• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.12 no.2 s.46
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• pp.123-130
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to propose a fusion and registration method with heterogeneous small animal acquisition system in small animal in-vivo study. After an intravenous injection of $^{18}F$-FDG through tail vain and 60 min delay for uptake, mouse was placed on an acryl plate with fiducial markers that were made for fusion between small animal PET (microPET R4, Concorde Microsystems, Knoxville TN) and Discovery LS CT images. The acquired emission list-mode data was sorted to temporally framed sinograms and reconstructed using FORE rebining and 2D-OSEM algorithms without correction of attenuation and scatter. After PET imaging, CT images were acquired by mean of a clinical PET/CT with high-resolution mode. The microPET and CT images were fusion and co-registered using the fiducial markers and segmented lung region in both data sets to perform a point-based rigid co-registration. This method improves the quantitative accuracy and interpretation of the tracer.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.498-511
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• 2023

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of chest computed tomography (CT)-based qualitative and radiomics models for predicting residual axillary nodal metastasis after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for patients with clinically node-positive breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 226 women (mean age, 51.4 years) with clinically node-positive breast cancer treated with NAC followed by surgery between January 2015 and July 2021. Patients were randomly divided into the training and test sets (4:1 ratio). The following predictive models were built: a qualitative CT feature model using logistic regression based on qualitative imaging features of axillary nodes from the pooled data obtained using the visual interpretations of three radiologists; three radiomics models using radiomics features from three (intranodal, perinodal, and combined) different regions of interest (ROIs) delineated on pre-NAC CT and post-NAC CT using a gradient-boosting classifier; and fusion models integrating clinicopathologic factors with the qualitative CT feature model (referred to as clinical-qualitative CT feature models) or with the combined ROI radiomics model (referred to as clinical-radiomics models). The area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess and compare the model performance. Results: Clinical N stage, biological subtype, and primary tumor response indicated by imaging were associated with residual nodal metastasis during the multivariable analysis (all P < 0.05). The AUCs of the qualitative CT feature model and radiomics models (intranodal, perinodal, and combined ROI models) according to post-NAC CT were 0.642, 0.812, 0.762, and 0.832, respectively. The AUCs of the clinical-qualitative CT feature model and clinical-radiomics model according to post-NAC CT were 0.740 and 0.866, respectively. Conclusion: CT-based predictive models showed good diagnostic performance for predicting residual nodal metastasis after NAC. Quantitative radiomics analysis may provide a higher level of performance than qualitative CT features models. Larger multicenter studies should be conducted to confirm their performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2022

DEXA, as the standard areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measurement method, often shows an insuficient correlation between aBMDs of the measured bones and referring bones and is inaccurate due to the mass effect. In contrast, quantitative computer tomography (QCT), as a volumetric BMD (vBMD) measurement method, is being advanced so that it uses less radiation before, owing to improved CT device and computer imaging technology. Because dual-energy CTs can modulate the image signals showing tumor or specific chemicals as well as the ability to measure vBMD, they are expanding their application. For pre-checking vBMD of surgeon-specific bone volume at implantation candidate sites, a finite element creation-based local vBMD measurement technique was developed. The local vBMD measurement function for surgeon-specific shape volumes will be added to clinical imaging systems.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.645-653
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• 2021

With the recent development of precision medicine(Theranostics), interest and utilization of the quantitative function of SPECT/CT are increasing. This study aims to investigate the effect on the radioactivity concentration estimate by the increase or decrease in the total time of SPECT/CT imaging conditions. A standard image was obtained by the conditions of a total acquisition time of 600 sec(10 sec/f × 120 frames) by diluting ^99mTc 91.76 MBq in a cylindrical phantom filled with sterile water, and a comparative image was obtained by increasing the total acquisition time by -90%, -75%, -50%, -25%, +50%, +100%. The CNR, radioactive concentration estimate(cps/ml), and the variation rate(%) of the recovery coefficient(RC) were analyzed by measuring the overall coefficient of interest in each image. The results[CNR, Radiation Concentration, RC] by the change in the number of projections for each increase or decrease rate(-90%, -75%, -50%, -25%, +50%, +100%) of total acquisition time are as follows. [-89.5%, +3.90%, 1.04] at -90%, [-77.9%, +2.71%, 1.03] at -75%, [-55.6%, +1.85%, 1.02] at -50%, [-33.6%, +1.37%, 1.01] at -25%, [-33.7%, +0.71%, 1.01] at +50%, [+93.2%, +0.32%, 1.00] at +100%. and also The results[CNR, Radiation Concentration, RC] by the acquisition time change for each increase or decrease rate(-90%, -75%, -50%, -25%, +50%, +100%) of total acquisition time are as follows. [-89.3%, -3.55%, 0.96] at -90%, [-73.4%, -0.17%, 1.00] at -75%, [-49.6%, -0.34%, 1.00] at -50%, [-24.9%, 0.03%, 1.00] at -25%, [+49.3%, -0.04%, 1.00] at +50%, [+99.0%, +0.11%, 1.00] at +100%. Image quality(CNR) showed a pattern of change in proportion to the increase or decrease in the total acquisition time of SPECT/CT, but the result at quantitative evaluation showed a change of less than 5% in all experimental conditions, maintaining quantitative accuracy(RC less than 0.05) without much influence.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

Purpose : This study is designed to compare two parameters reflecting $^{18}F$-FDG uptake, SUV and radioactivity, for diagnosis of thyroid cancer in dual time $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT imaging and to find which parameter is more useful to decide whether the tumor is malignant or not. Materials and Methods : We performed retrospective study for 40 patients. All patients are diagnosed as primary thyroid cancer and examined $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT. First, we got the dispersion of scattering beam of neck and lung apex to set a background and compared each dispersion, mean value, standard deviation of maxSUV and radioactivity. Also, mean maxSUV, ${\Delta}maxSUV$, ${\Delta}maxBq$/ml(%) and radioactivity between groups according to lesion's size based on biopsy are compared with independent-sample t-test. Results : the values that were from maxSUV and radioactivity measurement technique were compensated and calculated to practical values for mean comparison and patients were divided to two groups based on tumor size, Group1 ($size{\leq}1$ cm, n=21), Group2 (size>1 cm, n=19) for accurate comparison. In Group1, maxSUV (semi-quantitative analysis) was increased from $5.64{\pm}5.85$ (1.89~17.84) at first image to $5.90{\pm}5.01$ (1.95~18.22) at second image and radioactivity (Bq/ml) (quantitative analysis) showed similar increase from $5.93{\pm}6.38$ (2.50~16.75) at first image to $6.01{\pm}5.25$ (2.66~16.58) at second image. In Group2, TFmaxSUV was $10.54{\pm}14.36$ (2.54~33.89) in true first image, TSmaxSUV was $9.85{\pm}12.88$ (2.62~26.20) in true second image separately. The maxSUV showed a significant difference in the mean comparison between the two groups (p=0.035) But, mean radioactivity (Bq/ml) was $5.93{\pm}6.38$ (4.81~40.99) in true first image, $6.01{\pm}5.25$ (4.51~36.93) in true second image and didn't show a significant difference statistically (p=0.126) Conclusion : In diagnosis of thyroid tumor, SUV and radioactivity depending on $^{18}F$-FDG uptake showed high similarity with coefficient of determination (R2=0.939) and malignant evaluation results using dual time also showed similar aspect. Radioactivity for evaluation of malignant tumor didn't show better specificity or sensitivity than maxSUV.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.151-157
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• 2004

Purpose : To evaluate the quantitative accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) images by means of comparing distance measurements on the 3D images with direct measurements of dry human skull according to slice thickness and scanning modes. Materials and Mathods : An observer directly measured the distance of 21 line items between 12 orthodontic landmarks on the skull surface using a digital vernier caliper and each was repeated five times. The dry human skull was scanned with a Helical CT with various slice thickness (3, 5, 7 mm) and acquisition modes (Conventional and Helical). The same observer measured corresponding distance of the same items on reconstructed 3D images with the internal program of V-works 4.0/sup TM/(Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea). The quantitative accuracy of distance measurements were statistically evaluated with Wilcoxons' two-sample test. Results: 11 line items in Conventional 3 mm, 8 in Helical 3mm, 11 in Conventional 5mm, 10 in Helical 5mm, 5 in Conventional 7mm and 9 in Helical 7mm showed no statistically significant difference. Average difference between direct measurements and measurements on 3D CT images was within 2mm in 19 line items of Conventional 3mm, 20 of Helical 3mm, 15 of Conventional 5mm, 18 of Helical 5mm, II of Conventional 7mm and 16 of Helical 7mm. Conclusion: Considering image quality and patient's exposure time, scanning protocol of Helical 5mm is recommended for 3D image analysis of the skull in CT.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

Purpose : To evaluate the usefulness of the reconstructed 3-dimensional image on the personal computer in comparison with that of the CT workstation by quantitative comparison and analysis. Materials and Methods : The spiral CT data obtained from 27 persons were transferred from the CT workstation to a personal computer, and they were reconstructed as 3-dimensional image on the personal computer using V-works 2.0/sup TM/. One observer obtained the 14 measurements on the reconstructed 3-dimensional image on both the CT workstation and the personal computer. Paired Nest was used to evaluate the intraobserver difference and the mean value of the each measurement on the CT workstation and the personal computer. Pearson correlation analysis and % incongruence were also performed. Results: I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, and G-Op did not show any statistically significant difference (p>0.05), B-O, B-N, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, Biw, D-D, Orbrd R, and L had statistically significant difference (p<0.05), but the mean values of the differences of all measurements were below 2 mm, except for D-D. The value of correlation coefficient y was greater than 0.95 at I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, B-N, G-Op, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, and Biw, and it was 0.75 at B-O, 0.78 at D-D, and 0.82 at both Orbrd Rand L. The % incongruence was below 4% at I-Gn, N-Gn, N-A, N-Ns, B-A, B-N, G-Op, Eu-Eu, Zy-Zy, and Biw, and 7.18%, 10.78%, 4.97%, 5.89% at B-O, D-D, Orbrd Rand L respectively. Conclusion : It can be considered that the utilization of the personal computer has great usefulness in reconstruction of the 3-dimensional image when it comes to the economics, accessibility and convenience, except for thin bones and the landmarks which are difficult to be located.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.709-718
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate the association of myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantified by dynamic computed tomography (CT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with troponin level and left ventricle (LV) function in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five STEMI patients who successfully had undergone reperfusion treatment within 1 week of their infarction were consecutively enrolled. All patients were referred for dynamic CT-MPI. Serial high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) levels and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by echocardiography were recorded. Twenty-six patients with 427 segments were included for analysis. Various quantitative parameters derived from dynamic CT-MPI were analyzed to determine if there was a correlation between hs-TnT levels and LVEF on admission and again at the 6-month mark. Results: The mean radiation dose for dynamic CT-MPI was 3.2 ± 1.1 mSv. Infarcted territories had significantly lower MBF (30.5 ± 7.4 mL/min/100 mL versus 73.4 ± 8.1 mL/min/100 mL, p < 0.001) and myocardial blood volume (MBV) (2.8 ± 0.9 mL/100 mL versus 4.2 ± 1.1 mL/100 mL, p = 0.044) compared with those of reference territories. MBF showed the best correlation with the level of peak hs-TnT (r = -0.682, p < 0.001), and MBV showed a moderate correlation with the level of peak hs-TnT (r = -0.437, p = 0.026); however, the other parameters did not show any significant correlation with hs-TnT levels. As for the association with LV function, only MBF was significantly correlated with LVEF at the time of admission (r = 0.469, p = 0.016) and at 6 months (r = 0.585, p = 0.001). Conclusion: MBF quantified by dynamic CT-MPI is significantly inversely correlated with the level of peak hs-TnT. In addition, patients with lower MBF tended to have impaired LV function at the time of their admission and at 6 months.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2016

In this study we proposed a texture feature analysis algorithm that distinguishes between a normal image and a diseased image using CT images of some fatty liver patients, and generates both Eigen images and test images which can be applied to the proposed computer aided diagnosis system in order to perform a quantitative analysis for 6 parameters. And through the analysis, we derived and evaluated the recognition rate of CT images of fatty liver. As the results of examining over 30 example CT images of fatty liver, the recognition rates representing a specific texture feature-value are as follows: some appeared to be as high as 100% including Average Gray Level, Entropy 96.67%, Skewness 93.33%, and Smoothness while others showed a little low disease recognition rate: 83.33% for Uniformity 86.67% and for Average Contrast 80%. Consequently, based on this research result, if a software that enables a computer aided diagnosis system for medical images is developed, it will lead to the availability for the automatic detection of a diseased spot in CT images of fatty liver and quantitative analysis. And they can be used as computer aided diagnosis data, resulting in the increased accuracy and the shortened time in the stage of final reading.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.476-486
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• 2019

Objective : The functional information of $^{11}C$-methionine positron emission tomography (MET-PET) images can be applied for Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) and its image quality may affect defining the tumor. This study conducted the phantom-based evaluation for geometric accuracy and functional characteristic of diagnostic MET-PET image co-registered with stereotactic image in Leksell $GammaPlan^{(R)}$ (LGP) and also investigated clinical application of these images in metastatic brain tumors. Methods : Two types of cylindrical acrylic phantoms fabricated in-house were used for this study : the phantom with an array-shaped axial rod insert and the phantom with different sized tube indicators. The phantoms were mounted on the stereotactic frame and scanned using computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and PET system. Three-dimensional coordinate values on co-registered MET-PET images were compared with those on stereotactic CT image in LGP. MET uptake values of different sized indicators inside phantom were evaluated. We also evaluated the CT and MRI co-registered stereotactic MET-PET images with MR-enhancing volume and PET-metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in 14 metastatic brain tumors. Results : Imaging distortion of MET-PET was maintained stable at less than approximately 3% on mean value. There was no statistical difference in the geometric accuracy according to co-registered reference stereotactic images. In functional characteristic study for MET-PET image, the indicator on the lateral side of the phantom exhibited higher uptake than that on the medial side. This effect decreased as the size of the object increased. In 14 metastatic tumors, the median matching percentage between MR-enhancing volume and PET-MTV was 36.8% on PET/MR fusion images and 39.9% on PET/CT fusion images. Conclusion : The geometric accuracy of the diagnostic MET-PET co-registered with stereotactic MR in LGP is acceptable on phantom-based study. However, the MET-PET images could the limitations in providing exact stereotactic information in clinical study.