• Journal of Radiation Industry
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.131-137
• /
• 2017

To compare the radiation dose and image noise of low dose computed tomography (CT) and high resolution CT using the fixed tube current technique and automatic tube current modulation (CARE Dose 4D). Chest CT and human anthropomorphic phantom were used the RPL (radiophotoluminescence) dosimeters. For image evaluation, standard deviation of mean CT attenuation coefficient and CT attenuation coefficient was measured using ROI analysis function. The effective dose was calculated using CTDIvol and DLP. CARE Dose 4D was reduced by 74.7% and HRCT by 64.4% compared to the fixed tube current technique in low dose CT of chest phantom. In CTDIvol and DLP, the dose of CARE Dose 4D was reduced by fixed tube current technique. For effective dose, CARE Dose 4D was reduced by 47% and HRCT by 46.9% compared to the fixed tube current method, and the dose of CARE Dose 4D was significantly different (p<.05). Noise in the image was higher than that in the fixed tube current technique. Noise difference in the image of CARE Dose 4D in low dose CT was significant (p<.05). The low radiation dose and the noise difference of the CARE Dose 4D were compared with the fixed tube current technique in low dose CT and HRCT using chest phantom. The radiation doses using CARE Dose 4D were in accordance with the national and international dose standards. CARE Dose 4D should be applied to low dose CT and HRCT for clinical examination.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.293-299
• /
• 2021

In order to reduce the irresistible radiation exposure of patients who perform periodic examinations using a CT among various scan parameters a method to reduce patient dose was investigated through changes in the tube voltage close to X-ray penetrating power. As a result of the experiment 100 kVp was applied instead of 120 kVp which is commonly used in clinical practice and CTDI decreased by about 41% during scan. In addition the degree of change in image quality was measured as 1046.1±3.7 HU for CT value and 71.4±7.9 for Pixel value and statistical analysis showed no significant difference (0.05

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.399-405
• /
• 2012

The brain is the body's most organized and controlled organ, and it governs various psychological and mental functions. A brain abnormality could greatly affect one's physical and mental abilities, and consequently one's social life. Brain disorders can be broadly categorized into three main afflictions: stroke, brain tumor, and dementia. Among these, stroke is a common disease that occurs owing to a disorder in blood flow, and it is accompanied by a sudden loss of consciousness and motor paralysis. The main types of strokes are infarction and hemorrhage. The exact diagnosis and early treatment of an infarction are very important for the patient's prognosis and for the determination of the treatment direction. In this study, texture features were analyzed in order to develop a prototype auto-diagnostic system for infarction using computer auto-diagnostic software. The analysis results indicate that of the six parameters measured, the average brightness, average contrast, flatness, and uniformity show a high cognition rate whereas the degree of skewness and entropy show a low cognition rate. On the basis of these results, it was suggested that a digital CT image obtained using the computer auto-diagnostic software can be used to provide valuable information for general CT image auto-detection and diagnosis for pre-reading. This system is highly advantageous because it can achieve early diagnosis of the disease and it can be used as supplementary data in image reading. Further, it is expected to enable accurate medical image detection and reduced diagnostic time in final-reading.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.25 no.9
• /
• pp.833-842
• /
• 2024

Objective: To assess the effect of a new lung enhancement filter combined with deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) algorithm on image quality and ground-glass nodule (GGN) sharpness compared to hybrid iterative reconstruction or DLIR alone. Materials and Methods: Five artificial spherical GGNs with various densities (-250, -350, -450, -550, and -630 Hounsfield units) and 10 mm in diameter were placed in a thorax anthropomorphic phantom. Four scans at four different radiation dose levels were performed using a 256-slice CT (Revolution Apex CT, GE Healthcare). Each scan was reconstructed using three different reconstruction algorithms: adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-V at a level of 50% (AR50), Truefidelity (TF), which is a DLIR method, and TF with a lung enhancement filter (TF + Lu). Thus, 12 sets of reconstructed images were obtained and analyzed. Image noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio were compared among the three reconstruction algorithms. Nodule sharpness was compared among the three reconstruction algorithms using the full-width at half-maximum value. Furthermore, subjective image quality analysis was performed. Results: AR50 demonstrated the highest level of noise, which was decreased by using TF + Lu and TF alone (P = 0.001). TF + Lu significantly improved nodule sharpness at all radiation doses compared to TF alone (P = 0.001). The nodule sharpness of TF + Lu was similar to that of AR50. Using TF alone resulted in the lowest nodule sharpness. Conclusion: Adding a lung enhancement filter to DLIR (TF + Lu) significantly improved the nodule sharpness compared to DLIR alone (TF). TF + Lu can be an effective reconstruction technique to enhance image quality and GGN evaluation in ultralow-dose chest CT scans.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.69-74
• /
• 2019

Purpose $^{18}F$-FDOPA using amino acid is particularly attractive for imaging of brain tumors because of the high uptake in tumor tissue and the low uptake in normal brain tissue. But, on the other hand, $^{18}F$-FDG is highly uptake in both tumor tissue and normal brain tissue. The purpose of study is to evaluate comparison of contrasts in $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT and $^{18}F$-FDG Brain PET/CT and to find out optimal scan time by analysis of variation in SUV with the passage of uptake time. Materials and Methods A region of interest of approximately $350mm^2$ at the center of the tumor and cerebellum in 12 patients ($51.4{\pm}12.8yrs$) who $^{18}F$-FDG Brain PET/CT and $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT were examined more than once each. The $SUV_{max}$ was measured, and the $SUV_{max}$ ratio (T/C ratio) of the tumor cerebellum was calculated. In the analysis of SUV, T/C ratio was calculated for each frame after dividing into 15 frames of 2 minutes each using List mode data in 25 patients ($49.{\pm}10.3yrs$). SPSS 21 was used to compare T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDOPA and T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDG. Results The T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT was higher than the T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDG Brain, and show a significant difference according to a paired t-test(t=-5.214, p=0.000). As a result of analyzing changes in $SUV_{max}$ and T/C ratio, the peak point of $SUV_{max}$ was $5.6{\pm}2.9$ and appeared in the fourth frame (6 to 8 minutes), and the peak of T/C ratio also appeared in the fourth frame (6 to 8 minutes). Taking this into consideration and comparing the existing 10 to 30 minutes image and 6 to 26 minutes image, the $SUV_{max}$ and T/C ratio increased by 0.2 and 0.1 each, compared to the 10 to 30 minutes image for 6 to 26 minutes image. Conclusion From this study, $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT is effective when reading the image, because the T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT was higher than T/C ratio of $^{18}F$-FDG Brain PET/CT. In addition, in the case of $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT, there was no difference between the existing 10 to 30 minutes image and 6 to 26 minutes image. Through continuous research, we can find possibility of shortening examination time in $^{18}F$-FDOPA Brain PET/CT. Also, we can help physician to accurate reading using additional scan data.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.151-159
• /
• 2021

Background: Computed tomography (CT) is one of the crucial diagnostic tools in modern medicine. However, careful monitoring of radiation dose for CT patients is essential since the procedure involves ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen. Materials and Methods: The most desirable CT dose descriptor for risk analysis is the organ absorbed dose. A variety of CT organ dose calculators currently available were reviewed in this article. Results and Discussion: Key common elements included in CT dose calculators were discussed and compared, such as computational human phantoms, CT scanner models, organ dose database, effective dose calculation methods, tube current modulation modeling, and user interface platforms. Conclusion: It is envisioned that more research needs to be conducted to more accurately map CT coverage on computational human phantoms, to automatically segment organs and tissues for patient-specific dose calculations, and to accurately estimate radiation dose in the cone beam computed tomography process during image-guided radiation therapy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.39-42
• /
• 2013

Objective : Obtaining real-time image is essential for neurosurgeons to minimize invasion of normal brain tissue and to prompt diagnosis of intracranial event. The aim of this study was to report our three-year experience with a mobile computed tomography (mCT) for intraoperative and bedside scanning. Methods : A total of 357 mCT (297 patients) scans from January 2009 to December 2011 in single institution were reviewed. After excluding postoperative routine follow-up, 202 mCT were included for analysis. Their medical records such as diagnosis, clinical application, impact on decision making, times, image quality and radiologic findings were assessed. Results : Two-hundred-two mCT scans were performed in the operation room (n=192, 95%) or intensive care unit (ICU) (n=10, 5%). Regarding intraoperative images, extent of resection of tumor (n=55, 27.2%), degree of hematoma removal (n=42, 20.8%), confirmation of catheter placement (n=91, 45.0%) and monitoring unexpected complications (n=4, 2.0%) were evaluated. A total of 14 additional procedures were introduced after confirmation of residual tumor (n=7, 50%), hematoma (n=2, 14.3%), malpositioned catheter (n=3, 21.4%) and newly developed intracranial events (n=2, 14.3%). Every image was obtained within 15 minutes and image quality was sufficient for interpretation. Conclusion : mCT is feasible for prompt intraoperative and ICU monitoring with enhanced diagnostic certainty, safety and efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.417-422
• /
• 2023

In this study, normal saline was diluted with the contrast medium at a certain ratio for the purpose of reducing the image quality poor and side effects caused by the contrast medium during CT examination. At this time, by finding the energy level of DECT that can compensate for the decrease in contrast of the image according to the degree of dilution, the usefulness of applying DECT for compensating the difference in image contrast was investigated through comparative analysis by applying SNR, CNR, and SSIM. As a result, when a dilution ratio of 4 (contrast medium): 6 (normal saline) and the energy level of DECT of 65 keV were applied, the contrast difference was the most similar to that when using the undiluted contrast medium. At this time, SNR was 813.71 ± 37.6, CNR was the highest at 921.87 ± 17.1, and SSIM index was measured at 0.851, which is the most similar to 1. The results of this study are meaningful in providing basic information for finding the appropriate dilution rate and energy level for each examination site through future clinical studies. It is believed that it can be reduced.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.369-374
• /
• 2015

In this study we proposed a texture feature analysis algorithm that distinguishes between a normal image and a diseased image using CT images of some brain hemorrhage patients, and generates both Eigen images and test images which can be applied to the proposed computer aided diagnosis system in order to perform a quantitative analysis for 6 parameters. And through the analysis, we derived and evaluated the recognition rate of CT images of brain hemorrhage. As the results of examining over 40 example CT images of brain hemorrhage, the recognition rates representing a specific texture feature-value are as follows: some appeared to be as high as 100% including average gray level, average contrast, smoothness, and Skewness while others showed a little low disease recognition rate: 95% for uniformity and 87.5% for entropy. Consequently, based on this research result, if a software that enables a computer aided diagnosis system for medical images is developed, it will lead to the availability for the automatic detection of a diseased spot in CT images of brain hemorrhage and quantitative analysis. And they can be used as computer aided diagnosis data, resulting in the increased accuracy and the shortened time in the stage of final reading.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.541-549
• /
• 2023

The aim of this study wasto conduct a quantitative analysis of CT image quality according to an algorithm designed to reduce metal artifacts induced by metal components. Ten baseline images were obtained with the standard filtered back-projection algorithm using spectral detector-based CT and CT ACR 464 phantom, and ten images were also obtained on the identical phantom with the standard filtered back-projection algorithm after inducing metal artifacts. After applying the to raw data from images with metal artifacts, ten additional images for each were obtained by applying the virtual monoenergetic algorithm. Regions of interest were set for polyethylene, bone, acrylic, air, and water located in the CT ACR 464 phantom module 1 to conduct compare the Hounsfield units for each algorithm. The algorithms were individually analyzed using root mean square error, mean absolute error, signal-to-noise ratio, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity index to assess the overall image quality. When the Hounsfield units of each algorithm were compared, a significant difference was found between the images with different algorithms (p < .05), and large changes were observed in images using the virtual monoenergetic algorithm in all regions of interest except acrylic. Image quality analysis indices revealed that images with the metal artifact reduction algorithm had the highest resolution, but the structural similarity index was highest for images with the metal artifact reduction algorithm followed by an additional virtual monoenergetic algorithm. In terms of CT images, the metal artifact reduction algorithm was shown to be more effective than the monoenergetic algorithm at reducing metal artifacts, but to obtain quality CT images, it will be important to ascertain the advantages and differences in image qualities of the algorithms, and to apply them effectively.