• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2020

As high homogeneity in magnetic field is required to increase the resolution of MRI magnets, various shimming methods have been researched. Using one of them, the design of the superconducting active zonal shim coil for MRI magnets is discussed in this paper. The magnetic field of the MRI magnet is expressed as the sum of spherical harmonic terms, and the optimized current density of shim coils capable of removing higher-order terms is calculated by the Tikhonov regularization method. To investigate all potential designs derived from calculated current density, 4 sweeping parameters are selected: (1) axial length of shim coil zone; (2) radius of shim coils; (3) exact axial position of shim coils; and (4) operating current. After adequate designs are determined with constraints of critical current margin and homogeneity criterion, the total wire length required for each is calculated and the design with a minimum of them is chosen. Using the superconducting wire length of 9.77 km, the field homogeneity over 50 cm DSV is improved from 24 ppm to 1.87 ppm in the case study for 9.4 T whole-body MRI shimming. Finally, the results are compared with the finite element method (FEM) simulation results to validate the feasibility and accuracy of the design.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to examine usefulness of 3T equipment-based time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3T-TOF MRA) by comparing standard technique (ST) with high resolution technique (HRT) in evaluation of cerebral blood vessel. The 3T-TOF MRA was performed for 31 patients who were suspected of having cerebrovascular disease from March to July 2010. For evaluation of cerebral blood vessel, classification was conducted randomly: group I that included vertebral artery and basilar artery, group II that ranged from 2.5cm before basin part of common carotid artery to basin part of internal and external carotid arteries and to genu part of internal carotid artery, group III that ranged from vertebral part of internal carotid artery to the first basin art of anterior and middle cerebral through education recognizes the importance of dose reduction and examine if their efforts and further reduce patient dose could achieve optimization of the medical exposure is considered.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1120-1126
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• 2001

Objective : The development of magnetic resonance neurography(MRN) has made it possible to produce highresolution images of peripheral nerves themselves, as well as associated intraneural and extraneural lesions. We evaluated the clinical application and utility of high-resolution MRN techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of peripheral nerve disorder(PND)s. Material and Method : MRN images were obtained using T1-weighted spin echo, T2-weighted fast spin echo with fat suppression, and short tau inversion recovery(STIR) fast spin-echo pulse sequences. Fifteen patients were studied, three with brachial plexus tumors, five with chronic entrapment syndromes, and seven with traumatic peripheral lesions. Ten patients underwent surgery. Results : In MRN with STIR sequences of axial and coronal imagings, signals of the peripheral nerves with various lesions were detected as fairly bright signals and were discerned from signals of the uninvolved nerves. Increased signal with proximal swelling and distal flattening of the median nerve were seen in all patients of carpal tunnel syndrome. Among the eight patients with brachial plexus injury or tumors, T2-weighted MRN showed increased signal intensity in involved roots in five, enhanced mass lesions in three, and traumatic pseudomeningocele in three. Other associated MRI findings were adjacent bony signal change, neuroma, root adhesion and denervated muscle atophy with signal change. Conclusion : MRN with high-resolution imaging can be useful in the preoperative evaluation and surgical planning in patients with peripheral nerve lesions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Cognitive Science Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.151-153
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• 2005

We investigated the brain substrate of repetition priming on the implicit memory taskusing low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) with high-density 128 channel EEG and individual MRI as a realistic head model. Thirteen right-handed, healthy subjects performed a word/nonword discrimination task, in which the words and nonwords were presented visually,and some of the words appeared twice with a lag of one or five items. All of the subjects exhibited repetition priming with respect to the behavioral data, in which a faster reaction time was observed to the repeated word (old word) than to the first presentation of the word (new word). The old words elicited more positive-going potentials than the new words, beginning at 200 ms and lasting until 500 ms post-stimulus. We conducted source reconstruction using LORETA at a latency of 400 ms with the peak mean global field potentials and used statistical parametric mapping for the statistical analysis. We found that the source elicited by the old words exhibited a statistically significant current density reduction in the left inferior frontal gyrus. This is the first study to investigate the generators of repetition priming using voxel-by-voxel statistical mapping of the current density with individual MRI and high-density EEG.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.35-38
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• 2005

In our country, the skin image and MR Microscopy research has been processed but there were not their outstanding results. So this study start to improve the techniques can get high resolution skin images and to make RF surface coils. Volume coils are sometimes unavailable, or do not provide adequate RF power or SNR for some applications. In high resolution skin and tissue structure images current coils have a technical limitation. It is well known that standard single-loop surface coils, although offering high SNR characteristics, have poor B1 homogeneity. As the RF surface coil need change its geometry we get improved images. So, The magnetic field simulation that is first step to make and design RF surface coil will support reference data.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.113-124
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• 2001

For veterinary imaging diagnosis, we obtained MR images of the canine brain, spine, kidney and pelvis from 3T MRI system which was equipped with the world first 3T active shield magnet. Spin echo (SE) and fast Spin Echo (FSE) images were obtained from the canine brain, spine, kidney and pelvis of normal and sick dogs using a homemade birdcage and transverse electromagnetic (TEM) resonators operating in quadrature and tuned to 128 MHz. In addition, we employed a homemade saddle shaped RF coil. Typical common acquisition parameters were as follows: matrix=512$\times$512, field of view (FOV)=20cm, slice thickness=3 w, number of excitations (NEX)=1. For T1-weighted MR images, we used TR=500 ms, TE=10 or 17.4 ms. For T2-weighted MR images, we used TR=4000 ms, TE=108 ms. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 3T system was measured 2.7 times greater than that of prevalent 1.57 system. The high resolution images acquired in this study represent more than a 4-fold increase in in-plane resolution relative to conventional images obtained with a 20 cm field of view and a 5 mm slice thickness. MR images obtained from 3T system revealed numerous small venous structures throughout the image plane and provided reasonable delineation between gray and white matter The present results demonstrate that the MR images from 3T system could provide better diagnostic quality of resolution and sensitivity than those of 1.5T system. The elevated SNR observed in the 3T high field magnetic resonance imaging can be utilized to acquire images with a level of resolution approaching the microscopic structural level under in vivo conditions. These images represent a significant advance in our ability to examine small anatomical features with noninvasive imaging methods. Moreover, MRI technique could begin to apply for veterinary medicine in Korea.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2001

Purpose : $T_2$-weighted half courier Echo Planar Imaging (T2HEPI) method is proposed to reduce measurement time of existing EPI by a factor of 2. In addition, high $T_2$ contrast is obtained for clinical applications. High resolution single-shot EPI images with $T_2$ contrast are obtained with $128{\times}128$ matrix size by the proposed method. Materials and methods : In order to reduce measurement time in EPI, half courier space is measured, and rest of half courier data is obtained by conjugate symmetric filling. Thus high resolution single shot EPI image with $128{\times}128$ matrix size is obtained with 64 echoes. By the arrangement of phase encoding gradients, high $T_2$ weighted images are obtained. The acquired data in k-space are shifted if there exists residual gradient field due to eddy current along phase encoding gradient, which results in a serious problem in the reconstructed image. The residual field is estimated by the correlation coefficient between the echo signal for dc and the corresponding reference data acquired during the pre-scan. Once the residual gradient field is properly estimated, it can be removed by the adjustment of initial phase encoding gradient field between $70^{\circ}$ and $180^{\circ}$ rf pulses. Results : The suggested T2EPl is implemented in a 1.0 Tela whole body MRI system. Experiments are done with the effective echo times of 72ms and 96ms with single shot acquisitions. High resolution($128{\times}128$) volunteer head images with high $T_2$ contrast are obtained in a single scan by the proposed method. Conclusion : Using the half courier technique, higher resolution EPI images are obtained with matrix size of $128{\times}128$ in a single scan. Furthermore $T_2$ contrast is controlled by the effective echo time. Since the suggested method can be implemented by software alone (pulse sequence and corresponding tuning and reconstruction algorithms) without addition of special hardware, it can be widely used in existing MRI systems.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was performed to introduce an in vivo hybrid multimodality technique involving the coregistration of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) to concomitantly visualize and quantify mineralization and vascularization at follow-up in a rat model. Materials and Methods: Three adult female rats were randomly assigned as test subjects, with 1 rat serving as a control subject. For 20 weeks, the test rats received a weekly intravenous injection of 30 ㎍/kg zoledronic acid, and the control rat was administered a similar dose of normal saline. Bilateral extraction of the lower first and second molars was performed after 10 weeks. All rats were scanned once every 4 weeks with both micro-CT and HR-MRI. Micro-CT and HR-MRI images were registered and fused in the same 3-dimensional region to quantify blood flow velocity and trabecular bone thickness at T0 (baseline), T4 (4 weeks), T8 (8 weeks), T12 (12 weeks), T16 (16 weeks), and T20 (20 weeks). Histological assessment was the gold standard with which the findings were compared. Results: The histomorphometric images at T20 aligned with the HR-MRI findings, with both test and control rats demonstrating reduced trabecular bone vasculature and blood vessel density. The micro-CT findings were also consistent with the histomorphometric changes, which revealed that the test rats had thicker trabecular bone and smaller marrow spaces than the control rat. Conclusion: The combination of micro-CT and HR-MRI may be considered a powerful non-invasive novel technique for the longitudinal quantification of localized mineralization and vascularization.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.181-184
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• 2010

A case of idiopathic hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis (IHCP) misdiagnosed as an acute subdural hematoma is reported. A 37-year-old male patient presented with headache following head trauma 2 weeks earlier. Computerized tomography showed a diffuse high-density lesion along the left tentorium and falx cerebri. Initial chest X-rays revealed a small mass in the right upper lobe with right lower pleural thickening, which suggested lung cancer, such as an adenoma or mediastinal metastasis. During conservative treatment under the diagnosis of a subdural hematoma, left cranial nerve palsies were developed (3rd and 6th), followed by scleritis and uveitis involving both eyes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an unusual tentorium-falx enhancement on gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images. Non-specific chronic inflammation of the pachymeninges was noticed on histopathologic examination following an open biopsy. Systemic steroid treatment was initiated, resulting in dramatic improvement of symptoms. A follow-up brain MRI showed total resolution of the lesion 2 months after steroid treatment. IHCP should be included in the differential diagnosis of subtentorial-enhancing lesions.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.134-140
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• 2010

Readily available high resolution brain MRI scans allow detailed visualization of the brain structures. Researchers have focused on developing methods to quantify shape differences specific to diseased scans. We have developed a novel method to quantify shape information for a specific population based on Multidimensional scaling(MDS). MDS is a well known tool in statistics and here we apply this classical tool to quantify shape change. Distance measures are required in MDS which are computed from pair-wise image registrations of the training set. Registration step establishes spatial correspondence among scans so that they can be compared in the same spatial framework. One benefit of our method is that it is quite robust to errors in registrations. Applying our method to 13 brain MRI showed clear separation between normal and diseased (Cushing's syndrome). Intentionally perturbing the image registration results did not significantly affect the separability of two clusters. We have developed a novel method to quantify shape based on MDS, which is robust to image mis-registration.