• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1998

Gated myocardial SPECT and attenuation correction gave birth to new insights into the pathophysiology of ischemic myocardial perfusion and function in clinical routine practice. Gated myocardial Tc-99m-compound SPECT improved diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery disease and enabled us to observe motion and thickening of myocardial walls as well as myocardial perfusion at the same time. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of myocardial performance and perfusion let us to understand the myocardial physiology in ischemia and infarction. In every patient who underwent gated perfusion SPECT, we will find ejection fraction, left ventricular volumes and regional wall motion. There are hopes to use gated TI-201 SPECT for the same purpose and to use gated SPECT for evaluation of wall motion and thickening at stress or immediate post-stress. Attenuation correction could improve diagnostic accuracy mainly by increasing normalcy ratio or performance of non-expert physicians. Both gated methods and attenuation correction improved specificity of non-expert physicians in diagnosing patients with moderate pretest likelihood. New imaging techniques will fill the desire of cardiologists to examine function and perfusion, and possibly metabolism in their clinical routine practice.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.430-437
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• 2018

Ultrasonic attenuation is an important parameter in Quantitative Ultrasound and many algorithms have been proposed to improve estimation accuracy and repeatability for multiple independent estimates. In this work, we propose an improved algorithm for estimating ultrasonic attenuation utilizing the optimal frequency compounding technique based on stochastic noise model. We formulate mathematical compounding equations in the AWGN channel model and solve optimization problems to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio for multiple frequency components. Individual estimates are calculated by the reference phantom method which provides very stable results in uniformly attenuating regions. We also propose the guideline to select frequency ranges of reflected RF signals. Simulation results using numerical phantoms show that the proposed optimal frequency compounding method provides improved accuracy while minimizing estimation bias. The estimation variance is reduced by only 16% for the un-compounding case, whereas it is reduced by 68% for the uniformly compounding case. The frequency range corresponding to the half-power for reflected signals also provides robust and efficient estimation performance.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.434-443
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• 2023

Objective: To investigate the association between pelvic bone computed tomography (CT)-derived body composition and patient outcomes in older adult patients who underwent surgery for proximal femur fractures. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively identified consecutive patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent pelvic bone CT and subsequent surgery for proximal femur fractures between July 2018 and September 2021. Eight CT metrics were calculated from the cross-sectional area and attenuation of the subcutaneous fat and muscle, including the thigh subcutaneous fat (TSF) index, TSF attenuation, thigh muscle (TM) index, TM attenuation, gluteus maximus (GM) index, GM attenuation, gluteus medius and minimus (Gmm) index, and Gmm attenuation. The patients were dichotomized using the median value of each metric. Multivariable Cox regression and logistic regression models were used to determine the association between CT metrics with overall survival (OS) and postsurgical intensive care unit (ICU) admission, respectively. Results: A total of 372 patients (median age, 80.5 years; interquartile range, 76.0-85.0 years; 285 females) were included. TSF attenuation above the median (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41-4.05), GM index below the median (adjusted HR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.33-5.26), and Gmm index below the median (adjusted HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.12-4.55) were independently associated with shorter OS. TSF index (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 6.67; 95% CI, 3.13-14.29), GM index (adjusted OR, 3.45; 95% CI, 1.49-7.69), GM attenuation (adjusted OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.02-5.56), Gmm index (adjusted OR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.22-5.88), and Gmm attenuation (adjusted OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.01-5.00) below the median were independently associated with ICU admission. Conclusion: In older adult patients who underwent surgery for proximal femur fracture, low muscle indices of the GM and gluteus medius/minimus obtained from their cross-sectional areas on preoperative pelvic bone CT were significant prognostic markers for predicting high mortality and postsurgical ICU admission.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.11
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• pp.1887-1893
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• 2016

The VSA(Video Signal Analysis) method is the time-domain approach for estimating ultrasonic attenuation which utilizes the envelop signals from backscattered rf signals. The echogenicity of backscattered ultrasonic signals, however, from deeper depths are distorted when the broadband transmit pulse is used and it degrades the estimation accuracy of attenuation coefficients. We propose the modified VSA method using adaptive bandpass filters according to the centroid shift of echo signals as a pulse propagates. The technique of dual-reference diffraction compensation is also proposed to minimize the estimation errors because the difference of attenuation properties between the reference and sample aggravates the estimation accuracy when the differences are accumulated in deeper depth. The proposed techniques minimize the distortion of relative echogenicity and maximize the signal-to-noise ratio at the given depth. Simulation results for numerical tissue-mimicking phantoms show that the Rectangular-shaped filter with the appropriate center frequency exhibits the best estimation performance and the technique of the dual-reference diffraction compensation dramatically improves accuracy for the region after the beam focus.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.17 no.4 s.107
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• pp.387-392
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• 2006

In this paper, measurement scheme and uncertainty estimation of the K-band attenuation standard fitted with 3.5 mm coaxial connectors are described. The standard comprises a build-up chain of four steps of power ratio mea-surement and operates in the frequency range of 18 GHz to 26.5 GHz. The nominal attenuation of each step is around 20 dB and total dynamic range is 80 dB. The expanded uncertainty of the overall system is 0.01 dB at the confidence level of approximately 95%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.41-41
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• 2003

Purpose: Even if the wedge filter is widely used for the radiation therapy to modify the photon beam intensity, the wedged photon beam dose calculation is not so easy. Radiation therapy planning systems (RTPS) have been used the empirical or semi-analytical methods such as attenuation method using wedge filter parameters or wedge filter factor obtained from measurement. However, these methods can cause serious error in penumbra region as well as in edge region. In this study, we propose the dose calculation algorithm for wedged field to minimize the error especially in the outer beam region. Materials and Method: Modified intensity by wedge filter was calculated using tissue-maximum ratio (TMR) and scatter-maximum ratio (SMR) of wedged field. Profiles of wedged and non-wedged direction was also used. The result of new dose calculation was compared with measurement and the result from attenuation method. Results: Proposed algorithm showed the good agreement with measurement in the high dose-gradient region as well as in the inner beam region. The error was decreased comparing to attenuation method. Conclusion: Although necessary beam data for the RTPS commissioning was increased, new algorithm would guarantee the improved dose calculation accuracy for wedged field. In future, this algorithm could be adopted in RTPS.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.28-33
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• 2009

Methane hydrates are considered important in terms of their effect on global warming and as potential energy resources. Now, mainly the presence of a BSR and seismic velocity are used for estimation of methane hydrate concentration in the seismic reflection survey. But recent studies on seismic attenuation show that it can be used also to estimate methane hydrates concentration. In this study, we tried to estimate attenuation from 2D seismic reflection data acquired at Nankai Trough in Japan and analyzed attenuation properties in methane hydrate bearing sediments. Seismic attenuation estimated by QVO method in an offset range $125{\sim}1,575m$. We observed high attenuation in methane hydrate bearing sediments over BSR in a frequency range of 30-70Hz. Thus, this result demonstrates that seismic reflection wave within this frequency range are affected significantly by the existence of methane hydrate concentration zone.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2003

Analyses of performance of wireless broadband communication systems employing fiber-optic link have presented. We have analyzed CNR penalty to evaluate system performance by taking into account, radio link considering rainfall attenuation, and optical link considering several carrier-to-noise ratio versus the optical modulation index.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.302-306
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• 2008

Plastic hardener and softener based ultrasound phantoms were made in various constitutions and their acoustic properties were measured. Speed of sound is approximately $1.4\;mm/{\mu}sec$ in all the phantoms, which is about 7% less than that of in soft tissue. Attenuation coefficient is strongly dependent on the ratio between hardener and softener. In order to achieve the tissue level attenuation (0.5 dB/cm/MHz), 60% of hardener or less is required. The synthesized phantoms can be preserved for more than 6 months without structural degradation.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 1998

Single phase, narrow beam X-ray attenuation data were obtained using various construction materials concrete, white block, red block, 3 hole block, gypsum board, artificial marble, cement, plate glass, wood, and lead. Tube voltages of 60, 80, 100, 120 kVp were employed and the resulting curves were compared to transmission data found in this report. The shielding methodology and the derivation of equations used for determination of barrier requirements were presented in NCRP 49. We could calculate the X-ray exposed dose after attenuation and thickness of protection barrier in the clinic facilities accordingly. For the purpose of maximizing the benefit/cost ratio to diagnostic shielding, various construction materials must be installed carefully and attnuation rate considered thoroughly.