• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.791-800
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• 2019

Objective: To compare various models of diffusion-weighted imaging including monoexponential apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), biexponential (fast diffusion coefficient [D_f], slow diffusion coefficient [D_s], and fraction of fast diffusion), stretched-exponential (distributed diffusion coefficient and anomalous exponent term [α]), and kurtosis (mean diffusivity and mean kurtosis [MK]) models in the differentiation of renal solid masses. Materials and Methods: A total of 81 patients (56 men and 25 women; mean age, 57 years; age range, 30-69 years) with 18 benign and 63 malignant lesions were imaged using 3T diffusion-weighted MRI. Diffusion model selection was investigated in each lesion using the Akaike information criteria. Mann-Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used for statistical evaluations. Results: Goodness-of-fit analysis showed that the stretched-exponential model had the highest voxel percentages in benign and malignant lesions (90.7% and 51.4%, respectively). ADC, D_s, and MK showed significant differences between benign and malignant lesions (p < 0.05) and between low- and high-grade clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) (p < 0.05). α was significantly lower in the benign group than in the malignant group (p < 0.05). All diffusion measures showed significant differences between ccRCC and non-ccRCC (p < 0.05) except D_f and α (p = 0.143 and 0.112, respectively). α showed the highest diagnostic accuracy in differentiating benign and malignant lesions with an area under the ROC curve of 0.923, but none of the parameters from these advanced models revealed significantly better performance over ADC in discriminating subtypes or grades of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with conventional diffusion parameters, α may provide additional information for differentiating benign and malignant renal masses, while ADC remains the most valuable parameter for differentiation of RCC subtypes and for ccRCC grading.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 2002

Purpose : The differential diagnosis between Modic type I degenerative spine and infectious spondylitis sometimes is difficult, because the affected bone marrows in both disease show similar signal intensity on conventional MR imaging. We evaluate the usefulness of diffusion-wighted MR imaging for differential diagnosis between Modic type I degenerative spine and infectious spondylitis. Materials and methods : The spin-echo and diffusion-weighted MR images of eight patients with Modic type I degenerative spines and 14 patients with infectious spondylitis diagnosed by clinical findings or CT-guided biopsies we re analyzed. The diffusion-weighted imaging sequence was based on reversed fast imaging with steady-state precession (PSIF). Signal intensity changes of the vertebral bone marrow on conventional spin-echo and diffusion-weighted MR imaging were compared between degenerative spine and infectious spondylitis. Results : On T1-weighte d images, the affeted bone marrow in both disease showed hypointense signals. On T 2-weighted images, all of type I degenerative spine and 11 of infectious spondylitis showed hyperintensity, and three of infectious spondylitis showed heterogeneo us mixed signal intensity. On diffusion-weighted MR images, all of type I degenerative spine were hypointense with peripheral high signal intensity to normal vertebral body, but infectious spondylitis was hyperintense (n = 11) and hypointense (n=3). Conclusion : Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is useful to differentiate Modic type I degenerative spine from infectious spondylitis. On diffusion-weighted images, the high singal intensity of bone marrow suggests infectious spondylitis, whereas the low signal intensity of bone marrow with peripheral focal high signal intensity suggests type I degenerative spine.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.56-65
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• 2009

Stereoscopic images consist of the left image and the right image. Thus, stereoscopic images have much amounts of data than single image. Then an efficient image compression technique is needed, the DPCM-based predicted coding compression technique is used in most video coding standards. Motion and disparity estimation are needed to realize the predicted coding compression technique. Their performing algorithm is block matching algorithm used in most video coding standards. Full search algorithm is a base algorithm of block matching algorithm which finds an optimal block to compare the base block with every other block in the search area. This algorithm presents the best efficiency for finding optimal blocks, but it has very large computational loads. In this paper, we have proposed fast disparity estimation algorithm using motion and disparity vector information of the prior frame in stereo image coding. We can realize fast disparity vector estimation in order to reduce search area by taking advantage of global disparity vector and to decrease computational loads by limiting search points using motion vectors and disparity vectors of prior frame. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better performance in the simple image sequence than complex image sequence. We conclude that the fast disparity vector estimation is possible in simple image sequences by reducing computational complexities.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.294-303
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• 2008

ISAR(Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar) images represent the 2-D(two-dimensional) spatial distribution of RCS (Radar Cross Section) of an object, and they can be applied to the problem of target identification. A traditional approach to ISAR imaging is to use a 2-D IFFT(Inverse Fast Fourier Transform). However, the 2-D IFFT results in low resolution ISAR images especially when the measured frequency bandwidth and angular region are limited. In order to improve the resolution capability of the Fourier transform, various high-resolution spectral estimation approaches have been applied to obtain ISAR images, such as AR(Auto Regressive), MUSIC(Multiple Signal Classification) or Modified MUSIC algorithms. In this study, these high-resolution spectral estimators as well as 2-D IFFT approach are combined with a recently developed ISAR image classification algorithm, and their performances are carefully analyzed and compared in the framework of radar target recognition.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.335-347
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• 2017

Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator had been the only approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke since its approval in 1995. However, the restrictive time window, numerous contraindications, and its low recanalization rate were all limitations of this modality. Under those circumstances, endovascular stroke therapy went through a great evolution during the past two decades of intravenous thrombolysis. The results of the 2013 randomized trials for endovascular stroke therapy were neutral, although they were limited by insufficient imaging screening at enrollment, early-generation devices with less efficacy, and treatment delays. Huge progress was made in 2015, as there were five randomized clinical trials which all demonstrated the safety and efficacy of endovascular stroke treatment. Despite differences in detail patient enrollment criteria, all 5 trials employed key factors for good functional recovery; (1) screening with non-invasive imaging to identify the proximal occlusion and exclude a large infarct core, (2) using highly effective modern thrombectomy devices mainly with stent retriever, and (3) establishment of a fast workflow to achieve effective reperfusion. The results of those trials indicate that modern thrombectomy devices can allow for faster and more effective reperfusion, which can lead to improved clinical outcomes compared to intravenous thrombolysis alone. These advances in mechanical thrombectomy are promising in the global fight against ischemic stroke-related disability and mortality. Two current mainstreams among such mechanical thrombectomy techniques, "stent retriever thrombectomy" and "direct clot aspiration", are the topic of this review. Stent retriever thrombectomy using Solitaire and Trevo retriever will be firstly discussed. And, the commonalities and the differences between two major clot aspiration thrombectomy techniques; a direct aspiration first pass technique (ADAPT) and forced arterial suction thrombectomy (FAST), will be additionally explained. Finally, details regarding the combination of direct clot aspiration and stent retriever thrombectomy, the switching strategy and the Solumbra technique, will be described.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.88.2-88.2
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• 2011

Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) is an instrument developed by Seoul National University and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and installed at the 1.6 meter New Solar Telescope of Big Bear Solar Observatory. Using this instrument, we observed solar filaments and analyzed the data focusing on determining the temperature and non-thermal velocity. We inferred the Doppler absorption widths of $H{\alpha}$ and Ca II 8542$\bar{A}$ lines from the line profiles using the cloud model. From these values, we separately determined temperature and non-thermal velocity. Our first result came from a solar filament observed on 2010 July 29th. Temperature inside a small selected region of this ranges from 4500K to 12000K and non-thermal velocity, from 3.5km/s to 7km/s. We also found temperature varied a lot with time. For example temperature at a fixed point varied from 8000K to 18000K for 40 minutes, displaying an oscillating pattern with a period of about 8 minutes and amplitude of about 2000K. We will also present new results from filaments observed in 2011 summer.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.54-62
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• 2007

In this paper, we significantly reduces the amount of computation for intra 16$\times$16 mode decision in H.264 by applying the fast algorithm, which obtains the transformed prediction residual with fewer computations. By extending the existing intra 4$\times$4 mode decision, we propose the new algorithm for fast intra 16$\times$16 mode decision. The proposed algorithm uses partial transform coefficients which consist of one DC and three adjacent AC coefficients after 4$\times$4 transform in the intra 16$\times$16 mode decision. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce computations up to 50% in the intra 16$\times$16 mode decision process with unnoticeable degradation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.39-47
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• 2008

Spectral line profiles of filaments/prominences to be observed by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) are studied. The main spectral lines of interests are $H{\alpha}$, Ca II 8542, and Ca II K. FISS has a high spectral resolving power of $2{\times}10^5$, and supports simultaneous dual-band recording. This instrument will be installed at the 1.6m New Solar Telescope (NST) of Big Bear Solar Observatory, which has a high spatial resolution of 0.065" at 500nm. Adopting the cloud model of radiative transfer and using the model parameters inferred from pre-existing observations, we have simulated a set of spectral profiles of the lines that are emitted by a filament on the disk or a prominence at the limb. Taking into account the parameters of the instrument, we have estimated the photon count to be recorded by the CCD cameras, the signal-to-noise ratios, and so on. We have also found that FISS is suitable for the study of multi-velocity threads in filaments if the spectral profiles of Ca II lines are recorded together with $H{\alpha}$ lines.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.425-431
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• 2010

This study explored the effects and the effectiveness of the new method of 3D FIESTA by making quantitative comparison with the conventional 3D FSE method which is frequently employed on patients with sudden hearing loss in clinical settings. For this study, 3D FSE images acquired with 3.0T MR scanner and T2-weighted axial plane 3D FIESTA images were respectively taken from 40 patients diagnosed with Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL). When obtaining those images, sagittal reconstructions oriented perpendicular to the nerve were performed in order to get sagittal images of both right and left internal auditory canal. The findings showed that both SNR and CNR were higher among the group to whom the 3D FIESTA method was applied than the group to whom the conventional 3D FSE method was applied.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.112.2-112.2
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• 2012

For the study of fine-scale structure and dynamics in the solar chromosphere, the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) was installed in 1.6m New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory in 2010. The instrument, installed at a vertical table of the Coude lab, is properly working and producing data for science. From the analysis of the data, however, we noticed that a couple of problems exist that deteriorate image quality : lower light level and poorer resolution of the CaII band data. After several tests, we found that the relay optics at the right position is crucial role for the spatial resolution of raster-scan images. By using resolution target, we re-aligned relay optics and other components of the spectrograph. Here we present the result of optical test and new data taken by the FISS.