• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.13B no.4 s.107
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• pp.353-360
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• 2006

This paper presents a robust algorithm for segmenting a vehicle license plate area from a road image. We consider the features of license plates in three aspects : 1) edges due to the characters in the plate, 2) colors in the plate, and 3) geometric properties of the plate. In the preprocessing step, we compute the thresholds based on each feature to decide whether a pixel is inside a plate or not. A statistical approach is applied to the sample images to compute the thresholds. For a given road image, our algorithm binarizes it by using the thresholds. Then, we select three candidate regions to be a plate by searching the binary image with a moving window. The plate area is selected among the candidates with simple heuristics. This algorithm robustly detects the plate against the transformation or the difference of color intensity of the plate in the input image. Moreover, the preprocessing step requires only a small number of sample images for the statistical processing. The experimental results show that the algorithm has 97.8% of successful segmentation of the plate from 228 input images. Our prototype implementation shows average processing time of 0.676 seconds per image for a set of $1280{\times}960$ images, executed on a 3GHz Pentium4 PC with 512M byte memory.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.110-119
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• 2010

In this paper, we propose an automatic segmentation of the prostate using intensity distribution and gradient information in MR images. First, active shape model using adaptive intensity profile and multi-resolution technique is used to extract the prostate surface. Second, hole elimination using geometric information is performed to prevent the hole from occurring by converging the surface shape to the local optima. Third, the surface shape with large anatomical variation is corrected by using 2D gradient information. In this case, the corrected surface shape is often represented as rugged shape which is generated by the limited number of vertices. Thus, it is reconstructed by using surface modelling and smoothing. To evaluate our method, we performed the visual inspection, accuracy measures and processing time. For accuracy evaluation, the average distance difference and the overlapping volume ratio between automatic segmentation and manual segmentation by two radiologists are calculated. Experimental results show that the average distance difference was 0.3${\pm}$0.21mm and the overlapping volume ratio was 96.31${\pm}$2.71%. The total processing time of twenty patient data was 16 seconds on average.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2008

Medical imaging modalities to image either anatomical structure or functional processes have developed along somewhat independent paths. Functional images with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) are playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and staging of malignant disease, image-guided therapy planning, and treatment monitoring. SPECT and PET complement the more conventional anatomic imaging modalities of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. When the functional imaging modality was combined with the anatomic imaging modality, the multimodality can help both identify and localize functional abnormalities. Combining PET with a high-resolution anatomical imaging modality such as CT can resolve the localization issue as long as the images from the two modalities are accurately coregistered. Software-based registration techniques have difficulty accounting for differences in patient positioning and involuntary movement of internal organs, often necessitating labor-intensive nonlinear mapping that may not converge to a satisfactory result. These challenges have recently been addressed by the introduction of the combined PET/CT scanner and SPECT/CT scanner, a hardware-oriented approach to image fusion. Combined PET/CT and SPECT/CT devices are playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and staging of human disease. The paper will review the development of multi modality instrumentations for clinical use from conception to present-day technology and the application software.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.150-161
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• 2013

This paper presents a new system which produces high resolution 3D contents by capturing multiview images of an object using multiple cameras, and estimating geometric and texture information of the object from the captured images. Even though a variety of multiview image-based 3D reconstruction systems have been proposed, it was difficult to generate high resolution 3D contents because multiview image-based 3D reconstruction requires a large amount of memory and computation. In order to reduce computational complexity and memory size for 3D reconstruction, the proposed system predetermines the regions in input images where an object can exist to extract object boundaries fast. And for fast computation of a visual hull, the system represents silhouettes and 3D-2D projection/back-projection relations by chain codes and 1D homographies, respectively. The geometric data of the reconstructed object is compactly represented by a 3D segment-based data format which is called DoCube, and the 3D object is finally reconstructed after 3D mesh generation and texture mapping are performed. Experimental results show that the proposed system produces 3D object contents of $800{\times}800{\times}800$ resolution with a rate of 2.2 seconds per frame.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.128-128
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• 2018

최근 디스플레이 기술은 보다 가볍고, 얇고, 선명한 스마트 형태로 발전되고 있다. 특히 스마트산업의 성장으로 터치스크린패널(Touch Screen Panel, TSP)을 사용하는 기술이 다양해짐에 따라 더 높은 감도와 해상도를 달성하기 위한 핵심기술이 필요한 실정이다. TSP는 저항막 방식, 정전용량 방식, 적외선 방식, 초음파 방식 등 다양한 방식이 있다. 그 중 정전용량방식 터치 패널 (Capacitive type touch panel, CTTP)은 다른 유형에 비해 빠른 반응속도 및 멀티 터치 기능 등의 이점을 가지고 있기 때문에 연구의 초점이 되고 있다. 이를 실현하기 위해서 CTTP은 가시광영역의 높은 투과율과 낮은 비저항을 필요로 하기 때문에 박막의 초 슬림화 및 고 결정화도가 선행되어야만 한다. CTTP에 사용되는 투명전극 소재 중에서 40%의 비중을 차지하고 있는 ITO박막은 내구성과 시인성이 좋으나 생산 비용이 비싸다는 단점이 있다. 한편, 반응성 스퍼터링은 기존에 단일 소결체를 사용한 DC마그네트론 스퍼터링법보다 높은 증착률과 낮은 생산 비용으로 초박막을 만들 수 있다는 장점을 가진다. 본 실험에서는 In/Sn (2wt%) 금속 합금 타깃을 사용한 반응성 스퍼터링법을 이용하여 기판 온도 (RT 및 $140^{\circ}C$)에서 두께 30 nm의 In-Sn-O (ITO)박막을 증착하고, 대기 중 $140^{\circ}C$ 온도에서 시간에 따라 열처리한 후 박막의 물성을 관찰하였다. 증착 중 기판 가열을 하지 않은 ITO 박막의 경우, 열처리 시간이 증가함에 따라 비저항은 감소하였고, 홀 이동도는 현저하게 증가하였으며 캐리어 밀도에서는 별다른 차이가 없었다. 이를 통해 비저항의 감소는 캐리어 농도보다는 결정화를 통한 이동도의 증가와 관련 있다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 열처리 시간에 따른 박막의 핵 생성 및 결정 성장은 투과 전자 현미경(TEM)으로 명확하게 확인하였으며, 완전 결정화 된 박막의 grain size는 300~500 nm로 확인되었다. 기판온도 $140^{\circ}C$에서 증착한 박막의 경우, 후 열처리를 하지 않은 상태에서도 이미 결정화 된 것을 확인할 수 있었으며, 후 열처리 시에도 grain size에는 큰 변화가 없었다. 이는 증착 중에 박막의 결정화가 이미 완결된 것으로 판단된다. 또한, RT에서 증착한 박막의 경우에는 후 열처리 초기에는 산소공공등과 같은 결함들의 농도가 감소하여 투과율이 증가하였으나 완전한 결정화가 일어난 후에는 투과율이 약간 감소한 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 이는 결정화 시 박막의 표면 조도가 증가하였고 이로 인해 빛의 산란이 증가하여 투과율이 감소한 것으로 판단된다. 이러한 결과로 반응성 스퍼터링 공정으로 제조한 ITO 초박막은 후열처리에 의한 완전한 결정화를 이룰 수 있으며, 이를 통해 얻은 낮은 비저항과 높은 투과율은 고품질 TSP에 적용될 가능성을 가진다고 판단된다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.313-325
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• 2011

Finite element grid system using h-refinement on the Yellow Sea was constructed based on previous study (Suh, 1999b) from 14 K to 210 K and special attention was concentrated on refining the coastal zone. In grid generation, depth change between adjacent points and non-dimensional tidal wave length ratio were considered. As a result approximately a quarter of the total nodes are located nearby 5 m of shallow area. Accurate bathymetry data using 30's and ETOPO1 with open boundary conditions of 8 major tidal constituents extracted automatically from FES2004 have been applied. In tidal simulation a 3-dimensional nonlinear harmonic model was setup and tidal amplification due to changes in vertical turbulent and bottom friction were simulated. In this study not only 8 major tidal constituents but also nonlinear shallow tides $M_4,$, $MS_4$ and long period $M_f,$, $M_{sf}$ were reproduced. It is found that implication of spatial variation of friction coefficient plays a very important role in reproduction of astronomical and shallow tides which are computed by iterative computation of nonlinear terms. Also it should be considered differently with respect to tidal periods. To understand the distribution of tidal asymmetry, amplitude ratio of $M_4/M_2$ and phase differences $2g(M_2)-g(M_4)$ were calculated. Tidal distortion ratio marks up to 0.2 on the west coast showing shallow coastal characteristics and somewhat wide range of ebb-dominances in front of Mokpo area are reproduced.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.266-274
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• 2022

In this study, a smoothing method was applied to improve the accuracy of peak wave period estimation using the water surface elevation observed from the Oceanographic and Meteorological Observation Tower located on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. Validation of the application of the smoothing method was per- formed using variance of the surface elevation and total amount wave energy, and then the effect on the application of smoothing was analyzed. As a result of the analysis, the correlation coefficient between variance of the surface elevation and total amount wave energy was 0.9994, confirming that there was no problem in applying the method. Thereafter, as a result of reviewing the effect of smoothing, it was found to be reduced by about 4 times compared to the confidence interval of the existing estimated spectrum, confirming that the accuracy of the estimated peak wave period was improved. It was found that there was a statistically significant difference in proba- bility density between 4 and 6 seconds due to the smoothing application. In addition, for optimal smoothing, the appropriate number of smoothings according to the significant wave height range was calculated using a statistical technique, and the number of smoothings was found to increase due to the unstable spectral shape as the significant wave height decreased.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2001

Synchrotron radiation (SR) has several advantages over convetional x-rays, including its phase, collimation, and high flux. A synchrotron radiation beamline 5C1 at Pohang Light Source (PLS) was recently built for imaging applications. We have shown that a SR imaging system is useful in imaging microscopic structures. SR with broad-band energy spectrum were adjusted to an object by Si wafers and their energy were approximately ranging from 6 keV to 30 keV. SR were passed through an object and finally transformed into visible lights by CdWO$_4$ scintillator screen. The visible lights which were reflected at an angle of 90 degrees by gold plated mirror were detected by a CCD camera and the image data were acquired using image acquisition system. A high-resolution phantom, capacitor, adult tooth, child tooth, cancerous breast tissue, and mouse lumbar vertebra were imaged with SR imaging system. The Objects were rotated within the field of view of the CCD detector, and their projection image data were obtained at 250 steps over 180 degrees rotation. Image reconstructions were carried out in a PC by using IDLTM(Research systems, Inc., US) program. The spatial resolution of the images acquired by the SR imaging system was measured with a high-resolution chart manufactured for several micrometer resolution. The specimens were also imaged with conventional x-ray radiography system to compare the image quality of radiography obtained with the SR imaging system. The results showed more structural details and high contrast images with SR imaging system than conventional x-ray radiography system. The SR imaging system may have a potential for imaging in biological researches, material applications, and clinical radiography.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.52-60
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• 1999

Objectives: With the object of finding the appropriate conditions and algorithms for dimensional analysis of human EEG, we calculated correlation dimensions in the various condition of sampling rate and data aquisition time and improved the computation algorithm by taking advantage of bit operation instead of log operation. Methods: EEG signals from 13 scalp lead of a man were digitized with A-D converter under the condition of 12 bit resolution and 1000 Hertz of sampling rate during 32 seconds. From the original data, we made 15 time series data which have different sampling rate of 62.5, 125, 250, 500, 1000 hertz and data acqusition time of 10, 20, 30 second, respectively. New algorithm to shorten the calculation time using bit operation and the Least Trimmed Squares(LTS) estimator to get the optimal slope was applied to these data. Results: The values of the correlation dimension showed the increasing pattern as the data acquisition time becomes longer. The data with sampling rate of 62.5 Hz showed the highest value of correlation dimension regardless of sampling time but the correlation dimension at other sampling rates revealed similar values. The computation with bit operation instead of log operation had a statistically significant effect of shortening of calculation time and LTS method estimated more stably the slope of correlation dimension than the Least Squares estimator. Conclusion: The bit operation and LTS methods were successfully utilized to time-saving and efficient calculation of correlation dimension. In addition, time series of 20-sec length with sampling rate of 125 Hz was adequate to estimate the dimensional complexity of human EEG.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_4
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• pp.1173-1183
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• 2023

Over the past 20 years, Korea's overall import and export cargo volume has increased at an average annual rate of approximately 5.3%. About 99% of the cargo is still being transported by sea. Due to recent increases in maritime cargo volume, congestion in maritime logistics has become challenging due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts. Continuous monitoring of ports has become crucial. Various ground observation systems and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data have been utilized for monitoring ports and conducting numerous preliminary studies for the efficient operation of container terminals and cargo volume prediction. However, small and developing countries' ports face difficulties in monitoring due to environmental issues and aging infrastructure compared to large ports. Recently, with the increasing utility of artificial satellites, preliminary studies have been conducted using satellite imagery for continuous maritime cargo data collection and establishing ocean monitoring systems in vast and hard-to-reach areas. This study aims to visually detect ships docked at berths in the Busan New Port using high-resolution satellite imagery and quantitatively evaluate berth utilization rates. By utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery from Compact Advanced Satellite 500-1 (CAS500-1), Korea Multi-Purpose satellite-3 (KOMPSAT-3), PlanetScope, and Sentinel-2A, ships docked within the port berths were visually detected. The berth utilization rate was calculated using the total number of ships that could be docked at the berths. The results showed variations in berth utilization rates on June 2, 2022, with values of 0.67, 0.7, and 0.59, indicating fluctuations based on the time of satellite image capture. On June 3, 2022, the value remained at 0.7, signifying a consistent berth utilization rate despite changes in ship types. A higher berth utilization rate indicates active operations at the berth. This information can assist in basic planning for new ship operation schedules, as congested berths can lead to longer waiting times for ships in anchorages, potentially resulting in increased freight rates. The duration of operations at berths can vary from several hours to several days. The results of calculating changes in ships at berths based on differences in satellite image capture times, even with a time difference of 4 minutes and 49 seconds, demonstrated variations in ship presence. With short observation intervals and the utilization of high-resolution satellite imagery, continuous monitoring within ports can be achieved. Additionally, utilizing satellite imagery to monitor changes in ships at berths in minute increments could prove useful for small and developing country ports where harbor management is not well-established, offering valuable insights and solutions.