilatory effects of cholesterol. However, current research on CVD has revealed a cascade of mechanisms involving a series of events that contribute to the progression of CVD. Although this has been elucidated and summarized in previous studies the detailed correlation between platelet aggregation and innate immunity that plays an important role in CVD progression has not been thoroughly summarized. Furthermore, immune cell subtypes also contribute to the progression of plaque formation in the subendothelial layer. Thrombus formation and the coagulation cascade also have a vital role in the progression of atherosclerosis. Hence, in this mini review we aim to elucidate, summarize, and propose the potent therapeutic effect of ginseng on CVD, mainly on platelet aggregation, plaque formation, and thrombus formation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.743-748
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• 2017

For diseases that are difficult to detect by conventional imaging techniques, the development of a diagnostic method that allows sensors to be inserted into the human body to aid the diagnosis of local spots of the target tissue, is highly desirable. In particular, it is extremely difficult to determine whether vulnerable plaque can later develop into atherosclerosis using only imaging techniques. However, vulnerable plaques are expected to have slightly different mechanical properties than healthy tissue. In this study, we aim to develop a piezoelectric cantilever-type sensor that can be inserted into the human body and can detect the local mechanical properties of the target tissue. A piezoelectric polymer composite based on $BaTiO_3$ nanoparticles was optimized for fabrication of a piezoelectric cantilever. Next, a micro-cone tip was fabricated at the end of the piezoelectric cantilever by thermal drawing. Finally, stiffness of biological tissue samples was measured with the piezoelectric cantilever sensor for verifying its functionality.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.349-355
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• 2022

In this study, we sought to identify a soil stabilizer that can be applied to paddy fields vulnerable to arsenic (As) pollution. To this end, we conducted a pot experiment in which we evaluated the effects of different stabilizers on the bioavailability of As in paddy soil. As candidate stabilizers, we assessed calcium superphosphate (CSP), sulfur, and steel slag, which were applied at the rates of 0.7 and 1.4, 0.1 and 0.2, and 7.0 and 14.0 Ma ha^-1, respectively. On day 67 after rice transplantation, we detected significantly lower concentrations of As in the solutions of paddy soil treated with 1.4 Ma ha^-1 CSP (96.9 ㎍ L^-1) and 0.2 Ma ha^-1 sulfur (207.2 ㎍ L^-1) compared with the As concentrations in control (314.5 ㎍ L^-1) and steel slag-treated (268.6-342.4 ㎍ L^-1) soil. Compared with the As concentrations in control brown rice (0.16 mg kg^-1), concentrations in brown rice were lowest in the pots treated with 1.4 Ma ha^-1 CSP (0.09 mg kg^-1). Furthermore, in response to CSP treatments, we detected increases in the weight of rice grains (50.0-50.4 g/pot) compared with the control (40.4 g/pot) and other treatments (26.9-48.1 g/pot), which we speculate could be attributed to the reduction in As toxicity to rice owing to a decline in soil solution As contents and the fertilization effect of the CSP treatment. Collectively, our findings indicate a high-level application of CSP (1.4 Ma ha^-1) to paddy soil has a comparatively beneficial effect in mitigating the bioavailability of As.