• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2016

The type of ultrasound transducer used influences the quality of a reconstructed ultrasound image. This study analyzed the effect of transducer type on ultrasound computed tomography (UCT) image quality. The UCT was modeled in an ultrasound simulator by using a 5 cm anatomy model and a ring-shape 5 MHz 128 transducer array, which considered attenuation, refraction, and reflection. Speed-of-sound images were reconstructed by the Radon transform as the UCT image modality. Acoustic impedance images were also reconstructed by the delay-and-sum (DAS) method, which considered the speed of sound information. To determine the optimal combination of transducers in observation, point-source, flat, and focused transducers were tested in combination as trasmitters and receivers; UCT images were constructed from each combination. The combination of point-source/flat transducer as transmitting and receiving devices presented the best reconstructed image quality. In UCT implementation, the combination of a flat transducer for transmitting and a point transducer for receiving permitted acceptable image quality.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.535-549
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• 2022

Damage to forests, such as broken or falling trees, has increased due to the increased intensity and frequency of abnormal climate events, such as strong winds and heavy rains. However, it is difficult to respond to them in advance based on prediction since structural defects such as cavities and bumps inside trees are difficult to identify with a visual inspection. Non-invasive sonic tomography (SoT) is a method of estimating internal defects while minimizing physical damage to trees. Although SoT is effective in diagnosing internal defects, its accuracy varies depending on the species. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the reliability of its measurement results before applying it in the field. In this study, we measured internal defects in wood by cross-applying destructive resistance micro drilling on old Pinus densifloraSiebold & Zucc. and Ginkgo bilobaL., which are representative tree species in Korea, to verify the reliability of SoT and compared the evaluation results. The t-test for the mean values of the defect measurement between the two groups showed no statistically significant difference in pine trees and some difference in ginkgo trees. Linear regression analysis results showed a positive correlation with an increase in defects in SoT images when the defects in the drill resistance graph increased in both species.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2013

Recently, the photoacoustic imaging system has been widely and intensively developed, and has been shown the possibility of diagnosis for early stage cancer. In this study, we developed a photoacoustic tomography imaging system with a commercial ultra sound device and a linear array probe. A tube phantom and a chicken breast phantom was made for the possibility of a system as a breast cancer detection. A moving average filter and a band pass filter with 3~6 MHz bandwidth were developed for background noise elimination before delay-and-sum beamforming algorithm was used for image reconstruction. As a result, we showed that some signal processing procedure before beamforming was effective for the photoacoustic image reconstruction.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.244-252
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• 2012

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the correlations between acoustic properties, such as speed of sound and normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation, and bone mineral density in femur with high fracture risk. The speed of sound and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation in 15 bovine femoral trabecular bone samples in vitro were measured by using a through-transmission method with two matched pairs of ultrasonic transducers with center frequencies of 0.5 and 1.0 MHz. The volumetric bone mineral density of the trabecular bone samples was measured by using micro-computed tomography. The bone mineral density exhibited strong correlations with both the speed of sound and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation measured by using the 0.5 and the 1.0 MHz transducers. The highest correlation was found between the bone mineral density and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation measured by using the 0.5 MHz ultrasonic transducers. The results suggest that the acoustic properties measured in the femur in vitro can be used as indices for the prediction of femoral bone mineral density.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2012

In this paper, Acousto-Optical tomography is modeled by a linear integral equation and an inverse problem involving a diffusion equation in n-spatial dimensions. We make two-step mathematical model. First, we solve a linear integral equation. Assuming the optical energy fluence rate has been recovered from the previous equation, the absorption coefficient ${\mu}$ is then reconstructed by solving an inverse problem. Numerical experiments are presented for the case n=2. The traditional gradient descent method is used for the numerical simulations. The result of the gradient descent method produces the blurring effect. To get rid of the blurring effect, we suggest the total variation regularization for the minimization problem.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.429-440
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• 2023

This study explores recent research trends and potential applications of ultrasound optical imaging-based multimodal technology. Ultrasound imaging has been widely utilized in medical diagnostics due to its real-time capability and relative safety. However, the drawback of low resolution in ultrasound imaging has prompted active research on multimodal imaging techniques that combine ultrasound with other imaging modalities to enhance diagnostic accuracy. In particular, ultrasound optical imaging-based multimodal technology enables the utilization of each modality's advantages while compensating for their limitations, offering a means to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis. Various forms of multimodal imaging techniques have been proposed, including the fusion of optical coherence tomography, photoacoustic, fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime, and spectral technology with ultrasound. This study investigates recent research trends in ultrasound optical imaging-based multimodal technology, and its potential applications are demonstrated in the biomedical field. The ultrasound optical imaging-based multimodal technology provides insights into the progress of integrating ultrasound and optical technologies, laying the foundation for novel approaches to enhance diagnostic accuracy in the biomedical domain.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2002

Background: Chronic paranasal sinusitis is one of the most common disease in the otorhinolaryngologic field. Endoscopic sinus surgery is treatment of choice in chronic paranasal sinusitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate objective and subjective treatment outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery in adult chronic paranasal sinusitis with or without polyp. Materials and Methods: We reviewed 84 adult patients underwent endoscopic sinus surgery by one surgeon from June 1999 to June 2000, prospectively. We analyzed preoperative and postoperative subjective symptom scores and acoustic rhinometric results. Results: Fifty cases were male and thirty four cases female. The average age was of 33 year-old (range: 17 to 66 years). There was significantly improvement of symptom scores in postoperative 3 months and 6 months compared with preoperative symptom scores. There was significantly increased postoperative total volume of nasal cavity. When we compared high score group with low score group, there was statistically significant improvement of symptom scores between preoperative stage and postoperative 3 months in radiologic grading group. Conclusions: Endoscopic sinus surgery is considered to be effective for the treatment of chronic paranasal sinusitis. It seems to be helpful to employ subjective symptom score system and objective total volume change of nasal cavity through acoustic rhinometric test to analyze effectiveness of endoscopic sinus surgery. In this study, the most important preoperative factor of sinus surgery outcomes is radiologic grading system.