• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.333-341
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• 2012

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering with different flow rates of $O_2$ gas from 0 to 12 sccm. Electrical and optical properties of these films were characterized and analyzed. ITO deposited on soda lime glass and RF power was 2 kW, frequency was 13.56 MHz, and working pressure was $1.0{\times}10^{-3}$ Torr, Ar gas was fixed at 1,000 sccm. The transmittance was measured at 300~1,100 nm ranges by using Photovoltaic analysis system. Electrical properties were measured by Hall measurement system. ITO thin films surface were measured by Scanning electron microscope. Atomic force microscope surface roughness scan for ITO thin films. ITO thin films secondary electron emission coefficient(${\gamma}$) was measured by ${\gamma}$-Focused ion beam. The resistivity is about $2.4{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ and the weighted average transmittance is about 84.93% at 3 sccm oxygen flow rate. Also, we investigated Work-function of ITO thin films by using Auger neutralization mechanism according to secondary electron emission coefficient(${\gamma}$) values. We confirmed secondary electron emission peak at 3 sccm oxygen flow rate.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2012

Purpose: This study mainly focuses on the patients treated with chemically stable radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO (d,l-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime) which yielded reduced image quality due to a decreased brain extraction rate. $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO will be examined further to determine whether this product may be accounted as a factor for this cause. Material and Methods: From January 2010 until December 2010, out of 272 patients who were all subjected to $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO brain blood flow SPECT scans resulting from Cerebral Infarction; 23 patients(ages $55.3{\pm}9$, 21 males, 3 females) with decreased tissue extraction rate were examined in detail. The radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO was used on patients with normal brain tissue exchange rate as well as those with reduced rate in order to prove its' chemical stability. The patients' age, sex, blood pressure, existence of diabetes, drug use, current health status, known side effects from CT/MRI, examination of the patients' past SPECT before/after images were accounted to determine the factors and correlations affecting the rate of blood tissue extractions. Result: After multiple linear regression analysis, there were no unusual correlations between the 6 factors excluding sex, and before/after examination images. Male subjects showed reduced brain tissue extraction rate than the females ($p$ > 0.05) 91.3% male, 8.7% female. Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test was used on the before/after images which yielded a value of 0.06, which did not indicate a significant amount of difference on the 2 tests ($p$ > 0.05). As a result, the before/after images indicated similar brain tissue extraction rates, and there were variations depending on the individual patient. Conclusion: The effects of the chemically stable radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO depended on the patient's personal characteristics and status, therefore was considered to be a factor in reducing brain tissue extraction rate. The related articles of $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO cerebral blood flow SPECT speculates a cerebrovascular disease and factors resulting from portal veins, and it was not possible to pin point the exact cause of decreasing brain tissue extraction rate. However, the $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO cerebral blood flow SPECT scan proved to be extremely useful in tracking and inspecting brain diseases, as well as offering accurate results from patients suffering from reduced brain tissue extraction rates.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.414-424
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• 1998

Purpose: Cross-modality coregistration of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MR) could enhance the clinical information. In this study we propose a refined technique to improve the robustness of registration, and to implement more realistic visualization of the coregistered images. Materials and Methods: Using the sinogram of PET emission scan, we extracted the robust head boundary and used boundary-enhanced PET to coregister PET with MR. The pixels having 10% of maximum pixel value were considered as the boundary of sinogram. Boundary pixel values were exchanged with maximum value of sinogram. One hundred eighty boundary points were extracted at intervals of about 2 degree using simple threshold method from each slice of MR images. Best affined transformation between the two point sets was performed using least square fitting which should minimize the sum of Euclidean distance between the point sets. We reduced calculation time using pre-defined distance map. Finally we developed an automatic coregistration program using this boundary detection and surface matching technique. We designed a new weighted normalization technique to display the coregistered PET and MR images simultaneously. Results: Using our newly developed method, robust extraction of head boundary was possible and spatial registration was successfully performed. Mean displacement error was less than 2.0 mm. In visualization of coregistered images using weighted normalization method, structures shown in MR image could be realistically represented. Conclusion: Our refined technique could practically enhance the performance of automated three dimensional coregistration.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.166-179
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• 2008

Excessive concentration of stress which is occurred in occlusion around the implant in case of the implant supported fixed partial denture has been known to be the main cause of the crestal bone destruction. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the stress analysis on supporting tissue to get higher success rates of implant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of stress distribution and deformation in 3 different types of three-unit fixed partial denture sup-ported by two implants, using a three dimensional finite element analysis in a three dimensional model of a whole mandible. A mechanical model of an edentulous mandible was generated from 3D scan, assuming two implants were placed in the left premolars area. According to the position of pontic, the experiments groups were divided into three types. Type I had a pontic in the middle position between two implants, type II in the anterior posi-tion, and type III in the posterior position. A 100-N axial load was applied to sites such as the central fossa of anterior and posterior implant abutment, central fossa of pontic, the connector of pontic or the connector between two implants, the mandibular boundary conditions were modeled considering the real geometry of its four-masticatory muscular supporting system. The results obtained from this study were as follows; 1. The mandible deformed in a way that the condyles converged medially in all types under muscular actions. In comparison with types, the deformations in the type II and type III were greater by 2-2.5 times than in the type I regardless of the loading location. 2. The values of von Mises stresses in cortical and cancellous bone were relatively stable in all types, but slightly increased as the loading position was changed more posteriorly. 3. In comparison with type I, the values of von Mises stress in the implant increased by 73% in Type II and by 77% in Type III when the load was applied anterior and posterior respectively, but when the load was applied to the middle, the values were similar in all types. 4. When the load was applied to the centric fossa of pontic, the values of von Mises stress were nearly $30{\sim}35%$ higher in the type III than type I or II in the cortical and cancellous bone. Also, in the implant, the values of von Mises stress of the type II or III were $160{\sim}170%$ higher than in the type I. 5. When the load was applied to the centric fossa of implant abutment, the values of von Mises stress in the cortical and cancellous bone were relatively $20{\sim}25%$ higher in the type III than in the other types, but in the implant they were 40-45% higher in the type I or II than in the type III. According to the results of this study, musculature modeling is important to the finite element analysis for stress distribution and deformation as the muscular action causes stress concentration. And the type I model is the most stable from a view of biomechanics. Type II is also a clinically accept-able design when the implant is stiff sufficiently and mandibular deformation is considered. Considering the high values of von Mises stress in the cortical bone, type III is not thought as an useful design.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2007

Purpose : In spite of recent remarkable improvement of diagnostic imaging modalities such as CT, MRI, and PET and radiation therapy planing systems, ICR plan of uterine cervix cancer, based on recommendation of ICRU38(2D film-based) such as Point A, is still used widely. A 3-dimensional ICR plan based on CT image provides dose-volume histogram(DVH) information of the tumor and normal tissue. In this study, we compared tumor-dose, rectal-dose and bladder-dose through an analysis of DVH between CTV plan and ICRU38 plan based on CT image. Method and Material : We analyzed 11 patients with a cervix cancer who received the ICR of Ir-192 HDR. After 40Gy of external beam radiation therapy, ICR plan was established using PLATO(Nucletron) v.14.2 planing system. CT scan was done to all the patients using CT-simulator(Ultra Z, Philips). We contoured CTV, rectum and bladder on the CT image and established CTV plan which delivers the 100% dose to CTV and ICRU plan which delivers the 100% dose to the point A. Result : The volume$(average{\pm}SD)$ of CTV, rectum and bladder in all of 11 patients is $21.8{\pm}6.6cm^3,\;60.9{\pm}25.0cm^3,\;111.6{\pm}40.1cm^3$ respectively. The volume covered by 100% isodose curve is $126.7{\pm}18.9cm^3$ in ICRU plan and $98.2{\pm}74.5cm^3$ in CTV plan(p=0.0001), respectively. In (On) ICRU planning, $22.0cm^3$ of CTV volume was not covered by 100% isodose curve in one patient whose residual tumor size is greater than 4cm, while more than 100% dose was irradiated unnecessarily to the normal organ of $62.2{\pm}4.8cm^3$ other than the tumor in the remaining 10 patients with a residual tumor less than 4cm in size. Bladder dose recommended by ICRU 38 was $90.1{\pm}21.3%$ and $68.7{\pm}26.6%$ in ICRU plan and in CTV plan respectively(p=0.001) while rectal dose recommended by ICRU 38 was $86.4{\pm}18.3%$ and $76.9{\pm}15.6%$ in ICRU plan and in CTV plan, respectively(p=0.08). Bladder and rectum maximum dose was $137.2{\pm}50.1%,\;101.1{\pm}41.8%$ in ICRU plan and $107.6{\pm}47.9%,\;86.9{\pm}30.8%$ in CTV plan, respectively. Therefore, the radiation dose to normal organ was lower in CTV plan than in ICRU plan. But the normal tissue dose was remarkably higher than a recommended dose in CTV plan in one patient whose residual tumor size was greater than 4cm. The volume of rectum receiving more than 80% isodose (V80rec) was $1.8{\pm}2.4cm^3$ in ICRU plan and $0.7{\pm}1.0cm^3$ in CTV plan(p=0.02). The volume of bladder receiving more than 80% isodose(V80bla) was $12.2{\pm}8.9cm^3$ in ICRU plan and $3.5{\pm}4.1cm^3$ in CTV plan(p=0.005). According to these parameters, CTV plan could also save more normal tissue compared to ICRU38 plan. Conclusion : An unnecessary excessive radiation dose is irradiated to normal tissues within 100% isodose area in the traditional ICRU plan in case of a small size of cervix cancer, but if we use CTV plan based on CT image, the normal tissue dose could be reduced remarkably without a compromise of tumor dose. However, in a large tumor case, we need more research on an effective 3D-planing to reduce the normal tissue dose.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-33
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• 1997

The objective of this study was to analyze the in vitro and in vivo corrosion products of low and high copper amalgams. The four different types of amalgam alloy used in this study were Fine cut, Caulk spherical, Dispersalloy, and Tytin. After each amalgam alloy and Hg were triturated according to the directions of the manufacturer by means of the mechanical amalgamator(Amalgam mixer. Shinhung Co. Korea), the triturated mass was inserted into a cylindrical metal mold which was 12mm in diameter and 10mm in height. The mass was condensed by 150Kg/cm compressive force. The specimen was removed from the mold and aged at room temperature for about seven days. The standard surface preparation was routinely carried out by emery paper polishing under running water. In vitro amalgam specimens were potentiostatically polarized ten times in a normal saline solution at $37^{\circ}C$(potentiostat : HA-301. Hukuto Denko Corp. Japan). Each specimen was subjected to anodic polarization scan within the potential range -1700mV to+400mV(SCE). After corrosion tests, anodic polarization curves and corrosion potentials were obtained. The amount of component elements dissolved from amalgams into solution was measured three times by ICP AES(Inductive Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry: Plasma 40. Perkim Elmer Co. U.S.A.). The four different types of amalgam were filled in occlusal and buccal class I cavities of four human 3rd molars. After about five years the restorations were carefully removed after tooth extraction to preserve the structural details including the deteriorated margins. The occlusal surface, amalgam-tooth interface and the fractured surface of in vivo amalgam corrosion products were analyzed. In vivo and in vitro amalgam specimens were examined and analyzed metallographically by SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope: JSM 840. Jeol Co. Japan) and EDAX(Energy Dispersive Micro X-ray Analyser: JSM 840. Jeol Co. Japan). 1. The following results are obtained from in vitro corrosion tests. 1) Corrosion potentials of all amalgams became more noble after ten times passing through the in vitro corrosion test compared to first time. 2) After times through the test, released Cu concentration in saline solution was almost equal but highest in Fine cut. Ag and Hg ion concentration was highest in Caulk spherical and Sn was highest in Dispersalloy. 3) Analyses of surface corrosion products in vitro reveal the following results. a)The corroded surface of Caulk spherical has Na-Sn-Cl containing clusters of $5{\mu}m$ needle-like crystals and oval shapes of Sn-Cl phase, polyhedral Sn oxide phase. b)In Fine cut, there appeared to be a large Sn containing phase, surrounded by many Cu-Sn phases of $1{\mu}m$ granular shapes. c)Dispersalloy was covered by a thick reticular layer which contained Zn-Cl phase. d)In Tytin, a very thin, corroded layer had formed with irregularly growing Sn-Cl phases that looked like a stack of plates. 2. The following results are obtained by an analysis of in vivo amalgam corrosion products. 1) Occlusal surfaces of all amalgams were covered by thick amorphous layers containing Ca-P elements which were abraded by occlusal force. 2) In tooth-amalgam interface, Ca-P containing products were examined in all amalgams but were most clearly seen in low copper amalgams. 3) Sn oxide appeared as a polyhedral shape in internal space in Caulk spherical and Fine cut. 4) Apical pyramidal shaped Sn oxide and curved plate-like Sn-Cl phases resulted in Dispersalloy. 5) In Tytin, Sn oxide and Sn hydroxide were not seen but polyhedral Ag-Hg phase crystal appeared in internal space which assumed a ${\beta}_l$ phase.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.421-429
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• 2005

Purpose: It has been postulated that dopamine release in the striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. Substantial evidence in the animal studies demonstrates that nicotine interacts with dopaminergic neuron and regulates the activation of the dopaminergic system. The aim of this study was to visualize the dopamine release by smoking in human brain using PET scan with $[^{11}C]raclopride$. Materials and Methods: Five male non-smokers or ex-smokers with an abstinence period longer than 1 year (mean age of $24.4{\pm}1.7$ years) were enrolled in this study $[^{11}C]raclopride$, a dopamine D2 receptor radioligand, was administrated with bolus-plus-constant infusion. Dynamic PET was performed during 120 minutes ($3{\times}20s,\;2{\times}60s,\;2{\times}120s,\;1{\times}180s\;and\;22{\times}300s$). following the 50 minute-scanning, subjects smoked a cigarette containing 1 mg of nicotine while in the scanner. Blood samples for the measurement of plasma nicotine level were collected at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minute after smoking. Regions for striatal structures were drawn on the coronal summed PET images guided with co-registered MRI. Binding potential, calculated as (striatal-cerebellar)/cerebellar activity, was measured under equilibrium condition at baseline and smoking session. Results: The mean decrease in binding potential of $[^{11}C]raclopride$ between the baseline and smoking in caudate head, anterior putamen and ventral striatum was 4.7%, 4.0% and 7.8%, respectively. This indicated the striatal dopamine release by smoking. Of these, the reduction in binding potential in the ventral striatum was significantly correlated with the cumulated plasma level of the nicotine (Spearman's rho=0.9, p=0.04). Conclusion: These data demonstrate that in vivo imaging with $[^{11}C]raclopride$ PET could measure nicotine-induced dopamine release in the human brain, which has a significant positive correlation with the amount or nicotine administered bt smoking.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.371-377
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• 2001

Purpose: One or more abnormal vertebrae detected on bone scintigraphy is a common finding in clinical practice, and it could pose a diagnostic dilemma especially in cancer patients. as either metastasis or benign disease may cause scintigraphic abnormality. The purpose of this study was to determine whether additional spine SPECT has a role in differentiating malignant from benign lesions in patients with back pain. Materials and Methods: We reviewed spine SPECT studios obtained over a three-year period in 108 patients. Among them, forty-five patients with abnormal SPECT and clinically followed records were evaluated (20 cancer patients were included). Uptake patterns were classified as follows: 1. Body: diffusely increased uptake, linear increased uptake of end plate, segmental increased uptake, and cold defect, 2. Posterior element: posterior to body (pedicle), posterior to Intervertebral disc space (facet joint), and spinous process. Lesions were correlated with radiological findings and with final diagnosis. Results: Sixty-nine bone lesions were detected on SFECT images, including 18 metastases, 28 degenerative diseases and 21 compression fractures. Cold defect (6) and segmental increased uptake (5) were dominant findings in metastasis; linear increased uptake (12), and facet joint uptake (15) were in degenerative change; and diffuse increased uptake (9), and linear increased uptake (9) were in compression fracture. Conclusion: Cold defect and segmental increased uptake of body were characteristic findings of metastasis, but care should be taken because compression fracture also shows segmental increased uptake in some cases. Degenerative disease was easily diagnosed because of the typical finding of linear increased uptake of end plate and facet joint. Therefore, additional bone SPECT after planar bone scan would be helpful for differentiating metastasis from benign condition in cancer patients.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2010

Purpose: The Xpress3.$cardiac^{TM}$ which is a kind of wide beam reconstruction (WBR) method developed by UltraSPECT (Haifa, Israel) enables the acquisition of at quarter time while maintaining image quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of WBR method for decreasing scan times and to compare to it with filtered back projection (FBP), which is the method routinely used. Materials and Methods: Phantom and clinical studies were performed. The anthropomorphic torso phantom was made on an equality with counts from patient's body. The Tl-201 concentrations in the compartments were 74 kBq (2 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in myocardium, 11.1 kBq (0.3 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in soft tissue, and 2.59 kBq (0.07 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in lung. The non-gated Tl-201 myocardial perfusion SPECT data were acquired with the phantom. The former study was scanned for 50 seconds per frame with FBP method, and the latter study was acquired for 13 seconds per frame with WBR method. Using the Xeleris ver. 2.0551, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and average image contrast were compared. In clinical studies, we analyzed the 30 patients who were examined by Tl-201 gated myocardial perfusion SPECT in department of nuclear medicine at Asan Medical Center from January to April 2010. The patients were imaged at full time (50 second per frame) with FBP algorithm and again quarter-time (13 second per frame) with the WBR algorithm. Using the 4D MSPECT (4DM), Quantitative Perfusion SPECT (QPS), and Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) software, the summed stress score (SSS), summed rest score (SRS), summed difference score, end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV) and ejection fraction (EF) were analyzed for their correlations and statistical comparison by paired t-test. Results: As a result of the phantom study, the WBR method improved FWHM more than about 30% compared with FBP method (WBR data 5.47 mm, FBP data 7.07 mm). And the WBR method's average image contrast was also higher than FBP method's. However, in result of quantitative indices, SSS, SDS, SRS, EDV, ESV, EF, there were statistically significant differences from WBR and FBP(p<0.01). In the correlation of SSS, SDS, SRS, there were significant differences for WBR and FBP (0.18, 0.34, 0.08). But EDV, ESV, EF showed good correlation with WBR and FBP (0.88, 0.89, 0.71). Conclusion: From phantom study results, we confirmed that the WBR method reduces an acquisition time while improving an image quality compared with FBP method. However, we should consider significant differences in quantitative indices. And it needs to take an evaluation test to apply clinical study to find a cause of differences out between phantom and clinical results.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 2015

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate image quality change by truncated region in field of view (FOV) of attenuation correction computed tomography (AC-CT) in brain PET/CT. Materials and Methods Biograph Truepoint 40 with TrueV (Siemens) was used as a scanner. $^{68}Ge$ phantom scan was performed with and without applying brain holder using brain PET/CT protocol. PET attenuation correction factor (ACF) was evaluated according to existence of pallet in FOV of AC-CT. FBP, OSEM-3D and PSF methods were applied for PET reconstruction. Parameters of iteration 4, subsets 21 and gaussian 2 mm filter were applied for iterative reconstruction methods. Window level 2900, width 6000 and level 4, 200, width 1000 were set for visual evaluation of PET AC images. Vertical profiles of 5 slices and 20 slices summation images applied gaussian 5 mm filter were produced for evaluating integral uniformity. Results Patient pallet was not covered in FOV of AC-CT when without applying brain holder because of small size of FOV. It resulted in defect of ACF sinogram by truncated region in ACF evaluation. When without applying brain holder, defect was appeared in lower part of transverse image on condition of window level 4200, width 1000 in PET AC image evaluation. With and without applying brain holder, integral uniformities of 5 slices and 20 slices summation images were 7.2%, 6.7% and 11.7%, 6.7%. Conclusion Truncated region by small FOV results in count defect in occipital lobe of brain in clinical or research studies. It is necessary to understand effect of truncated region and apply appropriate accessory for brain PET/CT.