• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.232-238
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• 2011

Objectives Optimized voxel based morphometry (VBM) has been increasingly applied to investigate differences in the brain morphology between a group of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and control subjects. Optimized VBM permits comparison of gray matter (GM) volume at voxel-level from the entire brain. The purpose of this study was to assess the regional GM volume change measured by optimized VBM in MCI subjects compared to controls. Methods Twenty patients with MCI and 20 control subjects with normal cognition were recruited for this study. We applied the optimized VBM protocol to the image data including study-specific template and the modulation of the data with the Jacobian determinants. GM volume differences between the MCI subjects and the control subjects and their correlations with the neuropsychological performances were investigated. Results Optimized VBM analysis revealed GM volume reduction in hippocampus, precentral gyrus, insula and parietal operculum in the MCI group compared to the control group (family wise error corrected p < 0.05). Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD-K) word list recall scores were significantly correlated with the GM volumes of hippocampus, precuneus and posterior cingulate in the MCI group (FWE corrected p < 0.05). Conclusions The results confirm previous findings of atrophic changes in medial temporal lobe and parietal lobe in the MCI group and suggest that these abnormalities may be related with cognitive decline and prognosis in patients with MCI.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.14B no.5
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• pp.351-360
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• 2007

Video Completion refers to a computer vision technique which restores damaged images by filling missing pixels with suitable color in a video sequence. We propose a new video completion technique to fill in image holes which are caused by removing an unnecessary object in a video sequence, where two objects cross each other in the presence of camera motion. We remove the closer object from a camera which results in image holes. Then these holes are filled by color information of some others frames. First of all, spatio-temporal volumes of occluding and occluded objects are created according to the centroid of the objects. Secondly, a temporal search technique by voxel matching separates and removes the occluding object. Finally. these holes are filled by using spatial search technique. Seams on the boundary of completed pixels we removed by a simple blending technique. Experimental results using real video sequences show that the proposed technique produces new completed videos.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2019

Purpose: To demonstrate the high-resolution numerical simulation of the respiration-induced dynamic $B_0$ shift in the head using generalized susceptibility voxel convolution (gSVC). Materials and Methods: Previous dynamic $B_0$ simulation research has been limited to low-resolution numerical models due to the large computational demands of conventional Fourier-based $B_0$ calculation methods. Here, we show that a recently-proposed gSVC method can simulate dynamic $B_0$ maps from a realistic breathing human body model with high spatiotemporal resolution in a time-efficient manner. For a human body model, we used the Extended Cardiac And Torso (XCAT) phantom originally developed for computed tomography. The spatial resolution (voxel size) was kept isotropic and varied from 1 to 10 mm. We calculated $B_0$ maps in the brain of the model at 10 equally spaced points in a respiration cycle and analyzed the spatial gradients of each of them. The results were compared with experimental measurements in the literature. Results: The simulation predicted a maximum temporal variation of the $B_0$ shift in the brain of about 7 Hz at 7T. The magnitudes of the respiration-induced $B_0$ gradient in the x (right/left), y (anterior/posterior), and z (head/feet) directions determined by volumetric linear fitting, were < 0.01 Hz/cm, 0.18 Hz/cm, and 0.26 Hz/cm, respectively. These compared favorably with previous reports. We found that simulation voxel sizes greater than 5 mm can produce unreliable results. Conclusion: We have presented an efficient simulation framework for respiration-induced $B_0$ variation in the head. The method can be used to predict $B_0$ shifts with high spatiotemporal resolution under different breathing conditions and aid in the design of dynamic $B_0$ compensation strategies.

• Journal of KIBIM
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.32-39
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• 2020

In recent years, the construction industry is getting bigger and more complex, so it is becoming difficult to acquire point cloud data for construction equipments and workers. Point cloud data is measured using a drone and MMS(Mobile Mapping System), and the collected point cloud data is used to create a 3D digital map. In particular, the construction site is located at outdoors and there are many irregular terrains, making it difficult to collect point cloud data. For these reasons, adopting a noise reduction algorithm suitable for the characteristics of the construction industry can affect the improvement of the analysis accuracy of digital maps. This is related to various environments and variables of the construction site. Therefore, this study reviewed and analyzed the existing research and techniques on the noise reduction algorithm. And based on the results of literature review, performance evaluation of major noise reduction algorithms was conducted for digital maps of construction sites. As a result of the performance evaluation in this study, the voxel grid algorithm showed relatively less execution time than the statistical outlier removal algorithm. In addition, analysis results in slope, space, and earth walls of the construction site digital map showed that the voxel grid algorithm was relatively superior to the statistical outlier removal algorithm and that the noise removal performance of voxel grid algorithm was superior and the object preservation ability was also superior. In the future, based on the results reviewed through the performance evaluation of the noise reduction algorithm of this study, we will develop a noise reduction algorithm for 3D point cloud data that reflects the characteristics of the construction site.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2023

Purpose: The aim of this study was to objectively detect simulated tooth ankylosis using a novel method involving cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Tooth ankylosis was simulated in single-rooted human permanent teeth, and CBCT scans were acquired at different current levels (5, 6.3, and 8 mA) and voxel sizes (0.08, 0.125, and 0.2). In axial reconstructions, a line of interest was perpendicularly placed over the periodontal ligament space of 21 ankylosed and 21 non-ankylosed regions, and the CBCT grey values of all voxels along the line of interest were plotted against their corresponding X-coordinates through a line graph to generate a profile. The image contrast was increased by 30% and 60% and the profile assessment was repeated. The internal area of the resulting parabolas was obtained from all images and compared between ankylosed and non-ankylosed regions under different contrast enhancement conditions, voxel sizes, and mA levels using multi-way analysis of variance with the Tukey post hoc test(α=0.05). Results: The internal area of the parabolas of all non-ankylosed regions was significantly higher than that of the ankylosed regions(P<0.05). Contrast enhancement led to a significantly greater internal area of the parabolas of non-ankylosed regions (P<0.05). Overall, voxel size and mA did not significantly influence the internal area of the parabolas(P>0.05). Conclusion: The proposed novel method revealed a relevant degree of applicability in the detection of simulated tooth ankylosis; increased image contrast led to greater detectability.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2247-2257
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• 2024

To investigate the impact of the recently released pediatric reference voxel phantoms (0-, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15-year-old males and females) of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) on organ dose estimates for radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment in pediatric patients, we calculated and analyzed pediatric-specific iodine131 S values (r_T ← thyroid) for the 30 radiosensitive organs by conducting Monte Carlo simulations using the Geant4. The gender dependency in the S values was frequently seen for the 15-year-old phantoms with higher S values of female than male. In addition, the age dependency in the S values was observed for most target organs; that is, the S values tend to decrease for older ages (e.g., ~120 times for the gonads between the adult and newborn) due mainly to the inter-organ distances generally longer for older ages. Moreover, we observed that the iodine-131 S values tend to be significantly greater by up to ~145.5 times than those of the stylized phantoms that have been widely used for organ dose estimates of pediatric RAI patients. We believe that the pediatric-specific iodine-131 S values (r_T ← thyroid) of the ICRP pediatric reference voxel phantoms should be beneficial to improve the dosimetry of pediatric RAI patients.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.275-285
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• 2013

Purpose : The objective of this study was to investigate effects of different smoothing kernel sizes on brain tissue-masked susceptibility-weighted images (SWI) obtained from normal elderly subjects using voxel-based analyses. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy human volunteers (mean $age{\pm}SD$ = $67.8{\pm}6.09$ years, 14 females and 6 males) were studied after informed consent. A fully first-order flow-compensated three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo sequence ran to obtain axial magnitude and phase images to generate SWI data. In addition, sagittal 3D T1-weighted images were acquired with the magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition of gradient-echo sequence for brain tissue segmentation and imaging registration. Both paramagnetically (PSWI) and diamagnetically (NSWI) phase-masked SWI data were obtained with masking out non-brain tissues. Finally, both tissue-masked PSWI and NSWI data were smoothed using different smoothing kernel sizes that were isotropic 0, 2, 4, and 8 mm Gaussian kernels. The voxel-based comparisons were performed using a paired t-test between PSWI and NSWI for each smoothing kernel size. Results: The significance of comparisons increased with increasing smoothing kernel sizes. Signals from NSWI were greater than those from PSWI. The smoothing kernel size of four was optimal to use voxel-based comparisons. The bilaterally different areas were found on multiple brain regions. Conclusion: The paramagnetic (positive) phase mask led to reduce signals from high susceptibility areas. To minimize partial volume effects and contributions of large vessels, the voxel-based analysis on SWI with masked non-brain components should be utilized.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.167-172
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• 2008

Recently a high-quality voxel model of a Korean adult male was constructed at Hanyang University by using very high resolution serially-sectioned anatomical images of a cadaver, which was provided by the Korean Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI). Most existing voxel phantoms are developed based on an individual in the supine posture. This study converted the HDRK-Man voxel model into surface model and adjusted the flattened back of the HDRK-Man to a normal shape in the upright posture using 3D graphic softwares such as $3D-DOCTOR^{TM}$, $Rapidform^{(R)}$2006, $Rhinoceros^{(R)}$4.0, $MAYA^{(R)}$8.5. The effective doses of adjusted model were compared with those of unadjusted model for some standard irradiation geometries (i.e., AP, PA, LLAT, RLAT). In general, the differences were not very large and, among those, the largest difference was found for the PA radiation geometry, as expected. These methodologies can be used for the development of various deformed posture models of HDRK-Man in the later stage of this project.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.116-122
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• 2017

Physical breast phantoms would be useful for the development of a dedicated breast computed tomography (BCT) system and its optimization. While the conventional breast phantoms are available in compressed forms, which are appropriate for the mammography and digital tomosynthesis, however, the BCT requires phantoms in uncompressed forms. Although simple cylindrical plastic phantoms can be used for the development of the BCT system, they will not replace the roles of uncompressed phantoms describing breast anatomies for a better study of the BCT. In this study, we have designed a numerical voxel breast phantom accounting for the random nature of breast anatomies and applied it to the 3D printer to fabricate the uncompressed anthropomorphic breast phantom. The numerical voxel phantom mainly consists of the external skin and internal anatomies, including the ductal networks, the glandular tissues, the Cooper's ligaments, and the adipose tissues. The voxel phantom is then converted into a surface data in the STL file format by using the marching cube algorithm. Using the STL file, we obtain the skin and the glandular tissue from the 3D printer, and then assemble them. The uncompressed breast phantom is completed by filling the remaining space with oil, which mimics the adipose tissues. Since the breast phantom developed in this study is completely software-generated, we can create readily anthropomorphic phantoms accounting for diverse human breast anatomies.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2020

Background: Dose conversion coefficients (DCCs) have been commonly used to estimate radiation-dose absorption by human organs based on physical measurements of fluence or kerma. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has reported a library of DCCs, but few studies have been conducted on their applicability to non-Caucasian populations. In the present study, we collected a total of 8 Korean pediatric and adult voxel phantoms to calculate the organ DCCs for idealized external photon-irradiation geometries. Materials and Methods: We adopted one pediatric female phantom (ETRI Child), two adult female phantoms (KORWOMAN and HDRK Female), and five adult male phantoms (KORMAN, ETRI Man, KTMAN1, KTMAN2, and HDRK Man). A general-purpose Monte Carlo radiation transport code, MCNPX2.7 (Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport extended version 2.7), was employed to calculate the DCCs for 13 major radiosensitive organs in six irradiation geometries (anteroposterior, posteroanterior, right lateral, left lateral, rotational, and isotropic) and 33 photon energy bins (0.01-20 MeV). Results and Discussion: The DCCs for major radiosensitive organs (e.g., lungs and colon) in anteroposterior geometry agreed reasonably well across the 8 Korean phantoms, whereas those for deep-seated organs (e.g., gonads) varied significantly. The DCCs of the child phantom were greater than those of the adult phantoms. A comparison with the ICRP Publication 116 data showed reasonable agreements with the Korean phantom-based data. The variations in organ DCCs were well explained using the distribution of organ depths from the phantom surface. Conclusion: A library of dose conversion coefficients for major radiosensitive organs in a series of pediatric and adult Korean voxel phantoms was established and compared with the reference data from the ICRP. This comparison showed that our Korean phantom-based data agrees reasonably with the ICRP reference data.