• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.83-94
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• 2006

Purpose: This study conducts quantitative evaluation or structural and functional characteristics or normal skeletal muscle with ultrasound image and surface electromyography, and is to provide basic materials for utilizing ultrasound image analysis in physical therapy diagnosis and assessment of skeletal muscle. Methods: Measurement of three stages was conducted with 88 normal adults between their twenties and seventies, correlations and differences using collected data according to age and gender were compared and correlations among measured items were analyzed and then the following conclusions were obtained. Results: Analysis of ultrasound image of normal skeletal muscle showed that density, median frequency had the closest relations with age. In addition, it was found that there were high correlations between density explaining structural characteristics of skeletal muscle and median frequency explaining functional characteristics. Conclusion: Analysis of ultrasound image makes complex evaluation of structure and function of skeletal muscle possible when it is connected with functional evaluation method using physical measurement surface electromyography as well as quantitative evaluation of structural changes of skeletal muscle and is effective in complementing physical therapy diagnosis centering around functionality evaluation.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.15-21
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• 2023

This study was purpose to assessment of the resolution characteristics by using ATS 535H Basic quality assurance (QA) phantom for ultrasound. The ultrasound equipment was used Logiq P6 (Ultrasound, GE Healthcare System, Chicago, IL, USA). And the ultrasound transducer were used Convex 4C (4~5.5 MHz), Linear 11L (10~13 MHz), Sector 3SP (3~5.5 MHz) probe. As for the noise power spectrum (NPS) comparison results by using ATS 535H Basic QA ultrasound phantom and Convex 4C, Linear 11L, Sector 3SP probe. The NPS value of the Convex 4C probe image was 0.0049, Linear 11L probe image was 0.0049, Sector 3SP probe image was 0.1422 when the frequency is 1.0 mm^-1. The modulation transfer function (MTF) comparison results by using ATS 535H Basic QA ultrasound phantom and Linear 11L probe the MTF value of the 3 cm focus image was 0.7511 and 4 cm focus image was 0.9001 when the frequency is 1.0 mm^-1. This study was presented characteristics of spatial resolution a quantitative evaluation methods by using ultrasound medical images for QA of ultrasound medical QA phantom. The quality control (QC) for equipment maintenance can be efficiently used in the clinic due to the quantitative evaluation of the NPS and MTF as the standard methods. It is meaningful in that it is applied mutatis mutandis and presented the results of physical resolution characteristics of the ultrasound medical image.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.355-364
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• 2018

When focusing using an ultrasonic transducer array, a main lobe is formed in the focal region of an ultrasound field, but side lobes also arise around the focal region due to the leakage. Since the side lobes cannot be completely eliminated in the focusing process, they are responsible for subsequent ultrasound image quality degradation. To improve ultrasound image quality, a signal processing strategy to reduce side lobes is definitely in demand. To this end, quantitative determination of main and side lobes is necessary. We propose a theoretically and actually error-free method of exactly discriminating and separately computing the main lobe and side lobe parts in ultrasound image by computer simulation. We refer to images constructed using the main and side lobe signals as the main and side lobe images, respectively. Since the main and side lobe images exactly represent their main and side lobe components, respectively, they can be used to evaluate ultrasound image quality. Defining the average brightness of the main and side lobe images, the conventional to side lobe image ratio, and the main to side lobe image ratio as image quality metrics, we can evaluate image characteristics in speckle images. The proposed method is also applied in assessing the performance of side lobe suppression filtering. We show that the proposed method may greatly aid in the evaluation of medical ultrasonic images using computer simulations, albeit lacking the use of actual experimental data.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.47-53
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• 2006

Since ultrasound has different reflections depending on components of organization, analysis of ultrasound images of skeletal muscle can offer both quantitative and qualitative reports as concerns skeletal muscle structure. This study is focused on the ultrasound method for evaluating the structural characteristics of skeletal muscle and also conducted to examine its practicality. After obtaining images of the elbow flexors from an ultrasound image device with 88 normal subjects whose ages were between twenty and seventy years old (44 men and 44 women), muscular density and white area index (WAI) which indicated structural characteristics of skeletal muscle were analyzed with gray scale analysis. The study examined correlations between subject's age and items which obtained from measuring ultrasound images and the differences in relations to sex and age. Muscular density and WAI had a high correlation with age and were significantly increased in men and women with greater age. The quantitative evaluation method of skeletal muscle structure which analyzed the ultrasound images has high practicality because it is a non-invasive method which complements physical therapy diagnosis and research methods and promotes functionality evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.308-321
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• 2022

Transabdominal ultrasound (TAUS) is useful in all aspects of lesion screening, monitoring activity, or treating/diagnosing any related complications of inflammatory bowel disease. Its ability to screen or diagnose complications is almost the same as that of other methods, such as CT or MRI. Moreover, its noninvasiveness makes it a first-line examination method. A TAUS image depicting ulcerative colitis will show large intestinal wall thickening that is continuous from the rectum, which is mainly due to mucosal layer thickening, while for Crohn's disease, a TAUS image is characterized by a diversity in the areas affected, distribution, and layer structure. Indicators of activity monitoring include wall thickness, wall structure, and vascular tests that use Doppler ultrasound or contrast agents. While all of these have been reported to be useful, at this time, no single parameter has been established as superior to others; therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of these parameters is justified. In addition, evaluating the elasticity of lesions using elastography is particularly useful for distinguishing between fibrous and inflammatory stenoses. However, the lack of objectivity is the biggest drawback of using ultrasound. Standardizing and popularizing the ultrasound process will be necessary, including scanning methods, equipment settings, and image analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제33권5호통권133호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2005

For the proper conservation of wooden cultural properties, non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method, which can be used to quantitatively evaluate the internal state of wood members, are needed. In this study, an ultrasonic CT system composed of portable devices was attempted, and the capacity of this system was verified by reconstructing the CT images for two phantoms and two artificially defected specimens. Results from this study showed that the sizes of detected defects were enlarged and the shapes were distorted on the CT images. Also, the positions were shifted somewhat toward the surface of specimen, which is regarded due to the anisotropic property of wood. Compared to the filtered back-projection method, SIRT (simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique) method was determined to be more efficient as the algorithm of image reconstruction for wood. A new ultrasonic CT system is thought to be used as a NDE method for wood. However wood characteristics and wave diffraction within wood made it difficult to accurately evaluate the size, shape and position of defects. To improve the quality of CT image of wood, more research including the relationship between wood and ultrasound is needed, and wood properties should be taken into consideration on the image reconstruction algorithm.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제46권6호
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• pp.475-484
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• 2023

This study aimed to compare filters for reducing speckle noise in ultrasound images using clinical liver images. We acquired the clinical liver ultrasound images, and noisy images were obtained by adding 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.50 intensity levels of speckle noise to the liver images. The Wiener filter, median modified Wiener filter, gamma filter, and Lee filter were designed for the noisy images by setting window sizes at 3×3, 5×5, and 7×7. The coefficient of variation (COV) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) were calculated to evaluate noise reduction and various filters. Moreover, the filter with the highest image quality was selected and quantitatively compared to a noisy image. As a result, COV and CNR showed the noise improved result when the Lee filter was applied. Furthermore, the Lee filter image with a window size of 7×7 was noted to possess approximately a minimum of 1.28 to a maximum of 3.38 times better COV and a minimum of 2.18 to a maximum of 5.50 times better CNR than the noisy image. In conclusion, we confirmed that the Lee filter was effective in reducing speckle noise and proved that an appropriate window size needs to be set considering blurring.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제15권5호
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• pp.621-628
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• 2021

혈관 내 초음파 카테터의 주파수 관련 화질 분석에 대한 선행 연구는 국내 국외 모두 미비한 실정이다. 따라서 프로그램을 이용해 영상 화질 측정 방법의 기준을 마련하여 혈관 내 초음파 영상의 화질 분석 관련 연구자들에게 측정 방법을 제안하고자 본 연구를 진행하게 되었다. 대상으로는 혈관 내강 크기가 3.0 - 4.0 mm를 대상으로 혈관 내 초음파를 사용하기 전 초음파 카테터에 공기나 이물질이 들어가지 않도록 충분히 세척해주고 니트로글리세린(NTG)을 관상동맥 내 200 micro를 투여해 혈관을 충분히 확장시킨 영상의 정상 혈관 영상과 병변 혈관 영상을 대상으로 하였다. 기준이 되는 영상 획득 방법으로는 혈관 내 초음파 사용 시 혈관 병변 평가가 가장 우수한 심장 수축기 끝 구간의 영상을 DCAS PACS 프로그램을 통해 후향적으로 획득하여 기준을 설정하였다. 측정 방법 기준 설정 시 정상 혈관과 병변 혈관의 동심원적 및 편심원적에 해당하는 기준 설정 방법을 제안하였고 이 기준을 적용하여 정상 혈관과 병변 혈관의 내강과 외강 관심 영역 및 배경 영역 측정 방법에 대해 제안하였다. 결론적으로 본 연구자들이 고안해낸 방법을 통해 혈관 내 초음파 촬영 영상의 화질을 측정한다면 혈관 내 초음파 카테터의 종류를 불문하고 일관성 있는 화질 측정 진행이 가능하다 생각한다. 따라서 혈관 내 초음파 영상 화질 관련 연구 시 실제 화질 측정 방법에 대해 가이드라인으로 적용시킬 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제59권12호
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• pp.2349-2351
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• 2010

Photo Acoustic Tomography (PAT) is a hybrid imaging modality which combines high contrast of optical imaging and spatial resolution of ultrasound imaging, thus it is suitable to image biological tissue noninvasively. Laser-induced photoacoustic signals were measured from a sample by means of an unfocused ultrasound transducer, then PAT image was reconstructed based on a universal back-projection algorithm. To evaluate the feasibility of our system, phantom test was performed, consequently, the PAT images obtained using our system showed highly analogous shape and volume with those of the phantom. This result demonstrated that our system can provide a powerful tool for imaging the substructure of biological tissue in non-invasive manner.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.140-146
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• 2016

The ultrasound imaging in medical diagnosis has become a popular modality because of its safe, noninvasive, portable, relatively inexpensive, and provides a real-time image formation. However, usefulness of ultrasound imaging is at times limited due to the presence of signal-dependent noise like as speckle. Therefore, noise reduction is very important, as various types of noise generated limits the effectiveness of medical image diagnosis. This paper introduces a speckle noise reduce algorithm using total variation denoising (TVD) in Laplacian pyramid. With this method, speckle is removed by TVD of bandpass ultrasound images in Laplacian pyramid domain. For TVD in each pyramid layer, a ${\lambda}$ is selected by trial-and-error method. The visual comparison of despeckled 'in vivo' ultrasound images from pancreas shows that the proposed method could effectively preserve edges and detailed structures while thoroughly suppressing speckle. For a Simulated B-mode image, contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) and signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) were obtained like 4.65 dB and 14.11 dB, respectively. The results show that the proposed method can conduct better than some of the existing methods in terms of the CNR and the SNR.