• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.330-338
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• 2017

Purpose: The smartphone is actively being used in many research fields, primarily in medical and diagnostic applications. However, there are cases in which smartphone-based systems have been developed for agriculture, environment, and food applications. The purpose of this review is to summarize the research cases using smartphone cameras in agriculture, environment, and food. Methods: This review introduces seventeen research cases which used smartphone cameras in agriculture, food, water, and soil applications. These were classified as systems involving "smartphone-camera-alone" and "smartphone camera with optical accessories". Results: Detecting food-borne pathogens, analyzing the quality of foods, monitoring water quality and safety, gathering information regarding plant growth or damage, identifying weeds, and measuring soil loss after rain were presented for the smartphone-camera-alone system. Measuring food and water quality and safety, phenotyping seeds, and soil classifications were presented for the smartphone camera with optical accessories. Conclusions: Smartphone cameras were applied in various areas for several purposes. The use of smartphone cameras has advantages regarding high-resolution imaging, manual or auto exposure and focus control, ease of use, portability, image storage, and most importantly, programmability. The studies discussed were achieved by sensitivity improvements of CCDs (charge-coupled devices) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) on smartphone cameras and improved computing power of the smartphone, respectively. A smartphone camera-based system can be used with ease, low cost, in near-real-time, and on-site. This review article presents the applications and potential of the smartphone and the smartphone camera used for various purposes in agriculture, environment, and food.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.401-406
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• 2012

When viewed using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, invasive materials inside the human body, in many cases, severely distort the MR image of human tissues. The degree of the MR image distortion increases in proportion not only to the difference in the susceptibility between the invasive material and the human tissue, but also to the intensity of the magnetic field induced by the MRI system. In this study, by blending paramagnetic Ti particles with diamagnetic graphite, we synthesized $Ti_{100-x}C_x$ composites that can reduce the artifact in the MR image under the high-strength magnetic field. Of the developed composites, $Ti_{70}C_{30}$ showed the magnetic susceptibility of ${\chi}=67.6{\times}10^{-6}$, which corresponds to 30% of those of commercially available Ti alloys, the lowest reported in the literature. The level of the MR image distortion in the vicinity of the $Ti_{70}C_{30}$ composite insert was nearly negligible even under the high magnetic field of 4.7 T. In this paper, we reported on a methodology of designing new structural materials for bio-applications, their synthesis, experimental confirmation and measurement of MR images.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.80-87
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• 2020

Purpose: Some patients who have undergone surgery due to lumbar disc herniation still complain of leg pain and other abnormal sensations. Therefore, the study examined the effects of the neurodynamics on pain and other abnormal nerve sensations in post-operated patients with lumbar disc herniation. Methods: The participants of this study comprised 20 adults (10 males and 10 females) who were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation. The subjects were classified into two groups of 10 patients each in the lower extremity neurodynamics (LEN) and lumbar stabilization exercise (LSE) groups. Each intervention was applied twice a day for one week and was composed of two different exercise patterns; one was applied by a therapist, and the other was performed by the patients themselves. The data were analyzed using assessment methods of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI), Toronto clinical neuropathy scoring system (TCNSS), Sympathetic Skin Response (SSR) test, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scale. Results: Significant differences in TCNSS, DITI, ODI scale were observed between the LEN and LSE group (p<0.01). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the SSR test between pre and post-treatment (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results indicated that neurodynamics treatment is effective in pain reduction and abnormal sensations, such as leg muscle cramps, in post-operated patients with lumbar disc herniation.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.421-430
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• 2021

The multifocal multiphoton microscopy (MMM) enables high-speed imaging by the concurrent scanning and detection of multiple foci generated by lenslet array or diffractive optical element. The MMM system mainly suffers from crosstalk generated by scattered emission photons that form ghost images among adjacent channels. The ghost image which is a duplicate of the image acquired in sub-images significantly degrades overall image quality. To eliminate the ghost image, the photon reassignment method was established using maximum likelihood estimation. However, this post-processing method generally takes a longer time than image acquisition. In this regard, we propose a novel strategy for rapid noise reduction in the MMM system based upon Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation. Ballistic signal, scattering signal, and scattering noise of each channel are quantified in terms of photon distribution launched in tissue model based on MC simulation. From the analysis of photon distribution, we successfully eliminated the ghost images in the MMM sub-images. If the priori MC simulation under a certain optical condition is established at once, our simple, but robust post-processing technique will continuously provide the noise-reduced images, while significantly reducing the computational cost.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2015

Recently, the environment of a hospital information system is a trend to combine various SMART technologies. Accordingly, various smart devices, such as a smart phone, Tablet PC is utilized in the medical information system. Also, these environments consist of various applications executing on heterogeneous sensors, devices, systems and networks. In these hospital information system environment, applying a security service by traditional access control method cause a problems. Most of the existing security system uses the access control list structure. It is only permitted access defined by an access control matrix such as client name, service object method name. The major problem with the static approach cannot quickly adapt to changed situations. Hence, we needs to new security mechanisms which provides more flexible and can be easily adapted to various environments with very different security requirements. In addition, for addressing the changing of service medical treatment of the patient, the researching is needed. In this paper, we suggest a dynamic approach to medical information systems in smart mobile environments. We focus on how to access medical information systems according to dynamic access control methods based on the existence of the hospital's information system environments. The physical environments consist of a mobile x-ray imaging devices, dedicated mobile/general smart devices, PACS, EMR server and authorization server. The software environment was developed based on the .Net Framework for synchronization and monitoring services based on mobile X-ray imaging equipment Windows7 OS. And dedicated a smart device application, we implemented a dynamic access services through JSP and Java SDK is based on the Android OS. PACS and mobile X-ray image devices in hospital, medical information between the dedicated smart devices are based on the DICOM medical image standard information. In addition, EMR information is based on H7. In order to providing dynamic access control service, we classify the context of the patients according to conditions of bio-information such as oxygen saturation, heart rate, BP and body temperature etc. It shows event trace diagrams which divided into two parts like general situation, emergency situation. And, we designed the dynamic approach of the medical care information by authentication method. The authentication Information are contained ID/PWD, the roles, position and working hours, emergency certification codes for emergency patients. General situations of dynamic access control method may have access to medical information by the value of the authentication information. In the case of an emergency, was to have access to medical information by an emergency code, without the authentication information. And, we constructed the medical information integration database scheme that is consist medical information, patient, medical staff and medical image information according to medical information standards.y Finally, we show the usefulness of the dynamic access application service based on the smart devices for execution results of the proposed system according to patient contexts such as general and emergency situation. Especially, the proposed systems are providing effective medical information services with smart devices in emergency situation by dynamic access control methods. As results, we expect the proposed systems to be useful for u-hospital information systems and services.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.101-110
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• 2011

To describe the background, mechanism, clinical results and complications of prolotheapy based on the literature review. Prolotherapy is a minimally invasive injection-based treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain, including ligament and joint laxity. The mechanism of this injection-based technique is to initiate a local inflammatory response with resultant tissue healing. The used proliferants are classified by bio-mechanism to act in three different ways as osmotic, irritants, and chemotatics. The most commonly used proliferant is hyperosmolar (10~25%) dextrose to act by osmotic rupture of cells. High resolution ultrasound imaging of musculoskeletal structure provide a more accurate diagnosis. Also ultrasound-guided intervention provides a more high efficacy and low rate of complications. The most common complication is local pain at the injected site, that is self-limited and good responsive to anti-inflammatory agents. Other complications are rare. It is reported that prolotherapy appears safe when performed by an experienced clinician. Prolotherapy has grown in popularity and has received significant recent attention. However there are limited evidence-based data supporting the indication and efficacy of prolotherapy in the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain or soft tissue injuries. Future studies are necessary to determine whether prolotherapy can play an independent and definitive role in a treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.160-168
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• 2016

Background: Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is a well-characterized medicinal herb listed in the classic oriental herbal dictionary as "Shin-nong-bon-cho-kyung." Ginseng has diverse pharmacologic and therapeutic properties. Black ginseng (BG, Ginseng Radix nigra) is produced by repeatedly steaming fresh ginseng nine times. Studies of BG have shown that prolonged heat treatment enhances the antioxidant activity with increased radical scavenging activity. Several recent studies have showed the effects of BG on increased lipid profiles in mice. In this study report the effects of water and ethanol extracts of BG on hypercholesterolemia in rats. To our knowledge, this is the first time such an effect has been reported. Methods: Experiments were conducted on male Sprague Dawley rats fed with a high-cholesterol diet supplemented with the water and ethanol extracts of BG (200 mg/kg). Their blood cholesterol levels, serum white blood cell levels, and cholesterol-metabolizing marker genes messenger RNA (mRNA) expression were determined. Liver and adipose tissues were histologically analyzed. Results: We found that BG extracts efficiently reduced the total serum cholesterol levels, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels with increased food efficiency ratio and increased number of neutrophil cells. It also attenuated the key genes responsible for lipogenesis, that is, acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) acetyltransferase 2, 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2, at the mRNA level inside liver cells. Furthermore, the BG extract also reduced the accumulation of fat in adipose tissues, and inhibited the neutral fat content in liver cells stained with hematoxylin and eosin and oil red O. Conclusion: Administration of BG extracts to Sprague Dawley rats fed with high-cholesterol diet ameliorated hypercholesterolemia, which was mediated via modulation of cholesterol-metabolizing marker genes. This data throw a light on BG's cardioprotective effects.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.99-105
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• 2016

The noise power spectrum (NPS) is one of the most general methods for measuring the noise amplitude and the quality of an image acquired from a uniform radiation field. The purpose of this study was to compare different NPS methodologies by using megavoltage X-ray energies. The NPS evaluation methods in diagnostic radiation were applied to therapy using the International Electro-technical Commission standard (IEC 62220-1). Various radiation therapy (RT) devices such as TrueBeam$^{TM}$(Varian), BEAMVIEW$^{PLUS}$(Siemens), iViewGT(Elekta) and Clinac$^R$ iX (Varian) were used. In order to measure the region of interest (ROI) of the NPS, we used the following four factors: the overlapping impact, the non-overlapping impact, the flatness and penumbra. As for NPS results, iViewGT(Elekta) had the higher amplitude of noise, compared to BEAMVIEW$^{PLUS}$ (Siemens), TrueBeam$^{TM}$(Varian) flattening filter, Clinac$^{R}$iXaS1000(Varian) and TrueBeam$^{TM}$(Varian) flattening filter free. The present study revealed that various factors could be employed to produce megavoltage imaging (MVI) of the NPS and as a baseline standard for NPS methodologies control in MVI.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.55-60
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• 2011

In this paper, we propose a new method for extracting muscles from lumbar images. The proposed method sets areas without distortions with field expert's assistance as areas of measuring interest and removing noises from initial ultrasonic videos. Then, the method emphasizes the brightness contrast with Ends-in search stretching algorithm and separate thoracic vertebra from subcutaneous fat area using morphological characteristics. 4-directions contour tracing algorithm is applied to extract the bottom of subcutaneous fat area. Extracting thoracic vertebra area requires noise removal and morphological characteristics as well among candidate areas obtained by controlling min-max brightness. The thickness of muscles is then defined as the length between subcutaneous fat area and extracted thoracic vertebra. The experiment which consists of 368 image analysis verifies that the proposed method is more effective in measuring the thickness of muscles than before.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.555-565
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• 2019

Development of a biomarker for predicting tumor-treatment efficacy is a matter of great concern, to reduce time, medical expense, and effort in oncology therapy. In a preclinical study, we hypothesized that the blood-flow parameter based on laser speckle flowmetry (LSF) could be a potential indicator to estimate the efficacy of breast-cancer treatment. To verify this hypothesis, a 13762-MAT-B-III rat breast tumor was grown in a dorsal skinfold window chamber applied to a nude mouse, and the change in blood flow rate (BFR) - or the speckle flow index (SFI) is used together as the same meaning in this manuscript - was longitudinally monitored during tumor growth and metronomic cyclophosphamide treatment. Based on the daily LSF angiogram, several BFR parameters (baseline SFI, normalized SFI, and △rBFR) were compared to tumor size in the normal, treated, and untreated tumor groups. Despite the incomplete tumor treatment, we found that the daily changes in all BFR parameters tended to have partially positive correlation with tumor size. Moreover, we observed that the changes in baseline SFI and normalized SFI responded one day earlier than the tumor shrinkage during chemotherapy. However, daily variations in the hypercapnia-induced △rBFR lagged tumor shrinkage by one day. This study would contribute not only to evaluating tumor vascular response to treatment, but also to monitoring blood-flow-mediated diseases (in brain, skin, and retina) by using LSF in preclinical settings.