• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.392-403
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• 2010

In this study, a new methodology by using the X-ray CT scan is proposed for estimating void ratio of very fine clayey soil. Since the particle size of the clay is too fine to calculate the volume of void inside the clays, CT scanning tests with a number of clay specimens that were artificially set to have various designated void ratios have been carried out. From the tests, a relationship between the CT values and void ratios is given to be used for estimating the invisible void ratio of very fine clay from a representative CT value scanned. The linear relationship was able to be acquired finally. It is expected that micro X-ray CT scanning can be capable of capturing the void ratio of very fine soils without any errors inherent in the conventional specific gravity tests.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.33-38
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• 2014

Purpose Auto exposure control (AEC) in SPECT/CT automatically controls the exposure dose (mA) according to patient's shape and size. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of AEC in SPECT/CT on exposure dose reduction and image quality. Materials and Methods The model of SPECT/CT used in this study was Discovery 670 (GE, USA), Smart mA for AEC; and $^{99m}Tc$ as a radioisotope. To compare SPECT and CT images by CT exposure dose variation, we used a standard technique set at 80, 100, 120, 140 kVp, 10, 30, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mA, and AEC at 80, 100, 120, 140 kVp, 10-250 mA. To evaluate resolution and contrast of SPECT images, triple line phantom and flangeless Esser PET phantom were used. For CT images, noise and uniformity were checked by anthropomrphic chest phantom. For dose evaluation to find DLP value, anthropomorphic chest phantom was used and the CT protocol of torso was applied by standard technique (120 kVp, 100 mA) and AEC (120 kVp, 10-250 mA). Results When standard and AEC were applied, the resolutions at SPECT images with attenuation correction (AC) were the same as FWHM by center 3.65 mm, left 3.48 mm, right 3.61 mm. Contrasts of standard and AEC showed no significant difference: standard 53.5, 29.8, 22.5, 15.8, 6.0, AEC 53.5, 29.6, 22.4, 15.7, 6.1 In CT images, noise values at standard and AEC were 15.4 and 18.5 respectively. The application of AEC increases noise but the value of coefficient variation were 33.8, 24.9 respectively, obtaining uniform noise image. The values of DLP at standard and AEC were 426.78 and 352.09 each, which shows that the application of AEC decreases exposure dose more than standard by approximately 18%. Conclusion The results of our study show that there was no difference of AC in SPECT images based on the CT exposure dose variation at SPECT/CT images. It was found that the increased CT exposure dose leads to the improvement of CT image quality but also increases the exposure dose. Thus, the use of AEC in SPECT/CT contributes to obtaining equal AC SPECT images, and uniform noise in CT images while reducing exposure dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.669-676
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the values of Hounsfield Unit (HU) according to the changes in monoenergy (keV) and dilution ratio of the contrast agent, using the spectral CT. Spectral CT was used as the testing device, while 20 cc syringe phantom was used to set a total of six dilution ratios of the contrast agent: 8:2, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4:6, and 3:7. Here, the non-ionic iodine solution (350 mg/ml) was used as a contrast agent. The syringe axial image was reconstructed by adjusting the obtained data on nine MonoE levels; 40 keV, 45 keV, 50 keV, 55 keV, 60 keV, 65 keV, 70 keV, 75 keV, and 80 keV. The HU values were measured at the three points of the reconstructed syringe axial image. The measurements were taken 1,620 times in total. In the analysis of the HU values according to the changes in keV and dilution ratio of the contrast agent, the highest and lowest HU values were obtained from dilution ratio 8:2 and dilution ratio 3:7, respectively, across every MonoE in the comparison of HU according to dilution ratio per MonoE (p<0.05), while the highest and lowest HU values were obtained from 40 keV and 80 keV, respectively, across all dilution ratios in the comparison of HU according to MonoE per dilution ratio (p<0.05). For the correlation per each parameter, a negative correlation of -15.014 ± 0.298 was found for HU per keV (R²=0.519) and a negative correlation of -61.372 ± 3.608 was found for HU per dilution ratio (R²=0.152) (p<0.05). To conclude, an increase in keV or dilution ratio of the contrast agent was shown to decrease the HU, and the findings in this study are anticipated to serve as the basic data in the research of HU-related parameters in Spectral CT.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2004

Pixel values of contrast enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) images are randomly changed. Also, the middle liver part has a problem to segregate the liver structure because of similar gray-level values of a pancreas in the abdomen. In this paper, an automatic liver segmentation method using a partial histogram threshold (PHT) algorithm is proposed for overcoming randomness of CE-CT images and removing the pancreas. After histogram transformation, adaptive multi-modal threshold is used to find the range of gray-level values of the liver structure. Also, the PHT algorithm is performed for removing the pancreas. Then, morphological filtering is processed for removing of unnecessary objects and smoothing of the boundary. Four CE-CT slices of eight patients were selected to evaluate the proposed method. As the average of normalized average area of the automatic segmented method II (ASM II) using the PHT and manual segmented method (MSM) are 0.1671 and 0.1711, these two method shows very small differences. Also, the average area error rate between the ASM II and MSM is 6.8339 ％. From the results of experiments, the proposed method has similar performance as the MSM by medical Doctor.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to insert a pedicle screw into a pig thoracic vertebrae, a general CT scan(Non MAR), and a thoracic axial image obtained with the Metallic Artifact Reduction for Orthopedic Implants (O-MAR) to reduce artifacts. The image obtained by reconstructing the algorithm (Standard, Soft, Bone, Detail) was used using the image J program. Signal to noise ratio(SNR) and contrast to noise ratio(CNR) were compared and analyzed by obtaining measured values based on the given equation. And this study was to investigate tube voltage and algorithm suitable for CT scan for thoracic pedicle screw insertion. As a result, when non-MAR was used, the soft algorithm showed the highest SNR and CNR at 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp, On the other hand, when MAR was used, the standard algorithm showed the highest at 80 kVp, and the standard and soft algorithms showed similar values at 100 kVp. At 120 kVp, the Soft and Standard algorithms showed similar values, and at 140 kVp, the Soft algorithm showed the highest SNR and CNR. Therefore, when comparing Non-MAR and MAR, even if MAR was used, SNR and CNR did not increase in all algorithms according to the change in tube voltage. In conclusion, it is judged that it is advantageous to use the Soft algorithm at 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp in Non MAR, the Standard algorithm at 80 and 100 kVp in MAR, and the Soft algorithm at 120 and 140 kVp. This study is expected to serve as an opportunity to further improve the quality of images by using selective tube voltage and algorithms as basic data to help evaluate images of pedicle screw CT scans in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.801-808
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• 2023

In order to minimize radiation exposure and secure diagnostic value images during CT examination of the head of children, the usefulness of volume axial mode is evaluated through comparison and analysis of exposure dose and images of volume axial mode, high pitch mode, and helical mode. Image evaluation and dose evaluation were performed in CT high pitch mode, helical mode, and volume axial mode for infants under the age of 1 according to the voltages of 70, 80, and 100 kVp tubes. The image evaluation was conducted by comparing image quality by setting ROI for each image, calculating SNR and CNR, using ONE-WAY (ANOVA) to evaluated statistical significance, and cross-examining the dose evaluation using DLP values displayed in the Dose Report. When inspected using volume axial mode, DLP values were generally low, and SNR and CNR values differed by ROI and kVp. When volume axial mode evaluated the quality of the image compared to other scan modes, the difference is not uniform. For the reason, certain modes are not considered excellent, but the exposure dose was reduced the most in terms of dose. In addition, the point that the volume axial mode can be examined at its original location, short scanning time and needless of table movement is useful for CT tests for children under 1 year of age with high radiation sensitivity.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1426-1436
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• 2014

In this article, we present a new grey scale image segmentation method based on Fuzzy logic and bitplane techniques which combines the bits of different bitplanes of a pixel inorder to increase the segmentation quality and to get a more reliable and accurate segmentation result. The proposed segmentation approach is conceptually different and explores a new strategy. Infact, our technique consists in combining many realizations of the image together inorder to increase the information quality and to get an optimal segmented image. For segmentation, we proceed in two steps. In the first step, we begin by identifying the bitplanes that represent the lungs clearly. For this purpose, the intensity value of a pixel is separated into bitplanes. In the second step, segmentation values are assigned for each bitplane based on membership table. The segmented values of foreground are combined and the segmentation values of background are combined. The algorithm is demonstrated through the medical computed tomography (CT) images. The segmentation accuracy of the proposed method is compared with two existing techniques. Satisfactory segmentation results have been obtained showing the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted evaluate the influence of reconstruction parameters of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images on bone mineral density (BMD) analyses. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of micro-CT images of the maxillae of 5 Wistar rats, acquired using a SkyScan 1174 unit (Bruker, Kontich, Belgium). Each acquisition was reconstructed following the manufacturer's recommendations(standard protocol; SP) for the application of artifact correction tools(beam hardening correction [BHC], 45%; smoothing filter, degree 2; and ring artifact correction [RAC], level 5). Additionally, images were reconstructed with 36 protocols combining different settings of artifact correction tools (P0 to P35). BMD analysis was performed for each reconstructed image. The BMD values obtained for each protocol were compared to those obtained using the SP through repeated-measures analysis of variance with the Dunnett post hoc test(α=0.05). Results: The BMD values obtained from all protocols that used a BHC of 45% did not significantly differ from those obtained using the SP (P>0.05). The other protocols all yielded significantly different BMD values from the SP(P<0.05). The smoothing and RAC tools did not affect BMD values. Conclusion: BMD values measured on micro-CT images were influenced by the BHC level. Higher levels of BHC induced higher values of BMD.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2012

The goal of this study is to awaken about risk occurred by CT examination. For radio-technologists working at 'S medical center' located in Seoul, we investigated a recognition about dose and risk CT and normal X-ray examination according by working experience in hospital, experience about CT examination and radiation source. For subjects of investigation, radio-technologists working at 'S medical center' located in Seoul helped us. We collected 131 questionnaires for a test of hypothesis. Cronbach @ coefficients of questionnaires were 0.825988 and 0.767161 and a rejection rate of p-value was below 0.05. SAS 9.1(SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.) statistic package was used for hypothesis test. We used Mann-Whitney test, Kruskai-Wallis test, Two sample T-test, Two sample T-test with Bonferroni's Correction and One-way ANOVA methods. P-values of hypothesis about dose of CT and normal X-ray examination were 0.2291 ~ 0.9663. p-values of hypothesis about risk were 0.1924 ~ 1.0000. All of hypothesis is over rejection rate(<0.05). This study shows that radio-technologists of S medical center recognized that CT has higher dose and risk than general X-ray examination.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2010

Objective : To evaluate the role of cranial sonography and computed tomography in the diagnosis of neonatal intracranial hemorrhage and hypoxic-ischemic injury in an Indian set-up. Methods : The study included 100 neonates who underwent cranial sonography and computed tomography (CT) in the first month of life for suspected intracranial ischemia and hemorrhage. Two observers rated the images for possible intracranial lesions and a kappa statistic for interobserver agreement was calculated. Results : There was no significant difference in the kappa values of CT and ultrasonography (USG) for the diagnosis of germinal matrix hemorrhage/intraventricular hemorrhage (GMH/IVH) and periventricular leucomalacia (PVL) and both showed good interobserver agreement. USG, however detected more cases of GMH/IVH (24 cases) and PVL (19) cases than CT (22 cases and 16 cases of IVH and PVL, respectively). CT had significantly better interobserver agreement for the diagnosis of hypoxic ischemic injury (HII) in term infants and also detected more cases (33) as compared to USG (18). CT also detected 6 cases of extraaxial hemorrhages as compared to 1 detected by USG. Conclusion : USG is better modality for imaging preterm neonates with suspected IVH or PVL. However, USG is unreliable in the imaging of term newborns with suspected HII where CT or magnetic resonance image scan is a better modality.