• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.77-84
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• 2017

Purpose: To evaluate the image quality improvement and dosimetric effects on virtual monochromatic images of a Dual Source-Dual Energy CT(DS-DECT) for radiotherapy planning. Materials and Methods: Dual energy(80/Sn 140 kVp) and single energy(120 kVp) scans were obtained with dual source CT scanner. Virtual monochromatic images were reconstructed at 40-140 keV for the catphan phantom study. The solid water-equivalent phantom for dosimetry performs an analytical calculation, which is implemented in TPS, of a 10 MV, $10{\times}10cm^2$ photon beam incident into the solid phantom with the existence of stainless steel. The dose profiles along the central axis at depths were discussed. The dosimetric consequences in computed treatment plans were evaluated based on polychromatic images at 120 kVp. Results: The magnitude of differences was large at lower monochromatic energy levels. The measurements at over 70 keV shows stable HU for polystyrene, acrylic. For CT to ED conversion curve, the shape of the curve at 120 kVp was close to that at 80 keV. 105 keV virtual monochromatic images were more successful than other energies at reducing streak artifacts, which some residual artifacts remained in the corrected image. The dose-calculation variations in radiotherapy treatment planning do not exceed ${\pm}0.7%$. Conclusion: Radiation doses with dual energy CT imaging can be lower than those with single energy CT imaging. The virtual monochromatic images were useful for the revision of CT number, which can be improved for target coverage and electron densities distribution.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.21-25
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• 2010

Purpose: For better PET imaging with accuracy the transmission scanning is inevitably required for attenuation correction. The attenuation is affected by condition of acquisition and patient position, consequently quantitative accuracy may be decreased in emission scan imaging. In this paper, the present study aims at providing the measurement for attenuation varying with the positions of the patient's arm in whole body PET/CT, further performing the comparative analysis over its SUV changes. Materials and Methods: NEMA 1994 PET phantom was filled with $^{18}F$-FDG and the concentration ratio of insert cylinder and background water fit to 4:1. Phantom images were acquired through emission scanning for 4min after conducting transmission scanning by using CT. In an attempt to acquire image at the state that the arm of the patient was positioned at the lower of ahead, image was acquired in away that two pieces of Teflon inserts were used additionally by fixing phantoms at both sides of phantom. The acquired imaged at a were reconstructed by applying the iterative reconstruction method (iteration: 2, subset: 28) as well as attenuation correction using the CT, and then VOI was drawn on each image plane so as to measure CT number and SUV and comparatively analyze axial uniformity (A.U=Standard deviation/Average SUV) of PET images. Results: It was found from the above phantom test that, when comparing two cases of whether Teflon insert was fixed or removed, the CT number of cylinder increased from -5.76 HU to 0 HU, while SUV decreased from 24.64 to 24.29 and A.U from 0.064 to 0.052. And the CT number of background water was identified to increase from -6.14 HU to -0.43 HU, whereas SUV decreased from 6.3 to 5.6 and A.U also decreased from 0.12 to 0.10. In addition, as for the patient image, CT number was verified to increase from 53.09 HU to 58.31 HU and SUV decreased from 24.96 to 21.81 when the patient's arm was positioned over the head rather than when it was lowered. Conclusion: When arms up protocol was applied, the SUV of phantom and patient image was decreased by 1.4% and 9.2% respectively. With the present study it was concluded that in case of PET/CT scanning against the whole body of a patient the position of patient's arm was not so much significant. Especially, the scanning under the condition that the arm is raised over to the head gives rise to more probability that the patient is likely to move due to long scanning time that causes the increase of uptake of $^{18}F$-FDG of brown fat at the shoulder part together with increased pain imposing to the shoulder and discomfort to a patient. As regarding consideration all of such factors, it could be rationally drawn that PET/CT scanning could be made with the arm of the subject lowered.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.385-391
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• 2013

X-ray computed tomography is a very powerful nondestructive technique in safety inspection of historic timber building. But, in field, various testing condition makes it difficult to carry out X-ray CT testing. Limited size in X-ray digital detector is one of the problems. In this study, a pitch pine disk with two holes was used to know how imperfection in X-ray projection affects CT image resolution. Using various number of projections, CT image was reconstructed by filtered back projection method, and then it was investigated how many projection is required to identify the holes in different location. Two artificial holes could be differently detected according to their location in cross section of specimen. One hole in center part of specimen was identified using more than 9 radiographs, but the other one which located in outer part of cross section could not be detected until more than 36 projections were used. Even though there is data missing in outer part of cross section due to limited size of detector, the center part of CT image could be reconstructed well and the resolution of outer part became higher with increase of the number of projections. For field application, the number of projections for CT image reconstruction needs to be decided with consideration of another nondestructive testing and the location of interest.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2022

In this study, the fiber orientation distribution (FOD) is investigated using both micro-CT (computerized tomography) and image analysis of physically cut specimens prepared from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fiber reinforced cemented Toyoura sand. The micro-CT images of the fiber reinforced cemented sand specimens were visualized in horizontal and vertical sections. Scans were obtained using a frame rate of two frames and an exposure time of 500 milliseconds. The number of images was set to optimize and typically resulted in approximately 3000 images. Then, the angles of the fibers for horizontal sections and in vertical section were calculated using the VGStudio MAX software. The number of fibers intersecting horizontal and vertical sections are counted using these images. A similar approach was used for physically cut specimens. The variation of results of fiber orientation between micro-CT scans and visual count were approximately 4-8%. The micro-CT scans were able to precisely investigate the fiber orientation distribution of fibers in these samples. The results show that 85-90% of the PVA fibers are oriented between ±30° of horizontal, and approximately 95% of fibers have an orientation that lies within ±45° of the horizontal plane. Finally, a comparison of experimental results with the generalized fiber orientation distribution function 𝜌(θ) is presented for isotropic and anisotropic distribution in fiber reinforced cemented Toyoura sand specimens. Experimentally, it can be seen that the average ratio of the number of fibers intersecting the finite area on a vertical plane to number of fibers intersecting the finite area on a horizontal plane (N^V_tot/N^H_tot) cut through a sample varies from 2.08 to 2.12 (an average ratio of 2.10 is obtained in this study). Based up on the analytical predictions, it can be seen that the average N^V_tot/N^H_tot ratio varies from 2.13 to 2.17 for varying n values (an average ratio of 2.15).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1017-1023
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to improve the accuracy of effective atomic number (EAN) and relative electron density (RED) using a polynomial-based calibration method using dual-energy CT images. A phantom composed of 11 tissue-equivalent materials was acquired with dual-energy CT to obtain low- and high-energy images. Using the acquired dual-energy images, the ratio of attenuation of low- and high-energy images for EAN was calibrated based on Stoichiometric, Quadratic, Cubic, Quartic polynomials. EAN and RED were extracted using each calibration method. As a result of the experiment, the average error of EAN using Cubic polynomial-based calibration was minimum. Even in the RED image extracted using EAN, the error of the Cubic polynomial-based RED was minimum. Cubic polynomial-based calibration contributes to improving the accuracy of EAN and RED, and would like to contribute to accurate diagnosis of lesions in CT examinations or quantification of various materials in the human body.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.29-45
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• 1985

Computed Tomography Scanner (CT) is highly expensive in operation as well as purchasing. That reason may cause not only to increase the burden of patients but also to waste the capital resources leading to financial difficulties. However the numbers of CT installed throughout the country is increasing, because of efficiency in medical care, patient's concern, competitions among the hospitals within the same area. In the non-Metropolitan area the scanners were expected to be less utilized and less profitable. Nine hospitals equipped with the CT were studied on the utilization of that equipment during the period from November 1984 to February 1985 in non-Metropolitan area and break-even point in one hospital was analyzed for estimating profitabilities. The results were as follows ; 1. Among those nine hospitals, four hospitals had less than 400 beds, which is one of the restrictive minimum standards on the installation of Whole-body Computed Tomography Scanner. 2. The operating time during the normal operation period was longer than those of any other studies, but the accumulated down time was also longer than those of any other studies. The average number of scanning per week for each CT was 45, while the estimated number of for the break-even point was 56.7 cases. 3. When the downtime was excluded in calculating the average operation would be much closer to the cases for the break-even point. Therefore the break-down of the equipment was to be a main cause of the low profitability. 4. The average scanning rate for head area was 33.6%, however three of the nine hospitals showed about 20%. 5. If scanning ratio for the body parts excepting head was increased, the number of scanning for the break-even point would be diminished. 6. The small size hospital especially located near the Metropolitan area showed largest loss in the CT operation. In purchasing the highly expensive equipments in hospitals, demand should be taken into account and planning is recommended.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2014

The accuracy and uniformity of CT numbers are the main causes of radiation dose calculation error. Especially, for the dose calculation based on kV-Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) image, the scatter affecting the CT number is known to be quite different by the object sizes, densities, exposure conditions, and so on. In this study, the scatter impact on the CBCT based dose calculation was evaluated to provide the optimal condition minimizing the error. The CBCT images was acquired under three scatter conditions ("Under-scatter", "Over-scatter", and "Full-scatter") by adjusting amount of scatter materials around a electron density phantom (CIRS062, Tissue Simulation Technology, Norfolk, VA, USA). The CT number uniformities of CBCT images for water-equivalent materials of the phantom were assessed, and the location dependency, either "inner" or "outer" parts of the phantom, was also evaluated. The electron density correction curves were derived from CBCT images of the electron density phantom in each scatter condition. The electron density correction curves were applied to calculate the CBCT based doses, which were compared with the dose based on Fan Beam Computed Tomography (FBCT). Also, 5 prostate IMRT cases were enrolled to assess the accuracy of dose based on CBCT images using gamma index analysis and relative dose differences. As the CT number histogram of phantom CBCT images for water equivalent materials was fitted with a gaussian function, the FHWM (146 HU) for "Full-scatter" condition was the smallest among the FHWM for the three conditions (685 HU for "under scatter" and 264 HU for "over scatter"). Also, the variance of CT numbers was the smallest for the same ingredients located in the center and periphery of the phantom in the "Full-scatter" condition. The dose distributions calculated with FBCT and CBCT images compared in a gamma index evaluation of 1%/3 mm criteria and in the dose difference. With the electron density correction acquired in the same scatter condition, the CBCT based dose calculations tended to be the most accurate. In 5 prostate cases in which the mean equivalent diameter was 27.2 cm, the averaged gamma pass rate was 98% and the dose difference confirmed to be less than 2% (average 0.2%, ranged from -1.3% to 1.6%) with the electron density correction of the "Full-scatter" condition. The accuracy of CBCT based dose calculation could be confirmed that closely related to the CT number uniformity and to the similarity of the scatter conditions for the electron density correction curve and CBCT image. In pelvic cases, the most accurate dose calculation was achievable in the application of the electron density curves of the "Full-scatter" condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.481-487
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• 2019

Based on the scan conditions and algorithms that are generally applied during examinations during head CT examinations, the results of dose reduction through the application of algorithm changes were investigated through experiments. As a result, the dose reduction effect was more meaningful for the change of perfusion than for the tube voltage, and the quality evaluation using the brain phantom was relatively less reduced when the dose was reduced after the application of the Bone algorithm, especially for the application of the Bone algorithm, and the deviation of the mean CT number or Pixel value was measured relatively significantly. In other words, the conditions under which dose was reduced and quality was maintained to reduce the patient's exposure dose and obtain images of the same quality were obtained with the application of the Smooth algorithm and the resulting values of 120 kVp, 160 mA. At this point, doses were reduced by about 28%, and the mean CT number or Pixel value was also measured with relatively little error. If the results are applied to patients who visit the hospital for examination or follow-up after applying various algorithms and follow up scan conditions, the results are considered to be very useful in reducing patient exposure dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.138-148
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• 2022

Purpose This study evaluated the rates and annual trends of pediatric CT scans in South Korea using a nationwide population-based database. Materials and Methods Data regarding pediatric CT scan usage between 2012 and 2017 were retrieved from the health insurance review and assessment service. Data on the age, sex, diagnosis, and the anatomical area of involved patients were also extracted. Results A total of 576376 CT examinations were performed among 58527528 children aged below 18 years (9.8 scans/1000 children), and the number of CT examinations per 1000 children was noted to have increased by 23.2% from 9.0 in 2012 to 11.0 in 2017. Specifically, the number of CT examinations increased by 32.9% for the 6-12 years of age group (7.4/1000 to 9.8/1000) and by 34.0% for the 13-18 years of age group (11.4/1000 to 15.3/1000). Moreover, majority of the CT scans were limited to the head (39.1%), followed by the extremities (32.5%) and the abdomen (13.7%). Notably, the number of extremity CT scans increased by 83.6% (2.3/1000 to 4.2/1000), and its proportion as compared to other scans increased from 25.3% to 37.7%. Conclusion CT scans in the pediatric population increased continuously from 2012 to 2017 at an annual rate of 4.4%. Therefore, physicians should balance the benefits of CT with its potential harms from associated radiation exposure in pediatric patients.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.939-948
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• 2004

In this paper. we Propose a robust and fast image registration technique for motion correction in brain CT-CT angiography obtained from same patient to be taken at different time. First, the feature points of two images are respectively extracted by 3D edge detection technique, and they are converted to locally weighted 3D distance map in reference image. Second, we search the optimal location whore the cross-correlation of two edges is maximized while floating image is transformed rigidly to reference image. This optimal location is determined when the maximum value of cross-correlation does't change any more and iterates over constant number. Finally, two images are registered at optimal location by transforming floating image. In the experiment, we evaluate an accuracy and robustness using artificial image and give a visual inspection using clinical brain CT-CT angiography dataset. Our proposed method shows that two images can be registered at optimal location without converging at local maximum location robustly and rapidly by using locally weighted 3D distance map, even though we use a few number of feature points in those images.