• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2003.05d
• /
• pp.33-37
• /
• 2003

Endovaginal and endorectal receiver only surface coil were designed for MR imaging(MRI) and $^1H$ MR spectroscopy(MRS) for the uterine cervix and the prostate. The shape of endovaginal coil wire was rectangular with round comer. The shape of endorectal coil wire was long elliptic shape during insertion and circular shape after insertion. Conventional spin echo and fast spin echo sequences were used as T1 and T2 weighted imaging sequences, respectively. 3D volume localized in vivo $^1H$ MR spectroscopy of the human cervix and prostate was performed using PRESS or STEAM localization method. Using home-built endvaginal and endorectal coils, excellent T1 and T2 images were obtained to visualize early cervical and prostate tumors. 3D volume localized in vivo $^1H$ MRS was useful to differentiate the cancerous tissue from the normal tissue.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.444-450
• /
• 2003

Hydrophobically End-capped polyethylene oxide Urethane Resin(HEUR)-associating polymers, HEUR 35(8), HEUR 35(12), and HEUR 35(18), comprise a polyethylene oxide (PEO) having a molecular weight of 35,000 that is end capped with two C$\_$8/H$\_$17/, C$\_$12/H$\_$25/, and C$\_$18/H$\_$37/ alkyl chains, respectively. These associating polymers were synthesized by condensation reactions with polyethylene oxides and alkyl isocyanates. The self-diffusion coefficients of HEUR-associating polymers were measured in aqueous solution by pulsed-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. All polymers underwent a decrease in their mean diffusion coefficients as the concentration was increased. However, the dispersion of the diffusion coefficients, ${\beta}$, about the mean fluctuated with changes in concentration. The large dispersion at low concentrations of HEUR 35(8) and HEUR 35(12) is related to the interaction between hydrophobic end groups, and the large dispersion at high concentrations of HEUR 35(18) is correlated with transient network formation. These results are valuable for predicting the associating mechanism of the large aggregates before and after their critical micelle concentration.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.86-93
• /
• 2018

Purpose: Imaging plays a significant role in diagnosing leptomeningeal metastases. However, the most appropriate sequence for the detection of leptomeningeal metastases has yet to be determined. This study compares the efficacies of contrast-enhanced T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and contrast-enhanced 3D T1 black-blood fast spin echo (FSE) imaging for the detection of leptomeningeal metastases. Materials and Methods: Tube phantoms containing varying concentrations of gadobutrol solution were scanned using T2 FLAIR and 3D T1 black-blood FSE. Additionally, 30 patients with leptomeningeal metastases were retrospectively evaluated to compare conspicuous lesions and the extent of leptomeningeal metastases detected by T2 FLAIR and 3D T1 black-blood FSE. Results: The signal intensities of low-concentration gadobutrol solutions (< 0.5 mmol/L) on T2 FLAIR images were higher than in 3D T1 black-blood FSE. The T2 FLAIR sequences exhibited significantly greater visual conspicuity scores than the 3D T1 black-blood sequence in leptomeningeal metastases of the pial membrane of cistern (P = 0.014). T2 FLAIR images exhibited a greater or equal extent (96.7%) of leptomeningeal metastases than 3D T1 black-blood FSE images. Conclusion: Because of its high sensitivity even at low gadolinium concentrations, contrast-enhanced T2 FLAIR images delineated leptomeningeal metastases in a wider territory than 3D T1 black-blood FSE.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 1999

Purpose : To evaluate the detection rate of hyperacute intracerebral hemorrhage in echo planar imaging (EPI) and other MR sequences. materials and Methods : Intracerebral hemorrhage was experimentally induced in ten rats. EPI, fast spin-echo (FSE) T2 weighted images, fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), spin-echo (SE) T1 weighted images and gradient echo (GE) T1 weight ed images of rat's brains were obtained 2 hours after onset of intracerebral hemorrhage. EPI and FSE T2 images were additionally obtained 30 min and 1 hour after onset of hemorrhage in 3 and 6 rat, repeatedly, For objective visual assessment, discrimination between the lesion and normal brain parenchyma was evaluated on various MR sequences by three radiologists. For quantitative assessment, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated fro hemorrhage-normal brain parenchyma. Statistical analysis was performed usning the Wilcoxon-Ranks test. Results : EPI, FLAIR, and FSE T2 images showed high signal intensity lesions. The lesion discrimination was easier on EPI than on other sequences, and also EPI showed higher signal intensity for the subjective visual assessment. In quantitative evaluation, CNR of the hemorrhagic lesion versus normal brain parenchyma were higher on EPI and FLAIR images (p<0.01). There was no difference in CNR between EPI and FLAIR (p>0.10). On MR images obtained 30 minutes and 1 hour after the onset of intracerebral hemorrhage, the lesion detection was feasible on both EPI and FSE T2 images showing high signal intensity. Conclusion : EPI showed higher detection rate as compared with other MR sequences and could be useful in early detection and evaluation of intracerebral hemorrhage.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.108-116
• /
• 2006

Purpose : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging is performed at 3 Tesla MRI system. Since the gradient waveforms for the spiral-scan imaging have lower slopes than those for the Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), they can be implemented with the gradient systems having lower slew rates. The spiral-scan imaging also involves less eddy currents due to the smooth gradient waveforms. The spiral-scan imaging method does not suffer from high specific absorption rate (SAR), which is one of the main obstacles in high field imaging for rf echo-based fast imaging methods such as fast spin echo techniques. Thus, the spiral-scan imaging has a great potential for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields. In this paper, we presented various high-resolution images obtained by the spiral-scan methods at 3T MRI system for various applications. Materials and Methods : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging technique is implemented at 3T whole body MRI system. An efficient and fast higher-order shimming technique is developed to reduce the inhomogeneity, and the single-shot and interleaved spiral-scan imaging methods are developed. Spin-echo and gradient-echo based spiral-scan imaging methods are implemented, and image contrast and signal-tonoise ratio are controlled by the echo time, repetition time, and the rf flip angles. Results : Spiral-scan images having various resolutions are obtained at 3T MRI system. Since the absolute magnitude of the inhomogeneity is increasing in higher magnetic fields, higher order shimming to reduce the inhomogeneity becomes more important. A fast shimming technique in which axial, sagittal, and coronal sectional inhomogeneity maps are obtained in one scan is developed, and the shimming method based on the analysis of spherical harmonics of the inhomogeneity map is applied. For phantom and invivo head imaging, image matrix size of about $100{\times}100$ is obtained by a single-shot spiral-scan imaging, and a matrix size of $256{\times}256$ is obtained by the interleaved spiral-scan imaging with the number of interleaves of from 6 to 12. Conclusion : High field imaging becomes increasingly important due to the improved signal-to-noise ratio, larger spectral separation, and the higher BOLD-based contrast. The increasing SAR is, however, a limiting factor in high field imaging. Since the spiral-scan imaging has a very low SAR, and lower hardware requirements for the implementation of the technique compared to EPI, it is suitable for a rapid imaging in high fields. In this paper, the spiral-scan imaging with various resolutions from $100{\times}100$ to $256{\times}256$ by controlling the number of interleaves are developed for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.25-32
• /
• 2005

Purpose : To evaluate the degree of the artifact which is caused by the mascara and the eye shadow when acquiring MR images and compare the difference of the image distortion according to the change of various pulse sequence. Material and Method : The popular domestic mascara and eye shadow products were selected from three different companies respectively and divided into two groups mascara (M1, M2, M3 ), eye shadow (E1, E2, E3). Self-designed quadrature type saddle coil which has 4 cm inside diameter, 8 cm length and which is for both Tx and Rx was used. MR image was acquired respectively after applying the mascara to the tape from study 1, the eye shadow to the tape from study 2 and adding the eye shadow to the mascara from study 3. The FSE(fast spin echo), the SE(spin echo), the GE(gradient echo) were used as pulse sequences. The degree of the image distortion which was measured from each sequence was analyzed in quality and quantity. Result : The mascara and the eye shadow caused the artifacts to the MR images partially and induced the image distortion. There was a little difference in terms of the degree of artifact according to the change of pulse sequence. From the study 3 in which the eye shadow was applied to the mascara, on the axial plane image, the width of artifact was 16.73 mm in the GE pulse sequence, 6.64 mm in the SE pulse sequence, and 6.19 mm in the FSE pulse sequence. The degree of the artifact appeared highly in order of the GE, the SE and the FSE. On the sagittal plane image, the length of artifact was 22.84 mm in the GE, 17.81 mm in the SE and it appeared highly with the SE and the FSE technique order. Conclusion : When examining the eyeball and the brain of a woman with the mascara and the eye shadow, we have to consider that the artifact caused by them can have an effect on the image diagnosis. We concluded that it is more suitable for a brain and a eyeball T2 emphasizing image to use the FSE technique than the GE technique.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 2012

To compare the accuracy of breath-hold magnetic resonance imaging sequences to establish the most effective superparamagnetic iron oxide-enhanced sequence for detection of hepatic metastases. A total of 100 patients(50men and 50women, mean age: 60years) with liver disease(including malignant and benign liver lesions) were investigated at 3.0T machine (GE, General Electric Medical System, Excite HD) with 8Ch body coil. Pulse sequence for MR imaging decided to the FS-T2-FSE-RT(TR/TE/Thick./Freq./Phase=12857ms/100ms/7mm/512/384), MGRE(TR/TE/Thick./Freq./Phase=100ms/9.7ms/7mm/384/288), in-out of phase echo(TR/$TE_1$, $TE_2$/Thick./Freq./Phase=140ms/2.4, 5.8ms/7mm/352/300), Images obtained before the injection of SPIO. Six sequences were optimized for lesion detection: FS-T2-FSE-RT, multigradient recalled echo data image(MGRE), T2-weighted MGRE with an 9.7msec echo time. Images were reviewed independently by five blinded observers. The accuracy of each sequence was measured by using picture archiving communication system analysis. All results were correlated with findings at multidectator computed tomography examination. Differences between the mean results of the six observers were measured by using paired student t-test analysis. Postcontrast T2-weighted MGRE sequences were the most accurate and were significantly superior to postcontrast FS-T2-FSE-RT, T2-weighted MGRE, in-out of phase MR sequences(p < .05). For all lesions that were malignant or smaller than 1 cm, respectively, contrast to noise ratio of pre and postcontrast sequences were -1and -0.3 for T2-weighted FSE, 0.53 and 4.5 in-out of phase, 7, 7.08, 5.08, 3.32, 1.7, 1.16, 0.79, 0.68 for GRE with 2.9, 7.5, 12.1, 16.6, 21.2, 25.8, 30.4, 35.0 TE values. Breath-hold various TE precontrast sequences offer improvement in sensitivity compared with fixed multigradient recalled echo sequences alone.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.95-109
• /
• 2007

Vanadium-incorporated aluminophosphate microporous molecular sieve VH-SAPO-42 has been studied by electron spin resonance(ESR) and electron spin-echo modulation (ESEM) spectroscopies to determine the vanadium location and interaction with various adsorbate molecules. The results are interpreted in terms of V(IV) ion location and coordination geometry. Assynthesized VH-SAPO-42 contains only vanadyl species with distorted octahedral or trigonal bipyramidal coordination. Vanadium incorporated into H-SAPO-42 occupied extra-framework site. After calcinations in $O_2$ and exposure to moisture, only species A is observed with reduced intensities. Species A is identified as a $VO(H_2O)_2^{2+}$ complex coordinated to three framework oxygen atoms bonded to aluminum. When hydrated VH-SAPO-42 is dehydrated at elevated temperature by calcination, species A loses its water ligand and transforms to $VO^{2+}$ ions coordinated to three framework oxygens (species B). Species B reduces its intensities significantly after treatment with $O_2$ at high temperature, thus suggesting oxidation of $V^{4+}$ to $V^{5+}$. When dehydrated VH-SAPO-42 makes contact with $D_2O$ at room temperature, the ESR signal of species A is regained. The species is assumed as a $VO(O_f)_3(D_2O)_2$ by considering three framework oxygens. Adsorption of deuterated methanol on dehydrated VH-SAPO-42 results in another new vanadium species D, which is identified as a $VO(CD_3OH)_2$ complex. When deuterated ethylene is adsorbed on dehydrated VH-SAPO-42, another new vanadium species E identified as a $VO(C_2D_4)^{2+}$, is observed. Possible coordination geometries of these various complexes are discussed.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of fast inversion recovery (FIR) and magnetization-prepared three dimensional gradient echo sequence (3D GRE) T1-weighted sequences for neonatal brain imaging compared with spin echo (SE) sequence in a 3T MR unit. Materials and Methods: T1-weighted axial SE, FIR and 3D GRE sequences were evaluated from 3T brain MR imaging in 20 neonates. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of different tissues was measured and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were determined and compared in each of the sequences. Visual analysis was carried out by grading gray-white matter differentiation, myelination, and artifacts. The Wilcoxon signed ranked test was used for evaluation of the statistical significance of CNR differences between the sequences. Results: Among the three sequences, the 3D GRE had the best SNRs. CNRs obtained with FIR and 3D GRE were statistically superior to those obtained with SE; these CNRs were better on the 3D GRE compared to the FIR. Gray to white matter differentiation and myelination were better delineated on the FIR and 3D GRE than the SE. However, motion artifacts were more commonly observed on the 3D GRE and flow-related artifacts of vessels were frequently seen on the FIR. Conclusion: FIR and 3D GRE are valuable alternative T1-weighted sequences to conventional SE imaging of the neonatal brain at 3T providing superior image quality.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.141-141
• /
• 2001

목적： 최근 들어 컴퓨터 그래픽의 발전과 함께 가상 현실 등에 연구 및 응용이 급증하고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 fMRI를 이용하여 이차원 및 삼차원 시각자극에 대한 뇌의 기능을 살펴보는 것이다. 같은 영상에 대한 2D와 3D영상을 보여 주면서, fMRI 영상 데이터를 얻었다. 사람에게 미치는 자극 중에 하나인 시각 자극에서 2D와 3D에 대해 반응하는 차이를 규명하고자 하였다. 대상 및 방법： Gradient echo를 기반으로 한 EPI 영상기법을 이용하여, 가톨릭 의대의 3.0 Tesla whole body MRI system에서 실험하였다. 해부학적 영상을 얻기 위해서는 spin echo를 이용하였다. 4명의 volunteer에 대해 같은 영상에 대한 2D와 3D영상을 보여주면서 실험을 수행하였다. 시각자극의 paradigm은 5단계 (rest, active, rest, active, rest)로 하였고, 3번의 rest와 2번의 active구간을 사이에 두었다. 각각의 구간은 10번의 iteration으로 이루어져 있고, 첫 번째 구간은 15번으로 하여 처음 5개의 결과를 버리고, 데이터를 얻었다. 결과는 spm99를 이용하여 분석하였다.