• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.85-91
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• 2001

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the slice thickness and the size of region of interest (ROI) on CT number using quantitative CT phantom Materials and Methods: The phantom containing 150 mg/cc, 75 mg/cc and 0 mg/cc calcium hydroxyapatite was scanned with 1, 3, 5 and 10 mm slice thicknesses by single energy quantitative computed tomography (QCT). CT numbers were measured on center position of the phantom. Shape of ROI was circular and sizes were 1, 3, 5, 11, 16, 21, 26 and 33 mm². ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison method were performed for statistical comparison of CT numbers according to different slice thicknesses. Coefficient of variation of CT number measured in each size of ROI was evaluated in same slice thickness. Results : CT numbers had statistically significant difference according to slice thicknesses (p<0.05). As the slice thickness increased, CT number also increased. As the density of phantom became lower and the size of ROI became smaller, the coefficient of variation of CT number increased. When the size of ROI was more than 11 mm² in 1 mm slice thickness, 5 mm² in 3 mm slice thickness and 3 mm² in 5 mm slice thickness, the coefficient of variation became consistent. In 10 mm slice thickness, the size of ROI had little effect on the coefficient of variation. Conclusion: CT number had variation according to the slice thickness and the size of ROI although the object was homogeneous. The slice thickness and the size of ROI are critical factors in precision of the CT number measurements.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권9호
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• pp.3403-3414
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to model and optimize the block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D) algorithm and to evaluate its applicability in brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images using a fan beam collimator. For quantitative evaluation of the noise level, the coefficient of variation (COV) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were used, and finally, a no-reference-based evaluation parameter was used for optimization of the BM3D algorithm in the brain SPECT images. As a result, optimized results were derived when the sigma values of the BM3D algorithm were 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25 in brain SPECT images acquired for 5, 10, and 15 s, respectively. In addition, when the sigma value of the optimized BM3D algorithm was applied, superior results were obtained compared with conventional filtering methods. In particular, we confirmed that the COV and CNR of the images obtained using the BM3D algorithm were improved by 2.40 and 2.33 times, respectively, compared with the original image. In conclusion, the usefulness of the optimized BM3D algorithm in brain SPECT images using a fan beam collimator has been proven, and based on the results, it is expected that its application in various nuclear medicine examinations will be possible.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.63-71
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• 2021

Objective: To identify the CT findings associated with treatment failure after antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis. Materials and Methods: Altogether, 198 patients who received antibiotic therapy for appendicitis were identified by searching the hospital's surgery database. Selection criteria for antibiotic therapy were uncomplicated appendicitis with an appendiceal diameter equal to or less than 11 mm. The 86 patients included in the study were divided into a treatment success group and a treatment failure group. Treatment failure was defined as a resistance to antibiotic therapy or recurrent appendicitis during a 1-year follow-up period. Two radiologists independently evaluated the following CT findings: appendix-location, involved extent, maximal diameter, thickness, wall enhancement, focal wall defect, periappendiceal fat infiltration, and so on. For the quantitative analysis, two readers independently measured the CT values at the least attenuated wall of the appendix by drawing a round region of interest on the enhanced CT (HU_post) and non-enhanced CT (HU_pre). The degree of appendiceal wall enhancement (HU_sub) was calculated as the subtracted value between HU_post and HU_pre. A logistic regression analysis was used to identify the CT findings associated with treatment failure. Results: Sixty-four of 86 (74.4%) patients were successfully treated with antibiotic therapy, with treatment failure occurring in the remaining 22 (25.5%). The treatment failure group showed a higher frequency of hypoenhancement of the appendiceal wall than the success group (31.8% vs. 7.8%; p = 0.005). Upon quantitative analysis, both HU_post (46.7 ± 21.3 HU vs. 58.9 ± 22.0 HU; p = 0.027) and HU_sub (26.9 ± 17.3 HU vs. 35.4 ± 16.6 HU; p = 0.042) values were significantly lower in the treatment failure group than in the success group. Conclusion: Hypoenhancement of the appendiceal wall was significantly associated with treatment failure after antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제21권9호
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• pp.1095-1103
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• 2020

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate whether quantitative dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) parameters offer an incremental risk stratification benefit over the CT ventricular diameter ratio in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) by using propensity score analysis. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 480 patients with acute PE who underwent CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) or DECT pulmonary angiography (DE CT-PA). This propensity-matched study population included 240 patients with acute PE each in the CTPA and DECT groups. Altogether, 260 (54.1%) patients were men, and the mean age was 64.9 years (64.9 ± 13.5 years). The primary endpoint was all-cause death within 30 days. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify associations between CT parameters and outcomes and to identify potential predictors. Concordance (C) statistics were used to compare the prognoses between the two groups. Results: In both CTPA and DECT groups, right to left ventricle diameter ratio ≥ 1 was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death within 30 days (hazard ratio: 3.707, p < 0.001 and 5.573, p < 0.001, respectively). However, C-statistics showed no statistically significant difference between the CTPA and DECT groups for predicting death within 30 days (C-statistics: 0.759 vs. 0.819, p = 0.117). Conclusion: Quantitative measurement of lung perfusion defect volume by DECT had no added benefit over CT ventricular diameter ratio for predicting all-cause death within 30 days.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.153-158
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• 1997

목적 : 이중광자에너지 전산화단층촬영의 정량적골무기물함량(Dual-Energy Quantitative Computed Tomography, DEQCT)의 실험상수를 구하고, DEQCT에 의한 골무기물함량과 동물척추 해면골의 무기물함량과 일치하는지 비교하였다. 대상 및 방법 : 조직의 CT 번호는 주어진 방사선에너지와 조직상분에 따른 방사선 감약계수의 함수로 얻게 되며, 빙사선감약은 에너지에 따라 달라지므로 본 연구는 CT에서 사용되고 있는 80과 $120kV_p$ X선에서 각 조직의 질량감약계수를 구하여 실험적으로 DEQCT에 의한 골무기물함량을 결정하였다. DEQCT에서 골무기물함량결정에 이용되는 실험상수들은 골등가물질의 표준시료 $K_2HPO_4$ 용액과 연부조직의 물 및 지방등가물질로 무수알코올을 이용하여 구하였다. 골무기물함량 비교는 실험적 상수결정에 의한 DEQCT와 제작회사의 DEQCT를 사용하여 각각 구하였으며, 동물척추해면골 시편의 재의 질량과 각각 비교하였다. 결과 : $80kV_p$에서 골둥가물질의 질량흡수계수는 0.5608, 물 0.2409과 지방등가 조직에서 $0.2206cm^2/g$을 얻었으며, $120kV_p$의 방사선에서는 0.3273, 0.2046 및 $0.1971cm^2/g$을 각각 얻었다. 골등가물질 $K_2HPO_4$ 표준시료를 80과 $120kV_p$ X선으로 스켄한 CT 번호를 이용하여 실험상수 $K_1$는 0.3232, $K_2$는 0.2450를 각각 얻펐다. 이중광자에너지에 의한 골무기물함량측정결과는 동물척추해면골 시편의 재의 질량을 골무기물함량으로 정한 값과 비교한 결과 잘 일치하였으며 상관계수 r=0.998을 보였다. 한편, 동물척추골시편의 골무기물에 대하여 CT에 탑재된 DEQCT에 의한 골무기함량의 비교 결과는 상관계수 r=0.996 을 보여 상호 잘 일치함을 알 수 있었다. 결론 :이중광자에너지 전산화단층영상장친에 대한 조직등가물질의 실험적 질량감약계수에 의한 골무기물함량과 제작사의 DEQCT에 의한 정량적 골무기물함량이 실험적 골무기물함량과 잘 일치함을 보였다.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.193-198
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• 2016

임상적으로 computed tomography (CT)에서 정기적인 quality assurance (QA)는 요구되는 사항이다. 본 논문에서는 CT 검사에서 공간분해능에 대해서 AAPM Phantom을 이용하여 정확한 성능 분석을 위해 변조전달함수를 평가하고자 한다. CT장비는 dual source somatom definition flash (siemens healthcare, forchheim, Germany), brilliance 64 (phili ps m edi cal system N etherlands), a qui li on 64 (toshiba m edi cal system, Japan)를 사용하였으며, l mage J (wayne rasband national institutes of health, USA)프로그램을 실행하여 변조전달함수의 측정 방법인 chart method를 이용하여 영상에 대해서 정량적인 평가방법을 시행하였다. 변조전달함수를 이용하여 평가한 결과, 공간주파수를 이용한 데이터 값이 높아짐에 따라 변조전달함수는 감소됨을 알 수 있었다. 그리고 CT 장비에서 변조전달함수는 공간주파수(50%)에 있어서는 0.58, $0.28\;0.59mm^{-1}$으로 나타났으며, 변조전달함수 공간주파수(10%)에 있어서는 1.63, $0.89\;1.21mm^{-1}$으로 나타났다. 본 연구에서는 chart method를 이용하여 변조전달함수의 공간해상력에 대한 특성을 확인하고, 정량적인 평가방안을 제시하였다는 점에서 학술적 의의를 둘 수 있다.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.295-302
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• 2022

희박뷰 전산화단층촬영(computed tomography; CT) 영상화 기술은 피폭 방사선량을 감소시킬 수 있을 뿐만 아니라 획득한 투영상의 균일성을 유지하고 잡음을 감소시킬 수 있는 장점이 있다. 하지만 재구성 영상 내 인공물 발생으로 인하여 화질 및 피사체 구조가 왜곡되는 단점이 있다. 본 연구에서는 희박뷰 CT 영상의 인공물 감소를 위해 wavelet 변환과 잔차 학습(residual learning)을 적용한 콘볼루션 신경망(convolutional neural network; CNN) 기반 영상화 모델을 개발하고, 개발한 모델을 통한 희박뷰 CT 영상의 인공물 감소 정도를 정량적으로 분석하였다. CNN은 wavelet 변환 층, 콘볼루션 층 및 역 wavelet 변환 층으로 구성하였으며, 희박뷰 CT 영상과 잔차 영상을 각각 입출력 영상으로 설정하여 영상화 모델 학습을 진행하였다. 영상화 모델 학습을 위해 평균제곱오차(mean squared error; MSE)를 손실함수로, Adam 함수를 최적화 함수로 사용하였다. 학습된 모델을 통해 입력 희박뷰 CT 영상에 대한 예측 잔차 영상을 획득하고, 두 영상간의 감산을 통해 최종 결과 영상을 획득하였다. 또한 최종 결과 영상에 대한 시각적 특성, 최대신호대잡음비(peak signal-to- noise ratio; PSNR) 및 구조적유사성지수(structural similarity; SSIM)를 측정하였다. 연구결과 본 연구에서 개발한 영상화 모델을 통해 희박뷰 CT 영상의 인공물이 효과적으로 제거되며, 공간분해능이 향상되는 결과를 확인하였다. 또한 wavelet 변환과 잔차 학습을 미적용한 영상화 모델에 비해 본 연구에서 개발한 영상화 모델은 결과 영상의 PSNR 및 SSIM을 각각 8.18% 및 19.71% 향상시킬 수 있음을 확인하였다. 따라서 본 연구에서 개발한 영상화 모델을 이용하여 희박뷰 CT 영상의 인공물 제거는 물론 공간분해능 향상 및 정량적 정확도 향상 효과를 획득할 수 있다.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.384-394
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• 2024

Objective: To evaluate the image quality of novel dark-blood computed tomography angiography (CTA) imaging combined with deep learning reconstruction (DLR) compared to delayed-phase CTA images with hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR), to visualize the cervical artery wall in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK). Materials and Methods: This prospective study continuously recruited 53 patients with TAK (mean age: 33.8 ± 10.2 years; 49 females) between January and July 2022 who underwent head-neck CTA scans. The arterial- and delayed-phase images were reconstructed using HIR and DLR. Subtracted images of the arterial-phase from the delayed-phase were then added to the original delayed-phase using a denoising filter to generate the final-dark-blood images. Qualitative image quality scores and quantitative parameters were obtained and compared among the three groups of images: Delayed-HIR, Dark-blood-HIR, and Dark-blood-DLR. Results: Compared to Delayed-HIR, Dark-blood-HIR images demonstrated higher qualitative scores in terms of vascular wall visualization and diagnostic confidence index (all P < 0.001). These qualitative scores further improved after applying DLR (Dark-blood-DLR compared to Dark-blood-HIR, all P < 0.001). Dark-blood DLR also showed higher scores for overall image noise than Dark-blood-HIR (P < 0.001). In the quantitative analysis, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) values between the vessel wall and lumen for the bilateral common carotid arteries and brachiocephalic trunk were significantly higher on Dark-blood-HIR images than on Delayed-HIR images (all P < 0.05). The CNR values were significantly higher for Dark-blood-DLR than for Dark-blood-HIR in all cervical arteries (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: Compared with Delayed-HIR CTA, the dark-blood method combined with DLR improved CTA image quality and enhanced visualization of the cervical artery wall in patients with TAK.

• 치과방사선
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.209-221
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• 1999

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to calculate the size and CT number of both normal parotid and submandibular gland. and evaluate their relation to sex, age and obesity using computed tomography. Materials and Methods: The computed tomography was performed parallel to the Frankfurt plane in 46 subjects with healthy salivary gland. The subjects were divided into the three groups (young, middle. old) according to their ages. The size of salivary gland was determined as maximum cross-sectional area and the CT number of salivary gland was determined as the mean CT number of three ROI's. The body mass index was calculated from weight and height. Results: The mean maximum cross-sectional area was 7.79(±1.25)cm² on parotid gland and 4.12(±0.83) cm² on submandibular gland. The mean CT number was -4.43(±23.87) HU on parotid gland and 50.01(±15.63) HU on submandibular gland. There was decreasing pattern of the maximum cross-sectional area of submandibular gland and the CT number of both parotid and submandibular gland according to age(p<0.05). As the body mass index increased. the maximum cross-sectional area of parotid gland increased and CT number of both parotid and submandibular gland decreased(p<0.05). The maximum cross-sectional area of submandibular gland in male was larger than that in female(p<0.05). As the maximum cross-sectional area and CT number of left salivary gland increased. those of right gland increased(p<0.05). Conclusion : Intra-individual differences in salivary gland size and CT number is considered in the age and individual obesity.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.7-12
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• 2018

Patients who visit the emergency room with urinary stones have difficulty lying down in a supine position due to severe pain when performing the KUB test. The purpose of this study was to find methods to reduce the patients' pain and image distortion, and obtain medical images with high diagnostic values. After checking the standard classification of disease and cause of death, the target group consisted of 121 patients who had clearly distinguished stones from computed tomography. Patients with stones in the ureteralvesical junction were excluded. Qualitative image evaluation was performed by confirming the location of the stone in the computed tomography images. and evaluated the rate of visual discrimination of stones possible through KUB and abdominal plain X-ray. Quantitative image evaluation was performed on the KUB, abdominal plain X-ray images. The transverse process of the first lumbar vertebrae served as the standard point, and the length from this point to the lower part of the stone was measured. Results from looking at the rate of visual discrimination of stones possible through KUB and abdominal plain X-ray showed: 94 patients (77.6%) for KUB images and 91 patients (75.2%) for computed tomography images. The standard deviation for KUB and abdominal X-ray was 3 (2.4%). Comparing and analyzing the location from KUB images and abdominal plain X-ray images, the stone position was 10.1 mm in the kidney, 10.5 mm in the ureteropelvic junction, and 9.7 mm in the ureters. It was shown that the stone moved 10 mm on average with significant statistical difference (P<0.05). In cases where the pain is so severe that it is impossible to perform the test in the supine position, an alternative may be to check the stone position by performing a modified KUB test by having the patient stand in a vertical position. In the future, this will provide convenience to both the examiner and the patient when performing the examination, and it will contribute with its reproducibility.