• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2015

The purpose is reducing radiation dose while maintaining of image quality in liver dynamic CT(LDCT) scan, by protocols generally used and the tube voltage set at a low level protocol compared to the radiation dose and image quality. The target is body mass index, 18.5~24 patients out of 40 patients who underwent the ACT(abdominal CT). Group A(tube voltage : 120kVp, SAFIRE strength 1) of 20 people among 40 people, to apply the general abdominal CT scan protocol, group B(tube voltage : 100kVp, apply SAFIRE strength 0~5) was 20 people, set a lower tube voltage. Image quality evaluation was setting a region of interest(ROI) in the liver parenchyma, aorta, superior mesenteric artery (SMA), celiac trunk, visceral fat of arterial phase. In the ROI were compared by measuring the noise, signal to noise ratio(SNR), contrast to noise ratio(CNR), CT number. In addition, qualitative assessments to evaluate two people in the rich professional experience in Radiology by 0-3 points. We compared the total radiation dose, dose length product(DLP) and effective dose, volume computed tomography dose index(CTDIvol). The higher SAFIRE in the tube voltage 100 kVp, noise is reduced, CT number was increased. Thus, SNR and CNR was increased higher the SAFIRE step. Compared with the tube voltage 120kVp, noise, SNR, CNR was most similar in SAFIRE strength 2 and 3. Qualitative assessment SAFIRE strength 2 is the most common SAFIRE strength 2 the most common qualitative assessment, if the tube voltage of 100kVp when the quality of the images better evaluated was SAFIRE strength 1. Dose was reduced from 21.69%, in 100kVp than 120kVp. In the case of a relatively high BMI is not LDCT scan, When it is shipped from the factory tube voltage is set higher, unnecessary radiation exposure when considering the reality that is concerned, when according to the results of this study, set a lower tube voltage and adjust the SAFIRE strength to 1 or 2, the radiation without compromising image quality amount also is thought to be able to be reduced.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between exposure index (EI) and dose factors related to radiation dose optimization in digital radiography (DR) system. Two phantoms with built-in regional test object for quantitative assessment of images were used to produce image signals that acquired in chest radiography background. EI and entrane surface dose (ESD) increased proportionally with rise of radiation dose (kVp, mAs) in both DR and CR systems. Especially, DR detector was effective to form good contrast and hence, reached easily to improvement of image quality with minimal dose changes. It made operators possible to expect the accuracy of EI values deeply related to absorbed dose of the detector. The evaluation of images was obtained specially employed calculation of noise to signal ratio (NSR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR). These measurements were performed for how exposure factors affect image quality. NSR was inversely proportional to kVp and mAs and low NSR represented high signal detection efficiency. Consequently, EI values was the measure of the amount of exposure received by the image receptor and it was proportional to exposure factors. Therefore the EI in a recommended range from manufacturer can offer optimal image quality. Also, continuous monitoring of EI values in the digital radiography can reduce the unnecessary patient dose and help the quality control of the system.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the effect of exposure parameters on image quality obtained using a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanner and the relationship between physical factors and clinical image quality depending on the diagnostic task. Materials and Methods: CBCT images of a SedentexCT IQ phantom and a real skull phantom were obtained under different combinations of tube voltage and tube current (Alphard 3030 CBCT scanner, 78-90 kVp and 2-8 mA). The images obtained using a SedentexCT IQ phantom were analyzed technically, and the physical factors of image noise, contrast resolution, spatial resolution, and metal artifacts were measured. The images obtained using a real skull phantom were evaluated for each diagnostic task by 6 oral and maxillofacial radiologists, and each setting was classified as acceptable or unacceptable based on those evaluations. A statistical analysis of the relationships of exposure parameters and physical factors with observer scores was conducted. Results: For periapical diagnosis and implant planning, the tube current of the acceptable images was significantly higher than that of the unacceptable images. Image noise, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), the line pair chart on the Z axis, and modulation transfer function (MTF) values showed statistically significant differences between the acceptable and unacceptable image groups. The cut-off values obtained using receiver operating characteristic curves for CNR and MTF 10 were useful for determining acceptability. Conclusion: Tube current had a major influence on clinical image quality. CNR and MTF 10 were useful physical factors that showed significantly associations with clinical image quality.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.219-224
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• 2021

The purpose of these experiments is often to scan infected patients with MRI. Therefore, it is to investigate whether the antibacterial film containing silver ions, which is a non-magnetic substance, affects magnetic resonance imaging. In this experiment, the ACR phantom was used, not the patient. The ACR phantom was wrapped in an antibacterial film and the SNR, CNR, sagittal localization image, and geometrical accuracy were compared before and after. The experiment was performed 10 times and the averaged values were compared. There were no significant differences in the results of all experiments. The FDA recommends removing metal and antibacterial film masks during MRI scans. The reason is that there was one case of injury with facial burns. When I touched the antibacterial film to check the fever during the 2 hour experiment, I did not feel any particular fever. In light of the experimental results, it would be helpful to use an antibacterial film when testing an infected patient. The reason is that there isn't a difference before and after the experiment of SNR, CNR, and sagittal localization images.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.225-229
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• 2021

The digital image such as medical X-ray and nuclear medicine field mainly contains noise distribution. The noise degree in image degrades image quality. That is why, the noise reduction algorithm is efficient for medical image field. In this study, we confirmed effectiveness of application for median modified Wiener filter (MMWF) algorithm for noise reduction in PET/MR image compared with median filter image, which is used as conventional noise redcution algorithm. The Jaszczak PET phantom was used by using 18F solution and filled with NaCl+NiSO4 fluids. In addition, the radioactivity ratio between background and six spheres in the phantom is maintained to 1:8. In order to mimic noise distribution in the image, we applied Gaussian noise using MATLAB software. To evlauate image quality, the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and coefficient of variation (COV) were used. According to the results, compared with noise image and images with MMWF algorithm, the image with MMWF algorithm is increased approximately 33.2% for CNR result, decreased approximately 79.3% for COV result. In conclusion, we proved usefulness of MMWF algorithm in the PET/MR images.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.138-142
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• 2016

Dual-energy digital radiography (DEDR) has been used for detecting lesions within the body using energy subtraction methods. The purpose of this study was to acquire optimal bone and tissue image by changing physical factors such as Tube voltage (kVp) and add filters, and then we compared with the predicted values using SRS-78 program and experimental results. For that purpose, we acquired images according to changes in physical parameters of various materials since we had to acquire the optimal bone and tissue image using energy subtraction. Used phantom consists of aluminum and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and a comparison of image optimization was measured by contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). In results, first of all, we confirmed that a subtraction image from 50 kVp image and 120 kVp image is optimal bone and tissue image. Also when we added a 10 mm Aluminum add filter, we expected it is a result of the optimal bone and tissue image. Besides, we confirmed these results are consistent with the predicted optimized condition by SRS-78 program.. In conclusion, we indicated that we can acquire optimal bone and tissue image by controling physical factors such as kVp, add filters through this study. Also we expected that DEDR will contribute to the field of medical imaging technology.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1334-1344
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• 2020

Objective: Compressed sensing (CS) has gained wide interest since it accelerates MRI acquisition. We aimed to compare the 3D post-contrast T1-weighted volumetric isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition (VISTA) with CS (VISTA-CS) and without CS (VISTA-nonCS) in intracranial vessel wall MRIs (VW-MRI). Materials and Methods: From April 2017 to July 2018, 72 patients who underwent VW-MRI, including both VISTA-CS and VISTA-nonCS, were retrospectively enrolled. Wall and lumen volumes, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were measured from normal and lesion sites. Two neuroradiologists independently evaluated overall image quality and degree of normal and lesion wall delineation with a four-point scale (scores ≥ 3 defined as acceptable). Results: Scan coverage was increased in VISTA-CS to cover both anterior and posterior circulations with a slightly shorter scan time compared to VISTA-nonCS (approximately 7 minutes vs. 8 minutes). Wall and lumen volumes were not significantly different with VISTA-CS or VISTA-nonCS (interclass correlation coefficient = 0.964-0.997). SNR was or trended towards significantly higher values in VISTA-CS than in VISTA-nonCS. At normal sites, CNR was not significantly different between two sequences (p = 0.907), whereas VISTA-CS provided lower CNR in lesion sites compared with VISTA-nonCS (p = 0.003). Subjective wall delineation was superior with VISTA-nonCS than with VISTA-CS (p = 0.019), although overall image quality did not differ (p = 0.297). The proportions of images with acceptable quality were not significantly different between VISTA-CS (83.3-97.8%) and VISTA-nonCS (75-100%). Conclusion: CS may be useful for intracranial VW-MRI as it allows for larger scan coverage with slightly shorter scan time without compromising image quality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.637-645
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to find the optimum test device for the cerebral blood vessels by comparing and analyzing the SNR and CNR methods for images of three devices (i.e., MRA, CTA, and DSA). The study targeted 90 patients who underwent cerebral angiography from November 2016 to May 2017. The measuring parts were measured by using Rt MCA, Lt MCA, and ACA Image J. The results of quantitative analysis showed that the mean SNR of MRA, the CNR of MRA, the signal strength of MRA, the mean SNR of CTA, the CNR of CTA, the signal strength of CTA, the SNR of DSA, the CNR of DSA, and the signal strength of DSA were evaluated as 254.87, 178.13, 326.81, 74.75, 62.2, 356.66, 26.85, 25.89, and 4400.69, respectively (p<0.05). As a result, both SNR and CNR methods measured it in the order of MRA>CTA>DSA. Statistical significance was determined by using ANOVA analysis at p<0.05 and Bonferroni method was used as a post-hoc analysis SPSS. In conclusion, the results of this study revealed that the optimum imaging devices were MRA, CTA, and DSA after evaluating randomly selected patients with cerebrovascular disease.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 1999

Purpose : To evaluate the detection rate of hyperacute intracerebral hemorrhage in echo planar imaging (EPI) and other MR sequences. materials and Methods : Intracerebral hemorrhage was experimentally induced in ten rats. EPI, fast spin-echo (FSE) T2 weighted images, fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), spin-echo (SE) T1 weighted images and gradient echo (GE) T1 weight ed images of rat's brains were obtained 2 hours after onset of intracerebral hemorrhage. EPI and FSE T2 images were additionally obtained 30 min and 1 hour after onset of hemorrhage in 3 and 6 rat, repeatedly, For objective visual assessment, discrimination between the lesion and normal brain parenchyma was evaluated on various MR sequences by three radiologists. For quantitative assessment, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated fro hemorrhage-normal brain parenchyma. Statistical analysis was performed usning the Wilcoxon-Ranks test. Results : EPI, FLAIR, and FSE T2 images showed high signal intensity lesions. The lesion discrimination was easier on EPI than on other sequences, and also EPI showed higher signal intensity for the subjective visual assessment. In quantitative evaluation, CNR of the hemorrhagic lesion versus normal brain parenchyma were higher on EPI and FLAIR images (p<0.01). There was no difference in CNR between EPI and FLAIR (p>0.10). On MR images obtained 30 minutes and 1 hour after the onset of intracerebral hemorrhage, the lesion detection was feasible on both EPI and FSE T2 images showing high signal intensity. Conclusion : EPI showed higher detection rate as compared with other MR sequences and could be useful in early detection and evaluation of intracerebral hemorrhage.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2024

Purpose: To improve the image quality in positron emission tomography (PET), the attenuation correction technique based on the computed tomography (CT) data is important process. However, the artifact is caused by metal material during PET/CT scan, and the image quality is degraded. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate image quality according to with and without iterative metal artifact reduction (iMAR) algorithm using customized 3D printing phantom. Materials and Methods: The Hoffman and Derenzo phantoms were designed. To protect the gamma ray transmission and express the metal portion, lead substance was located to the surface. The SiPM based PET/CT was used for acquisition of PET images according to application with and without iMAR algorithm. The quantitative methods were used by signal to noise ratio (SNR), coefficient of variation (COV), and contrast to noise ratio (CNR). Results and Discussion: The results shows that the image quality applying iMAR algorithm was higher 1.15, 1.19, and 1.11 times than image quality without iMAR algorithm for SNR, COV, and CNR. Conclusion: In conclusion, the iMAR algorithm was useful for improvement of image quality by reducing the metal artifact lesion.