• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.175-180
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• 2006

Background: A transforaminal epidural steroid injection has been used for the treatment of radicular arm or leg pain, which has the advantage of ventral epidural spreading compared to either an interlaminar or caudal approach. However, several factors are known to affect the epidural spread pattern of contrast dye; therefore, the injected medication can not be delivered to the target site. The objective of our study was to observe any differences in the contrast flow patterns according to several factors. Methods: A total of 34 epidurographies in 29 patients, who underwent fluoroscopically guided transforaminal epidural steroid injections, were evaluated. After confirming the location of the needle tip within the anterior superior aspect of the neural foramen in the lateral view, and at the 6 o'clock position to the pedicle in the anteroposterior view, 2 ml of contrast dye was injected. The contrast flow patterns of ventral, ventral and dorsal, and dorsal epidural filling were analyzed, according to age, gender, magnetic resonance imaging finding and history of previous back surgery. Results: Ventral contrast flow occurred in 30 out of the 34 epidurographies (88%). Both ventral and dorsal contrast flow patterns were observed 13 out of 16 (81%) patients in the older age group. Also, both ventral and dorsal contrast flow patterns were observed in 16 out of 18 (88%) patients with spinal stenosis. Conclusions: Transforaminal epidural steroid injections, performed uner fluoroscopy, provide excellent nerve root filling and ventral epidural spreading. Patients with spinal stenosis or an old age have both ventral and dorsal epidural spreading patterns.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2005

Purpose : Image plate (IP) is substituted for film in computed radiography. This study is to investigate into a variation of contrast and detail by the number used of image plate in computed radiography. Materials and Methods : A Contrast-Detail(CD)-RAD 2.0 phantom(Nijmegen hospital, The Netherlands) was used for this study. The computed radiography(CR) CD-RAD phantom images were acquired at 40 kVp, 160 mA, 1.6 mAs, and small focus with the Shimadzu general radiography UD-150B-10 system and Fuji FCR 5000 image process system with speed of 200. The IP used including once, 5000 times, and 10000 times also was used. The numerical value of image quality figures (IQF) was produced by CD-RAD analyser(the program is installed in the directory), and then contrast-detail curve was drawn. Results : In this study, the value of IQF was 3.53 in IP used once, 3.40 in 5000 times, and 3.22 in 10000 times. Conclusions : There was a variation of contrast-detail curve by the number used of IP with contrast-detail phantom in computed radiography. Therefore, it is necessary that the IP with lower IQF and a shift of contrast-detail curve to the lower left part is used.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 1999

An enhancement technique for phase dependent image contrast in MRI(Manetic Resonance Imaging) is proposed. Because the method can enhance inherent phase contrast it is suited for susceptibility imaging and flow imaging where intravoxel phase is a source of image contrast. In this paper, applying external phase in the voxel enhances phase contrast. The external phase is generated by a tailored RF pulse so that one can control the phase contrast and even produces phase only contrast. Signal intensity due to both inherent phase and external phase is analyzed and the proposed technique is applied to a susceptibility effect only imaging and a flow effect only imaging. To verify the proposed technique, computer simulations are performed and their results are given.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.89-94
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• 2014

It is established that the perceived image contrast is affected by surround luminance. In order to get the same perceived image contrast, the optimum surround compensation ratios for those surround conditions is needed. Much research has been performed for dark, dim, and average surrounds. In this study, a wide range of surround luminance from dark up to $2087cd/m^2$ was considered. Using magnitude estimation method, the change in perceived brightness of six test stimuli was measured under seven surround conditions; dark, dim, 2 levels of average, bright, and 2 levels of over-bright surrounds. To drive the perceived image contrast from the perceived brightness, two different definitions of contrast were tested. Their calculated results were compared with the visual data of our previous work. And to conclude, the perceived contrast compensation ratios were 1:1.11:1.2 for average, dim and dark surrounds. These were close to CIECAM02 model (1:1.17:1.31). Besides, for average, bright, over-bright1 and over-bright2 surrounds the ratios 1:1.17:1.42:1.69 were determined. For intermediate or more extreme surround conditions, the compensation ratio was obtained from the linear interpolation or extrapolation.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.351-361
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• 2021

Speckle imaging is capable of dynamic data acquisition at high spatiotemporal resolution, and has played a vital role in the functional study of biological specimens. The presence of various optical scatterers within the tissue causes alteration of speckle contrast. Thus structures like blood vessels can be delineated and quantified. Although laser speckle imaging is frequently used, an optimization process to ensure the maximum speckle contrast has not been available. In this respect, we here report an experimental procedure to optimize speckle contrast via applying different combinations of varying polarization of the illuminating laser light and multiple analyzer angles. Specifically, samples were illuminated by the p-polarization, 45°-polarization, and s-polarization of the incident laser, and speckle images were recorded without and with the analyzer rotated from 0° to 180° (Δ = 30°). Following the baseline imaging of a solid diffuser and a fixed brain sample, laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) was successfully performed to visualize in vivo mouse-brain blood flow. For oblique laser illumination, the maximum contrast achieved with p-polarized and s-polarized light was perpendicular to the analyzer's axis. This study demonstrates the optimization process for maximizing the speckle contrast, which can improve blood-flow estimation in vivo.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.41-47
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• 2019

In this paper, we propose a application of conditional generative adversarial network (cGAN) for generation of contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) image. Two types of CT data which were the enhanced and non-enhanced were used and applied by the histogram equalization for adjusting image intensities. In order to validate the generation of contrast enhanced CT data, the structural similarity index measurement (SSIM) was performed. Prepared generated contrast CT data were analyzed the statistical analysis using paired sample t-test. In order to apply the optimized algorithm for the lymph node cancer, they were calculated by short to long axis ratio (S/L) method. In the case of the model trained with CT data and their histogram equalized SSIM were $0.905{\pm}0.048$ and $0.908{\pm}0.047$. The tumor S/L of generated contrast enhanced CT data were validated similar to the ground truth when they were compared to scanned contrast enhanced CT data. It is expected that advantages of Generated contrast enhanced CT data based on deep learning are a cost-effective and less radiation exposure as well as further anatomical information with non-enhanced CT data.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2024

The Korean three-way stop contrast (lenis, aspirated, fortis) is currently undergoing a sound change, such that the primary cue distinguishing lenis and aspirated stops is shifting from voice onset time (VOT) to F0. Despite recent discussions of this shift, research on voice quality, traditionally considered an additional cue signaling the contrast, remains sparse. This study investigated the extent to which the associated voice quality [as reflected in the acoustic measurements of H1^*-H2^*, H1^*- A1^*, and cepstral peak prominence (CPP)] contributes to the three-way stop contrast, and how the realization is conditioned by prominence- vs. boundary-induced prosodic strengthening amid the ongoing sound change. Results for 12 native Korean speakers indicate that there was a substantial distinction in voice quality among the three stop categories with the breathiness of the vowel being the greatest after the lenis, intermediate after the aspirated, and least after the fortis stops, indicating the role of voice quality in the maintenance of the three-way stop contrast. Furthermore, prosodic strengthening has different effects on the contrast and contributes to the enhancement of the phonological contrast contingent on whether it is induced by prominence or boundary.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2018

Background: The thoracic transforaminal epidural block (TTFEB) is usually performed to treat herpes zoster or postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Especially, multiple segmental involvements and approximate contrast medium spread range, according to volume, help to choose the proper drug volume in the transforaminal epidural block. This study investigated the contrast medium spread patterns of 1-ml to 3-ml TTFEBs. Methods: A total of 26 patients with herpes zoster or PHN were enrolled in this study. All participants received 1 ml, 2 ml, or 3 ml of contrast medium. Results were divided into Groups A, B and C based on the volume (1, 2, or 3 ml), with n = 26 for each group. After the injection of contrast medium, the spread levels were estimated in both the lateral and anteroposterior (AP) images using fluoroscopy. Results: The cephalad spread of contrast medium in the lateral image as expressed by the median (interquartile range) was 2.00 levels (1.00-2.00) for Group A, 2.50 (2.00-3.00) for Group B, and 3.00 (2.00-4.00) for Group C. The caudal spread level of contrast medium was 1.00 (1.00-2.00) for Group A, 2.00 (2.00-3.00) for Group B, and 2.00 (2.00-3.00) for Group C. There was ventral and dorsal spread of the 3-ml contrast medium injection in 88% (23/26) of cases in the lateral image. Conclusions: Injection of 3 ml of contrast medium through the foramina spread 6 levels in a cephalocaudal direction. Spread patterns revealed a cephalad preference. TTFEB resulted in dorsal and ventral spread in a high percentage of cases. This procedure may be useful for transferring drugs to the dorsal and ventral roots.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.110-117
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• 2016

Applying the contrast enhancement algorithms to luminance values of color images is a widely used approach to enhance the contrast of color images. The results obtained by this approach have reduced saturation compared with that of the original images in spite of contrast enhancement without color degradation. Applying the contrast enhancement algorithm to each channel of color images is another approach for the contrast enhancement of color images. This method produces improved images in terms of contrast and saturation while the hue of original images is changed. In this paper, main cause of color degradation is analyzed and then solving the problem based on the analysis. The channel adaptive contrast enhancement method considering characteristics of each channel is also proposed to deal with color degradation. As a result, the proposed method enhances the contrast and saturation simultaneously without color degradation. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional methods not only on subjective evaluation but on objective criteria.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2016

Objective: The increasing use of imaging examinations such as computed tomography (CT) results in increased contrast media use, which increases contrast media-induced adverse reactions (AR). This study investigated the risk factors of ARs to nonionic iodinated contrast media. Methods: This study evaluated patients who were administered iodinated contrast media during CT scanning in Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul, Korea in 2012. Among the subjects, those with contrast media-induced ARs were classified as the AR group. The control group included individuals without ARs who were selected through simple random sampling. The effects of sex, age, contrast media type and dose, CT region, previous contrast media administration, allergy history, and comorbidity were analyzed in the AR and control groups. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the identified AR risk factors in 103 subjects in the AR group and 412 subjects in the control group. The results confirmed that the risk of developing ARs was significantly higher in females [odds ratio (OR): 2.206; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.353-3.598], in individuals administered Iohexol (OR: 9.981; 95% CI: 2.361-42.193), in individuals with an allergy history (OR: 3.982; 95% CI: 1.742-9.101), and in individuals with comorbid asthma (OR: 6.619; 95% CI: 1.377-31.826). Most of the ARs were mild and immediate. Conclusion: In patients who were administered contrast media during CT scans, female gender, Iohexol use, allergy history, and asthma were risk factors for ARs. Therefore, special care is required for patients with such risk factors to prevent ARs.