• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.6
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• pp.1493-1504
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• 2021

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the utility of the 16-cm axial volume scan technique for calculating the coronary artery calcium score (CACS) using non-enhanced chest CT. Materials and Methods This study prospectively enrolled 20 participants who underwent both, non-enhanced chest CT (16-cm-coverage axial volume scan technique) and calcium-score CT, with the same parameters, differing only in slice thickness (in non-enhanced chest CT = 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 mm; in calcium score CT = 2.5 mm). The CACS was calculated using the conventional Agatston method. The difference between the CACS obtained from the two CT scans was compared, and the degree of agreement for the clinical significance of the CACS was confirmed through sectional analysis. Each calcified lesion was classified by location and size, and a one-to-one comparison of non-contrast-enhanced chest CT and calcium score CT was performed. Results The correlation coefficients of the CACS obtained from the two CT scans for slice thickness of 2.5, 1.25, and 0.625 mm were 0.9850, 0.9688, and 0.9834, respectively. The mean differences between the CACS were -21.4% at 0.625 mm, -39.4% at 1.25 mm, and -76.2% at 2.5 mm slice thicknesses. Sectional analysis revealed that 16 (80%), 16 (80%), and 13 (65%) patients showed agreement for the degree of coronary artery disease at each slice interval, respectively. Inter-reader agreement was high for each slice interval. The 0.625 mm CT showed the highest sensitivity for detecting calcified lesions. Conclusion The values in the non-contrast-enhanced chest CT, using the 16-cm axial volume scan technique, were similar to those obtained using the CACS in the calcium score CT, at 0.625 mm slice thickness without electrocardiogram gating. This can ultimately help predict cardiovascular risk without additional radiation exposure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2018

Many laboratory experiments on crack propagation under uniaxial loading and biaxial loading have been conducted in the past using transparent materials such as resin, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), etc. However, propagation behaviors of three-dimensional (3D) cracks in rock or rock-like materials under tri-axial loading are often considerably different. In this study, a series of true tri-axial loading tests on the rock-like material with two semi-ellipse pre-existing cracks were performed in laboratory to investigate the acoustic emission (AE) characteristics and propagation characteristics of 3D crack groups influenced by intermediate principal stress. Compared with previous experiments under uniaxial loading and biaxial loading, the tests under true tri-axial loading showed that shear cracks, anti-wing cracks and secondary cracks were the main failure mechanisms, and the initiation and propagation of tensile cracks were limited. Shear cracks propagated in the direction parallel to pre-existing crack plane. With the increase of intermediate principal stress, the critical stress of crack initiation increased gradually, and secondary shear cracks may no longer coalesce in the rock bridge. Crack aperture decreased with the increase of intermediate principal stress, and the failure is dominated by shear fracturing. There are two stages of fracture development: stable propagation stage and unstable failure stage. The AE events occurred in a zone parallel to pre-existing crack plane, and the AE zone increased gradually with the increase of intermediate principal stress, eventually forming obvious shear rupture planes. This shows that shear cracks initiated and propagated in the pre-existing crack direction, forming a shear rupture plane inside the specimens. The paths of fracturing inside the specimens were observed using the Computerized Tomography (CT) scanning and reconstruction.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2017

To evaluation of clinical usefulness for B1+RMS limits, we compared image quality of Routine, Specific absorption rate (SAR) and Root mean square (RMS) protocol. 5 volunteers underwent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of the brain using three different protocols. We draw Region of interest ROI in cortex, white matter, gray matter, putamen and thalamus of axial plan. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) were evaluated in each area and Contrast to noise ration (CNR) were evaluated between white matter and gray matter. Qualitative evaluation was used to score each ROI. B1+RMS is confirmed its usefulness compared to conventional SAR standard on the aspect of improvement of image quality, reduction of scan time and easy adjusting parameter.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.161-169
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• 2016

In this study, the proposal to seek ways to reduce the amount of radiation is drawn by comparing and analyzing CT Dose Index(CTDI) on the pediatric head CT which was performed at the busan regional hospitals, to the national diagnostic reference levels. As a result, it was appeared to exceed the amount of the dose recommendation in order of hospital, general hospital and senior general hospital in the hospital-specific classification and from 2 to 5 year, from 1 month to 1 year and from 6 to 10 year in the age-specific classification. In addition, the amount of the dose recommendation was exceed in order of helical, axial and volume in the scan-specific classification. As the results of the scan range reset to match the diagnostic reference level, the dose reduction showed 11.68%, 15.79% and 20.66% in senior general hospital, general hospital and hospital respectively. In the results of analysing patient average scan ranges which does not deviate from the guideline of patient dose recommendation, there was age of 1 month to 1 year, 2 to 5 year and 6 to 10 year of $03.2{\pm}11.8mm$, $110.5{\pm}14.5mm$, and $117.8{\pm}17.2mm$ respectively.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.321-327
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• 2019

Purpose: To evaluate an effect of additional firing process after sintering of monolithic zirconia crown on marginal and internal fit through three-dimensional analysis. Materials and methods: Ten monolithic zirconia crowns were fabricated using titanium abutment model. Monolithic zirconia crowns were designed, milled, and sintered as a control group, and additional firing with coloring was performed as a test group. Three dimensional analysis were performed by using triple-scan protocol, and cross-section analysis on mesio-distal and disto-lingual section was evaluated to measure marginal and internal fitness. Then, three-dimensional surface difference on between two groups was evaluated (${\alpha}=.05$). Results: There was statistically significant difference between the control group ($32.0{\pm}24.3{\mu}m$) and the test group ($17.0{\pm}10.8{\mu}m$) in the mesial axial wall (P < .02) and the control group ($60.2{\pm}24.3{\mu}m$) and the test group ($71.8{\pm}21.5{\mu}m$) in the distal axial wall (P < .01). There was no statistically significant difference at the remaining point. Conclusion: There was no statistical significance on the deviation of inner surface of crown according to firing number, and the results of both group were considered clinically acceptable.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.236-240
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to propose a novel high sensitivity neuro-PET design. The improvement of sensitivity in neuro-PET is important because it can reduce scan time and/or radiation dose. In this study, we proposed a novel PET detector design that combined conical shape detector with cylindrical one to obtain high sensitivity. The sensitivity as a function of the oblique angle and the ratio of the conical to cylindrical portion was estimated to optimize the design of brain PET using Monte Carlo simulation tool, GATE. An axial sensitivity and misplacement rate by penetration of ${\gamma}$ rays were also estimated to evaluate the performance of the proposed PET. The sensitivity was improved by 36% at the center of axial FOV. This value was similar to the calculated value. The misplacement rate of conical shaped PET was about 5% higher than the conventional PET. The results of this study demonstrated the conical detector proposed in this study could provide subsequent improvement in sensitivity which could allow to design high sensitivity PET for brain imaging.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.370-375
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• 2008

Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) is widely used in treatment of dentofacial deformities. But, many complications can occur including unfavorable fractures during osteotomy. To prevent these complications, it is necessary to understand comprehensively the anatomy of the mandiular ramus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphology of the madibular ramus in manibular prognathism patients by computed tomography comparing with normal control group. The study group consisted of 33 skeletal class III patients (20 males, 13 females) and the control group consisted of the 52 patients without dentofacial deformities (32 males, 20 females). The mean age of study group was 22.0-year old, and that of control group was 37.1-year. For the CT examination, following scan parameters was used: 1mm slice thickness, 0.5 second scan time, 120kV and 100mA/s. The axial scans of the head were made parallel to the mandibular occlusal plane. The anteroposterior length of the ramus, the distance from anterior border of the ramus to lingula, the relative distance from the anterior border of the ramus to lingula compared to the anteroposterior length of the ramus, the thickness of anterior and posterior cortical plate, the thickness of medial cortical plate of the ramus at lingula level, the thickness of cancellous bone of the ramus at lingula level were measured. The skeletal class III mandibular prognathism patients exhibited shorter anteroposterior length of the ramus, thicker anterior and posterior cortical plate, thinner mediolateral cancellous bone thickness. The lingula has a relative stable anteroposterior position in ramus in all groups. There was higher possibility of fusion of medial and lateral cortical plate at lingula level in the mandibular prognathism group. In conclusion, the mandibular prognathism patients have narrow rami with scanty cancellous bone, which means that careful preoperative examination including CT scan can prevent undesirable fractures during osteotomy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.244-252
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• 2011

This study was to estimate the radiation dose associated with 64-slice multidetector CT(MDCT) in clinical practice and quantify the potential cancer risk associated with these examinations. Lifetime attributable risks(LAR) were estimated with models developed in the national Academies' Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII report. Mean effective dose were 1.48mSv in Brain axial scan, 7.66mSv in chest routine contrast, 12.17mSv in coronary angiogram, 24.52mSv in Dynamic abdomen scan. LAR estimates for brain routine varied from 1 in 7463 for man to 1 in 4926 for women. In chest routine with contrast, LAR varied from 1 in 1449 for men to 1 in 952. LAR of Abdomen dynamic CT varied from 1 in 453 for men to 1 in 298 for women. So, 64-slice MDCT scan is associated with non-negligible LAR of cancer. Doses can be reduced by careful attention to scanning protocol.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.113-119
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• 2005

The computed tomogrpahy(CT) provides a high quality in images of human body but contributes to the relatively high patient dose. The frequency of CT examination is increasing and, therefore, the concerns about the patient dose are also increasing. In this study the experimental determination of patient dose was performed by using a physical anthropomorphic phantom and thermoluminescent dosimeter(TLD). The measurements were done for the both axial and spiral scan mode. As a result the effective doses for each scan mode were 17.78mSv and 10.01 mSv respectively and the fact that the degree of the reduction in the patient dose depends on the pitch scan parameter was confirmed. The measurement methods suggested in this study can be applied for the reassessment of the patient dose when the technique in CT equipment is developed or the protocol for CT scanning is changed.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.381-386
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to improve diagnostic efficiency of clinical study by setting up guidelines for more precise examination with a comparative analysis of signal intensity and image distortion depending on the location of X axial of object when performing magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging (MR DWI) examination. We arranged the self-produced phantom with a 45 mm of interval from the core of 44 regent bottles that have a 16 mm of external diameter and 55 mm of height, and were placed in 4 rows and 11 columns in an acrylic box. We also filled up water and margarine to portrait the fat. We used 3T Skyra and 18 Channel Body array coil. We also obtained the coronal image with the direction of RL (right to left) by using scan slice thinkness 3 mm, slice gap: 0mm, field of view (FOV): $450{\times}450mm^2$, repetition time (TR): 5000 ms, echo time (TE): 73/118 ms, Matrix: $126{\times}126$, slice number: 15, scan time: 9 min 45sec, number of excitations (NEX): 3, phase encoding as a diffusion-weighted imaging parameter. In order to scan, we set b-value to $0s/mm^2$, $400s/mm^2$, and $1,400s/mm^2$, and obtained T2 fat saturation image. Then we did a comparative analysis on the differences between image distortion and signal intensity depending on the location of X axial based on iso-center of patient's table. We used "Image J" as a comparative analysis programme, and used SPSS v18.0 as a statistic programme. There was not much difference between image distortion and signal intensity on fat and water from T2 fat saturation image. But, the average value depends on the location of X axial was statistically significant (p < 0.05). From DWI image, when b-value was 0 and 400, there was no significant difference up to $2^{nd}$ columns right to left from the core of patient's table, however, there was a decline in signal intensity and image distortion from the $3^{rd}$ columns and they started to decrease rapidly at the $4^{th}$ columns. When b-value was 1,400, there was not much difference between the $1^{st}$ row right to left from the core of patient's table, however, image distortion started to appear from the $2^{nd}$ columns with no change in signal intensity, the signal was getting decreased from the $3^{rd}$ columns, and both signal intensity and image distortion started to get decreased rapidly. At this moment, the reagent bottles from outside out of 11 reagent bottles were not verified from the image, and only 9 reagent bottles were verified. However, it was not possible to verify anything from the $5^{th}$ columns. But, the average value depends on the location of X axial was statistically significant. On T2 FS image, there was a significant decline in image distortion and signal intensity over 180mm from the core of patient's table. On diffusion-weighted image, there was a significant decline in image distortion and signal intensity over 90 mm, and they became unverifiable over 180 mm. Therefore, we should make an image that has a diagnostic value from examinations that are hard to locate patient's position.