• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.205-209
• /
• 2007

Purpose: To determine the physical properties of a newly developed cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: We measured and compared the imaging properties for the indirect-type flat panel detector (FPD) of a new CBCT and the single detector array (SDA) of conventional helical CT (CHCT). Results: First, the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the CBCT were superior to those of the CHCT. Second, the noise power spectrum (NPS) of the CBCT were worse than those of the CHCT. Third, detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of the indirect-type CBCT were worse than those of the CHCT at lower spatial frequencies, but were better at higher spatial frequencies. Although the comparison of contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was estimated in the limited range of tube current, CNR of CBCT were worse than those of CHCT. Conclusion: This study shows that the indirect-type FPD system may be useful as a CBCT detector because of high resolution.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2018

Background: In this study, we investigate the image quality of virtual monochromatic images synthesized from dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) at voltages of 80/140 kV and 100/140 kV. Materials and Methods: Virtual monochromatic images of a phantom are synthesized from DECT scans from 40 to 70 keV in steps of 1 keV under the two combinations of tube voltages. The dose allocation of dual-energy (DE) scan is 50% for both low- and high-energy tubes. The virtual monochromatic images are compared to single-energy (SE) images at the same radiation dose. In the DE images, noise is reduced using the 100/140 kV scan at the optimal monochromatic energy. Virtual monochromatic images are reconstructed from 40 to 70 keV in 1-keV increments and analyzed using two quality indexes: noise and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Results and Discussion: The DE scan mode with the 100/140 kV protocol achieved a better maximum CNR compared to the 80/140 kV protocol for various materials, except for adipose and brain. Image noise is reduced with the 100/140 kV protocol. The CNR values of DE with the 100/140 kV protocol is similar to or higher than that of SE at 120 kV at the same radiation dose. Furthermore, the maximum CNR with the 100/140 kV protocol is similar to or higher than that of the SE scan at 120 kV. Conclusion: It was found that the CNR achieved with the 100/140 kV protocol was better than that with the 80/140 kV protocol at optimal monochromatic energies. Virtual monochromatic imaging using the 100/140 kV protocol could be considered for application in breast, brain, lung, liver, and bone CT in accordance with the CNR results.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.150-156
• /
• 2018

This study aims to develop an improved Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) reconstruction algorithm using anisotropic total variation (ATV) minimization to enhance the image quality of low-dose cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). The algorithm first applies a filter that integrates the Shepp-Logan filter into a cosine window function on all projections for impulse noise removal. A total variation objective function with anisotropic penalty is then minimized to enhance the difference between the real structure and noise using the steepest gradient descent optimization with adaptive step sizes. The preserving parameter to adjust the separation between the noise-free and noisy areas is determined by calculating the cumulative distribution function of the gradient magnitude of the filtered image obtained by the application of the filtering operation on each projection. With these minimized ATV projections, voxel-driven backprojection is finally performed to generate the reconstructed images. The performance of the proposed algorithm was evaluated with the catphan503 phantom dataset acquired with the use of a low-dose protocol. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that the proposed ATV minimization provides enhanced CBCT reconstruction images compared with those generated by the conventional FDK algorithm, with a higher contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), lower root-mean-square-error, and higher correlation. The proposed algorithm not only leads to a potential imaging dose reduction in repeated CBCT scans via lower mA levels, but also elicits high CNR values by removing noisy corrupted areas and by avoiding the heavy penalization of striking features.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.134-139
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) technique is a reconstruction method of CT image using statistical noise modeling which is known to reduce image noise and to preserve image quality despite reducing radiation dose. The aim of this study is to evaluate images using ASIR on bone SPECT/CT which is primarily performed in our hospital. Materials and Methods: We compared the images of applied ASIR (ASIR level: 20-80%) and none ASIR by changing the mA based on 120 kVp, 100 mA using Discovery NM/CT 670 (GE, U.S.A). First, we evaluated attenuation correction in SPECT image by changing the ASIR level using Anthropomorphic phantom. Second, we compared the contrast to noise ratio (CNR), image noise and spatial resolution in CT image using ACR phantom. Third, after selecting the ASIR level applicable patient using lower torso phantom, we examined 2 patients who followed up bone SPECT/CT and we performed blind test. Results: The degree of attenuation correction in SPECT image showed no significant difference between applied ASIR and none ASIR (P>0.05). When applied ASIR, the noise of CT image were reduced at least 17 up to 52% by changing the mA. The CNR of image with ASIR was maintained more than 0.8 at 40 mA (ASIR 60%) while those without ASIR showed 0.42 at standard 40 mA. In comparison of the high contrast object, we distinguished 12 line pairs/cm at 40 mA regardless of appling ASIR. Comparison of the patients image applied ASIR level 60% (40 mA) which found out by spine image of lower torso phantom showed no signigicant difference between applied ASIR and none ASIR in blind test. The CTDIvol and DLP for applied ASIR 60% showed decreased by 60%, 60% on average than using standard mA. Conclusion: The study show that the radiation dose in SPECT/CT using ASIR can be reduced despite degradation of SPECT and CT images. In addition, higher ASIR level could be possibly applied characteristics of SPECT/CT that region of interest is limited to bone.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.10a
• /
• pp.10-13
• /
• 2009

We have developed variety of LCD technologies for the out-door display, which improve out-door readability as well as reliability from external impacts. This improvement was made possible by new approach on LCD cell optical design and modification of LCD surface, which allows surrounding light to be transmitted to enhance the visibility and at the same time filtering out light, which are considered to be source of noise in terms of visibility. This technology enables users to maintain high display performance in both in-door & out-door environments moreover alternatively choosing in-door/out-door.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2007

In most of hearing aids, amplification algorithms are used to compensate hearing loss, noise and feedback reduction algorithms are used and to increase the perception of speeches contrast enhancement algorithms are used. However, acoustic masking effect is occurred between formants if contrast is enhanced excessively. To confirm the masking effect in speeches, the experiment are composed of 6 tests; test pure tone test, speech reception test, word recognition test, pure tone masking test, formant pure tone masking test and speech masking test, and for objective evaluation, LLR is introduced. As a result of normal hearing subjects and hearing impaired subjects, more making is occurred in hearing impaired subjects than normal hearing subjects when using pure tone, and in the speech masking test, speech reception is also lower in hearing impaired subjects than in normal hearing subjects. This means that acoustic masking effect rather than distortion influences speech perception. So it is required to check the characteristics of masking effect before wearing a hearing aid and to apply this characteristics to fitting curve.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.10a
• /
• pp.1224-1227
• /
• 2009

When evaluating the quality of images and displays, it is important to combine the characteristics as perceived by the human visual system and measured by equipment using subjective and objective methods, respectively. In the case of objective methods, the quality of a display is measured using colorimetric or radiometric devices according to existing standards covering the color temperature, gamut size, gamma characteristic, and device characterization. Meanwhile, subjective methods assess the quality of an image using the human visual system based on a comparison with a reference or counterpart using such metrics as the sharpness, noise, contrast, saturation, and color accuracy. Objective and subjective methods are usually used together in comparison, as ultimately it is observers watching images on a display. In addition to existing objective methods, a new image quality metric is also introduced as regards the JPEG compression ratio that is reflected in the relationship between the gamut size and the color fidelity in CIELAB color space.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.26-31
• /
• 2018

In this paper, surface defects and typical illumination mechanisms for steel plates are analyzed, and then optimum illumination mechanism is selected using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) synthetic images and discriminant measure (DM). The DWT synthetic images are generated using component images decomposed by Haar wavelet transform filter. The best synthetic image according to surface defects is determined using signal to noise ratio (SNR). The optimum illumination mechanism is selected by applying discriminant measure (DM) to the best synthetic images. The DM is applied using the tenengrad-euclidian function. The DM is evaluated as the degree of contrast using the defect boundary information. The performance of the optimum illumination mechanism is verified by quantitative data and intuitive image looks.

• ETRI Journal
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.816-825
• /
• 2022

Nondestructive testing, which can monitor a product's interior without disassembly, is becoming increasingly essential for industrial inspection. Computed laminography (CL) is widely used in this application, as it can reconstruct a product, such as a printed circuit board, into a three-dimensional (3D) high-magnification image using X-rays. However, such high-magnification scanning environments can be affected by minute vibrations of the CL device, which can generate motion artifacts in the 3D reconstructed image. Since such vibrations are irregular, geometric corrections must be performed at every scan. In this paper, we propose a geometry calibration method that can correct the geometric information of CL scans based on the image without using geometry calibration phantoms. The proposed method compares the projection and digitally reconstructed radiography images to measure the geometric error. To validate the proposed method, we used both numerical phantom images at various magnifications and images obtained from real industrial CL equipment. The experiment results confirmed that sharpness and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were improved.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.183-200
• /
• 2020

Connection of adjacent buildings with stiff links is an efficient approach for seismic pounding mitigation. However, use of highly rigid links might alter the torsional response in asymmetric plans and although this was mentioned in the literature, no quantitative study has been done before to investigate the condition numerically. In this paper, the effect of rigid coupling on the elastic lateral-torsional response of two adjacent one-story column-type buildings has been studied by comparison to uncoupled structures. Three cases are considered, including two similar asymmetric structures, two adjacent asymmetric structures with different dynamic properties and a symmetric system adjacent to an adjacent asymmetric one. After an acceptable validation against the actual earthquake, the traditional random vibration method has been utilized for dynamic analysis under Ideal white noise input. Results demonstrate that rigid coupling may increase or decrease the rotational response, depending on eccentricities, torsional-to-lateral stiffness ratios and relative uncoupled lateral stiffness of adjacent buildings. Results are also discussed for the case of using identical cross section for all columns supporting eachplan. In contrast to symmetric systems, base shear increase in the stiffer building may be avoided when the buildings lateral stiffness ratio is less than 2. However, the eccentricity increases the rotation of the plans for high rotational stiffness of the buildings.