• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.177-186
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• 2010

In 3D ultrasound color Doppler imaging (CDI), 8-16 pulse transmissions (ensembles) per each scanline are used for effective clutter rejection and flow estimation, but it yields a low volume acquisition rate. In this paper, we have evaluated three flow estimation methods: autoregression (AR), eigendecomposition (ED), and autocorrelation combined with adaptive clutter rejection (AC-ACR) for a small ensemble size (E=4). The performance of AR, ED and AC-ACR methods was compared using 2D and 3D in vivo data acquired under different clutter conditions (common carotid artery, kidney and liver). To evaluate the effectiveness of three methods, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated. For 2D kidney in vivo data, the AC-ACR method outperforms the AR and ED methods in terms of the area under the ROC curve (AUC) (0.852 vs. 0.793 and 0.813, respectively). Similarly, the AC-ACR method shows higher AUC values for 2D liver in vivo data compared to the AR and ED methods (0.855 vs. 0.807 and 0.823, respectively). For the common carotid artery data, the AR provides higher AUC values, but it suffers from biased estimates. For 3D in vivo data acquired from a kidney transplant patient, the AC-ACR with E=4 provides an AUC value of 0.799. These in vivo experiment results indicate that the AC-ACR method can provide more robust flow estimates compared to the AR and ED methods with a small ensemble size.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.389-396
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• 1986

A pulsed ultrasonic doppler flowmeter for mesurements of velocity profils in man is described. The device projects a beam of ultrasound in burst of 570 ns duration at 3.5 MHz. The back-scattered signals are processed to produce a signal oxrresponding to the mean velocity over a small region of the flowing stream. The observation range of 112mm is divided into 128 depth channels. The size of this sample volume determines the flowmeter sensitivity and accuracy. The device uses a quadrature detector to detect the direction of the moving target(hemoglobin). The main feature of the novel instrumnet is its simple hardware structure due to sequential signal processing.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2023

Background/Aims: Gastric varices (GV) are present in 25% of cirrhotic patients with high rates of rebleeding and mortality. Data on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided treatment in severe liver disease (model for end stage liver disease sodium [MELD-Na] >18 and Child-Turcotte-Pugh [CTP] C with GV) are scarce. Thus, we performed a retrospective comparison of endoscopic glue injection with EUS-guided therapy in cirrhotic patients with large GV. Methods: A retrospective study was performed in the tertiary hospitals of India. A total of 80 patients were recruited. The inclusion criteria were gastroesophageal varices type 2, isolated gastric varices type 1, bleeding within 6 weeks, size of GV >10 mm, and a MELD-Na >18. Treatment outcomes and complications of endoscopic glue injection and EUS-guided GV therapy were compared. Results: In this study, the patients' age, sex, liver disease severity (CTP, MELD-Na) and clinical parameters were comparable. The median number of procedures, injected glue volume, complications, and GV obturation were better in the EUS group, respectively. On subgroup analysis of the EUS method (e.g., direct gastric fundus vs. paragastric collateral [PGC] coil placement), PGC coil placement showed decreased coil requirement, less injected glue volume, decreased luminal coil extrusion, and increased successful GV obturation. Conclusions: EUS-guided treatment is more efficient and safer, and requires a smaller number of treatment sessions, as compared to endoscopic treatment in severe liver disease patients with large GV. Furthermore, PGC coil placement increases the complete obliteration of GV.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.572-581
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) for the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Materials and Methods: This study enrolled 67 PHPT patients (22 men, 45 women; mean age, 56.0 ± 16.3 years; range, 18-83 years) from January 2015 to December 2018. The laboratory data, including the serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels, were evaluated before MWA and again 2 hours, 1 day, 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months after. Results: Complete ablation was achieved with all 72 hyperplastic parathyroid glands found on the 67 patients enrolled, 64 of whom were treated in one session and 3 were treated over two sessions. The technical success rate was 100%. The median follow-up time was 13.6 months (range, 10.0-31.1 months). The clinical success rate was 89.4%. The volume reduction rate was 79.4% at 6 months. Compared to pre-MWA, the serum iPTH, calcium, phosphorus, and ALP levels had significantly improved 6 months post-MWA (iPTH, 157.3 pg/mL vs. 39.2 pg/mL; calcium, 2.75 ± 0.25 mmol/L vs. 2.34 ± 0.15 mmol/L; phosphorus, 0.86 ± 0.20 mmol/L vs. 1.12 ± 0.22 mmol/L; ALP, 79 U/L vs. 54 U/L, respectively; all, p < 0.01). Hoarseness was a major complication in 4 patients (6.0%), but it improved spontaneously within 2-3 months. Conclusion: MWA is safe, feasible, and effective for the treatment of PHPT.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.43 no.3 s.309
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• pp.67-77
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• 2006

This thesis proposes an effi챠ent method for extracting a prostate volume from 3D ultrasound image by using wavelet transform and SVM classification. In the proposed method, a modulus image for each 2D slice is generated by averaging detail images of horizontal and vertical orientations at several scales, which has the sharpest local maxima and the lowest noise power compared to those of all single scales. Prostate contour vertices are determined accurately using a SVM classifier, where feature vectors are composed of intensity and texture moments investigated along radial lines. Experimental results show that the proposed method yields absolute mean distance of on average 1.89 pixels when the contours obtained manually by an expert are used as reference data.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.57-63
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• 2007

In real time rendering of fetus the empty space leaping while traversing a ray is most frequently used accelerating technique. The main idea is to skip empty voxel samples which do not contribute the result image and it speeds up the rendering time by avoiding sampling data while traversing a ray in the empty region, saving a substantial number of interpolations. Calculating the distance from the nearest object boundary for every yokel can reduce the sampling operation. Among widely-well-known distance maps, those estimates the true distance, such as euclidean distance, takes a long time to compute because of the complicated floating-point operations, and others which uses approximated distance functions, such as city-block and chessboard, provides faster computation time but sampling error may can occur. In this paper, therefore, we analyze the characteristics of several distance maps and compare the number of samples and rendering time. And we aim to suggest the most appropriate distance map for rendering of fetus in ultrasound image.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2024

Background and Objectives: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) evaluation of coronary artery morphology is based on the lumen and vessel segmentation. This study aimed to develop an automatic segmentation algorithm and validate the performances for measuring quantitative IVUS parameters. Methods: A total of 1,063 patients were randomly assigned, with a ratio of 4:1 to the training and test sets. The independent data set of 111 IVUS pullbacks was obtained to assess the vessel-level performance. The lumen and external elastic membrane (EEM) boundaries were labeled manually in every IVUS frame with a 0.2-mm interval. The Efficient-UNet was utilized for the automatic segmentation of IVUS images. Results: At the frame-level, Efficient-UNet showed a high dice similarity coefficient (DSC, 0.93±0.05) and Jaccard index (JI, 0.87±0.08) for lumen segmentation, and demonstrated a high DSC (0.97±0.03) and JI (0.94±0.04) for EEM segmentation. At the vessel-level, there were close correlations between model-derived vs. experts-measured IVUS parameters; minimal lumen image area (r=0.92), EEM area (r=0.88), lumen volume (r=0.99) and plaque volume (r=0.95). The agreement between model-derived vs. expert-measured minimal lumen area was similarly excellent compared to the experts' agreement. The model-based lumen and EEM segmentation for a 20-mm lesion segment required 13.2 seconds, whereas manual segmentation with a 0.2-mm interval by an expert took 187.5 minutes on average. Conclusions: The deep learning models can accurately and quickly delineate vascular geometry. The artificial intelligence-based methodology may support clinicians' decision-making by real-time application in the catheterization laboratory.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.161-171
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• 2015

Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is a process of incorporating imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound (US) during radiation therapy (RT) to improve treatment accuracy. It allows real-time or near real-time visualization of anatomical information to ensure that the target is in its position as planned. In addition, changes in tumor volume and location due to organ motion during treatment can be also compensated. IGRT has been gaining popularity and acceptance rapidly in RT over the past 10 years, and many published data have been reported on prostate, bladder, head and neck, and gastrointestinal cancers. However, the role of IGRT in lymphoma management is not well defined as there are only very limited published data currently available. The scope of this paper is to review the current use of IGRT in the management of lymphoma. The technical and clinical aspects of IGRT, lymphoma imaging studies, the current role of IGRT in lymphoma management and future directions will be discussed.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.215-223
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• 2001

Objective: The purpose of this study was to make a guideline of uterine artery embolization for the treatment of uterine leiomyomas accompanying with adenomyosis in Korea. Materials and Methods : We performed the retrospective study for 37 women who had uterine leiomyomas accompanying with adenomyosis. Bilateral uterine artery embolization was performed in 37 patients (age range 25-65) during 17 months with pain, hypermenorrhea, urinary frequency etc due to leiomyomas. Ultrasound imaging was performed before the procedure and at mean 6.9 months after the procedure. Results: All procedures were technically successful. Mean clinical follow-up was 12.8 months. Minor complication occurred in 82% patients after the procedure. After imaging follow-up (mean, 6.9 months postprocedure), median uterine volume decreased 34.4%, and dominant myoma volume decreased 86%. There was no statistical difference in uterine volume reduction and dominant myoma size reduction whether occluding agents was polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol plus gelfoam, and gelfoam, and whether ultrasound measured Resistance Index value before the procedure was low or high. Conclusion: Primary candidates for uterine artery embolization include those with symptomatic uterine leiomyomas who no longer des ire fertility but wish to avoid surgery or are poor surgical risks. To our study, uterine volume reduction and dominant myoma size reduction in patients who had adenomyosis were similar to previous other studies in patients who had not adenomyosis. Therefore adenomyosis should not be considered as a contraindication for uterine artery embolization. Because there is little data about subsequent reproductive potential after this procedure, it should not be routinely advocated for infertile women. Further investigation is warranted for occluding agents and Resistance Index.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.437-445
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• 2011

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to analysis on diaphragm thickness and lung function of stroke patients by walking ability. Methods : We recruited thirty-five adults after stroke(20 male, 15 female) for our study. The subjects were divided into two groups; independent walking group(11 male, 9 female) and non-independent walking group(9 male, 6 female). Assessment of diaphragm thickness was performed using ultrasound in B-mode with a 7.5 MHz linea probe. During the experiment, the subject was seated in the chair. All subjects performed maximal expiratory flow maneuvers using a spirometer in order to determine the forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$), forced vital capacity(FVC), peak expiratory flow(PEF) and $FEV_1$/FVC. Chest expansion was measured with a tape-measure placed circumferentially around the chest wall at the xiphoid process. The collected data analyzed by independent t-test. Results : The diaphragm thickness were significant differences between the independent walking and nonindependent walking group. Values of forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume at one second, peak expiratory flow in pulmonary function tests were significant differences between the independent walking and non-independent walking group. However, chest expansion were not significant differences in both of the group. Conclusion : This study showed that walking ability of stroke patients have influenced on diaphragm thickness and pulmonary function.