• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2018

Diffusion tensor images were obtained to investigate the damage of brain white matter in non-smokers and an adequate drinking group (less than 10 points) selected by scores of the Korean versions of alcohol use disorders identification test questionnaire. Factional anisotropy (FA) values, according to the variables of age and body mass index (BMI), were not statistically significant in all regions of the brain white matter after measurement of factional anisotropy (FA) values by the tract-based spatial statics (TBSS) method. In other words, age and body mass index (BMI) do not significantly affect the microstructural changes of the brain white matter.

• Journal of Electrodiagnosis and Neuromuscular Diseases
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2018

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been a gold standard for investigating central motor pathways in humans. Diffusion tensor imaging with fiber tractography (DTI FT) is known for its usefulness in detecting white matter lesion in vivo. We investigated the clinical usefulness of elucidating the integrity and continuity of corticospinal tract (CST) by combined use of TMS and DTI FT in this study. We report two cases who have presented with left hemiparesis and evaluated by both TMS and DTI FT; 10-year-old boy with Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy with Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-like episode syndrome and 20-year-old woman with traumatic brain injury. Combined use of TMS and DTI FT successfully led to localize the brain lesion that might cause motor impairment in patients with abnormal signal intensities in MRI. The results of this study suggest that TMS and DTI FT might provide the detailed information between function and anatomy of the CST, complementarily.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.184-187
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• 2016

Neuronal connectivity determines brain function. Therefore, understanding the full map of brain connectivity with functional annotations is one of the most desirable but challenging tasks in science. Current methods to achieve this goal are limited by the resolution of imaging tools and the field of view. Macroscale imaging tools (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor images, and positron emission tomography) are suitable for large-volume analysis, and the resolution of these methodologies is being improved by developing hardware and software systems. Microscale tools (e.g., serial electron microscopy and array tomography), on the other hand, are evolving to efficiently stack small volumes to expand the dimension of analysis. The advent of mesoscale tools (e.g., tissue clearing and single plane ilumination microscopy super-resolution imaging) has greatly contributed to filling in the gaps between macroscale and microscale data. To achieve anatomical maps with gene expression and neural connection tags as multimodal information hubs, much work on information analysis and processing is yet required. Once images are obtained, digitized, and cumulated, these large amounts of information should be analyzed with information processing tools. With this in mind, post-imaging processing with the aid of many advanced information processing tools (e.g., artificial intelligence-based image processing) is set to explode in the near future, and with that, anatomic problems will be transformed into informatics problems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.33-33
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• 2006

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.779-785
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• 2010

In pre-surgical evaluation of pediatric epilepsy, the combined use of multiple imaging modalities for precise localization of the epileptogenic focus is a worthwhile endeavor. Advanced neuroimaging by high field Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor images, and MR spectroscopy have the potential to identify subtle lesions. $^{18}F$-FDG positron emission tomography and single photon emission tomography provide visualization of metabolic alterations of the brain in the ictal and interictal states. These techniques may have localizing value for patients which exhibit normal MRI scans. Functional MRI is helpful for non-invasively identifying areas of eloquent cortex. These advances are improving our ability to noninvasively detect epileptogenic foci which have gone undetected in the past and whose accurate localization is crucial for a favorable outcome following surgical resection.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.133-133
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• 2002

Purpose： The purpose of paper is to implement software to visualize brain fiber tract using a 24-bit color coding scheme and to test its feasibility. Materials and Methods： MR imaging was performed on GE 1.5 T Signa scanner. For diffusion tensor image, we used a single shot spin-echo EPI sequence with 7 non-colinear pulsed-field gradient directions： (x, y, z)：(1,1,0),(-1,1,0),(1,0,1),(-1,0,1),(0,1,1),(0,1,-1) and without diffusion gradient. B-factor was 500 sec/$\textrm{mm}^2$. Acquisition parameters are as follows： TUTE=10000ms/99ms, FOV=240mm, matrix=128${\times}$128, slice thickness/gap=6mm/0mm, total slice number=30. Subjects consisted of 10 normal young volunteers (age：21∼26 yrs, 5 men, 5 women). All DTI images were smoothed with Gaussian kernel with the FWHM of 2 pixels. Color coding schemes for visualization of directional information was as follows. HSV(Hue, Saturation, Value) color system is appropriate for assigning RGB(Red, Green, and Blue) value for every different directions because of its volumetric directional expression. Each of HSV are assigned due to (r,$\theta$,${\Phi}$) in spherical coordinate. HSV calculated by this way can be transformed into RGB color system by general HSV to RGB conversion formula. Symmetry schemes： It is natural to code the antipodal direction to be same color(antipodal symmetry). So even with no symmetry scheme, the antipodal symmetry must be included. With no symmetry scheme, we can assign every different colors for every different orientation.(H =${\Phi}$, S=2$\theta$/$\pi$, V=λw, where λw is anisotropy). But that may assign very discontinuous color even between adjacent yokels. On the other hand, Full symmetry or absolute value scheme includes symmetry for 180$^{\circ}$ rotation about xy-plane of color coordinate (rotational symmetry) and for both hemisphere (mirror symmetry). In absolute value scheme, each of RGB value can be expressed as follows. R=λw｜Vx｜, G=λw｜Vy｜, B=λw｜Vz｜, where (Vx, Vy, Vz) is eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue of diffusion tensor. With applying full symmetry or absolute value scheme, we can get more continuous color coding at the expense of coding same color for symmetric direction. For better visualization of fiber tract directions, Gamma and brightness correction had done. All of these implementations were done on the IDL 5.4 platform.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2020

Objective : Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fear of social threat and exhibits limbic hyper-reactivity toward social stimuli such as emotional faces. A previous study identified the uncinate fasciculus (UF) sub-tract as particularly related to facial memory. To explore the white matter tract relating to face-specific brain regions, we investigated the UF sub-tract in SAD. Methods : The diffusion tensor images of 22 patients with SAD and 20 healthy controls were analyzed with tractography. The UF sub-tract was delineated using the regions of interest of face patches in the anterior temporal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex, and fractional anisotrophy (FA) and total number of streamlines (ST) were analyzed. We examined the group comparison of FA and ST of the UF sub-tract and correlations of FA and ST with the social anxiety symptoms such as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE) in SAD. Results : There were no group differences in FA and ST of the UF sub-tract. However, negative correlations were observed between ST of the right UF sub-tract and severity of social anxiety symptoms (LSAS, r_s=-0.480, p=0.024; SIAS, r_s=-0.580, p=0.005; SPS, r_s=-0.590, p=0.004; FNE, r_s=-0.675, p=0.001) in patients with SAD. Conclusion : Although patients with SAD did not show quantitative abnormalities in the UF sub-tact connecting face-specific brain regions, this structure seems to play a role in the symptom severity of SAD.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.358-362
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• 2019

Purpose: We investigated the difference in injury of the corticospinal tract (CST) and the spinothalamic tract (STT) in patients with putaminal hemorrhage, using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Methods: Thirty one consecutive patients with PH and 34 control subjects were recruited for this study. DTT scanning was performed at early stage of PH (7-63 days), and the CST and STT were reconstructed using the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain (FMRIB) Software Library program. Injury of the CST and STT was defined in terms of the configuration or abnormal DTT parameters was more than 2 standard deviations lower than that of normal control subjects. Results: Among 31 patients, all 31 patients (100%) had injury of the CTS, whereas 25 patients (80.6%) had injury of the STT: the incidence of CST injury was significantly higher than that of STT (p<0.05). In detail, 20 (64.5%) of 31 patients showed a discontinuation of the CST in the affected hemisphere; in contrast, 14 patients (45.2%) of 31 patients showed a discontinuation of the STT in the affected hemisphere. Regarding the FA value, 6 (19.4%) of 31 patients and 2 (6.4%) of 31 patients were found to have injury in the CST and STT, respectively. In terms of the fiber number, the same injury incidence was observed in 11 patients (35.5%) in both the CST and STT. Conclusion: The greater vulnerability of the CST appears to be ascribed to the anatomical characteristics; the CST is located anteriorly to the center of the putamen compared with the STT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2021.07a
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• pp.701-702
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• 2021

The purpose of the study was to identify fiber changes induced by electrical stimulation of a certain neural substrate in the rat brain. In the stimulation group, the peripheral nerve was injured and the brain area associated to inhibit sensory information was electrically stimulated. There were sham and sham stimulation groups as controls. Then high-field diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was acquired. 35 features were taken from the DTI measures from 7 different brain pathways. To compare the efficacy of the classification for 3 animal groups, the linear regression analysis (LDA) and the machine learning technique (MLP) were applied. It was found that the testing accuracy by MLP was about 77%, but that of accuracy by LDA was much higher than MLP. In conclusion, machine learning algorithm could be used to identify and predict the changes of the brain white matter in some situations. The limits of this study will be discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.6
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• pp.1273-1285
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• 2022

Purpose MR neurography (MRN) is an imaging technique optimized to visualize the peripheral nerves. This review aimed to discover an optimized protocol for MRN of the lumbosacral plexus (LSP) and identify evidence for the clinical benefit of lumbosacral plexopathies. Materials and Methods We performed a systematic search of the two medical databases until September 2021. 'Magnetic resonance imaging', 'lumbosacral plexus', 'neurologic disease', or equivalent terms were used to search the literature. We extracted information on indications, MRN protocols for LSP, and clinical efficacy from 55 studies among those searched. Results MRN of the LSP is useful for displaying the distribution of peripheral nerve disease, guiding perineural injections, and assessing extraspinal causes of sciatica. Three-dimensional short-tau inversion recovery turbo spin-echo combined with vascular suppression is the mainstay of MRN. Conclusion Future work on the MRN of LSP should be directed to technical maturation and clinical validation of efficacy.