• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

Background: Using wearable passive back-support exoskeletons in workplace has attracted attention as devices that support the posture of workers, enhance their physical capabilities, and reduce physical risk factors. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton on the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks at various heights. Methods: Twenty healthy adult males were selected as subjects. Electromyography (EMG) was used to assess the activity of the erector spinae muscles while performing lifting tasks at three distinct heights (30, 40, and 50 cm), with and without the application of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton. EMG data were gathered before and after the application of the orthosis. Results: The use of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton resulted in a significant decrease in muscle activity when lifting a 10 kg object from heights of 30 and 40 cm (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant reduction in muscle activity when lifting from a height of 50 cm compared with that at lower heights (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The use of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton led to a decrease in the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks, irrespective of the object's height. Our results suggest that the orthosis we tested may help decrease risk of lower back injuries during lifting.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.33-51
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• 2017

With the advent of 'The Forth Industrial Revolution' and the growing demand for quality of life due to economic growth, needs for the quality of medical services are increasing. Artificial intelligence has been introduced in the medical field, but it is rarely used in chronic skin diseases that directly affect the quality of life. Also, atopic dermatitis, a representative disease among chronic skin diseases, has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to make an objective diagnosis of the severity of lesions. The aim of this study is to establish an intelligent severity recognition model of atopic dermatitis for improving the quality of patient's life. For this, the following steps were performed. First, image data of patients with atopic dermatitis were collected from the Catholic University of Korea Seoul Saint Mary's Hospital. Refinement and labeling were performed on the collected image data to obtain training and verification data that suitable for the objective intelligent atopic dermatitis severity recognition model. Second, learning and verification of various CNN algorithms are performed to select an image recognition algorithm that suitable for the objective intelligent atopic dermatitis severity recognition model. Experimental results showed that 'ResNet V1 101' and 'ResNet V2 50' were measured the highest performance with Erythema and Excoriation over 90% accuracy, and 'VGG-NET' was measured 89% accuracy lower than the two lesions due to lack of training data. The proposed methodology demonstrates that the image recognition algorithm has high performance not only in the field of object recognition but also in the medical field requiring expert knowledge. In addition, this study is expected to be highly applicable in the field of atopic dermatitis due to it uses image data of actual atopic dermatitis patients.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.451-461
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• 2015

In megavoltage (MV) radiotherapy, delivering the dose to the target volume is important while protecting the surrounding normal tissue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) using an edge block in megavoltage X-ray imaging (MVI). We used an edge block, which consists of tungsten with dimensions of 19 (thickness) ${\times}$ 10 (length) ${\times}$ 1 (width) $cm^3$ and measured the pre-sampling MTF at 6 MV energy. Various radiation therapy (RT) devices such as TrueBeam$^{TM}$ (Varian), BEAMVIEW$^{PLUS}$ (Siemens), iViewGT (Elekta) and Clinac$^{(R)}$iX (Varian) were used. As for MTF results, TrueBeam$^{TM}$(Varian) flattening filter free(FFF) showed the highest values of $0.46mm^{-1}$ and $1.40mm^{-1}$ for MTF 0.5 and 0.1. In NPS, iViewGT (Elekta) showed the lowest noise distribution. In DQE, iViewGT (Elekta) showed the best efficiency at a peak DQE and $1mm^{-1}DQE$ of 0.0026 and 0.00014, respectively. This study could be used not only for traditional QA imaging but also for quantitative MTF, NPS, and DQE measurement for development of an electronic portal imaging device (EPID).

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2015

This research was study the accuracy of three-dimensional stereotactic breast biopsy, using a core Needle Biopsy and to assess the accuracy of Stereotactic biopsy and Sono guided biopsy. Using Stereotactic QC phantom to measure the accuracy of the 3D sterotactic machine. CT Scan and equipment obtained in the measured X, Y, Z and compares the accuracy of the length. Using Agar power phantom compare the accuracy of the 3D sterotactic machine and 2D ultrasound machine. Z axis measured by the equipment to compare the accuracy and reliability. Check the accuracy by using visual inspection and Specimen Medical application phantom. The accuracy of the 3D sterotactic machine measured by Stereotactic QC phantom was 100%. Accuracy as compared to CT, all of X, Y, Z axis is p > 0.05. The accuracy of the two devices was 100% as measured by Agar powder phantom. There was no difference between t he t wo d evices as C T and p > 0.05. 3D sterotactic machine of the ICC was 0.954, 2D ultrasound machine was 0.785. 2D ultrasound machine was different according to the inspector. Medical application phantom experiments in 3D sterotactic machine could not find the Sliced boneless ham. 2D ultrasound machine has not been able to find a small chalk powder group. The reproducibility of the three-dimensional stereotactic breast biopsy was better than effect of Sono guided biopsy.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.76-87
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• 2000

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common problem that can interfere with rehabilitation as well as activities of daily living. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of both transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulation (MENS) on DOMS, Twenty-seven untrained and male volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: 1) a group that received TENS (7 Hz), 2) MENS (60 ${\mu}A$, .3 pps) or 3) a control group that received no treatment. Subjects performed repeated eccentric exercise of the non-dominant forearm flexor muscle with submaximal intensity by the simply designed eccentric exercise devices. Treatments were applied after 24 hours and 48 hours. Subjects attended on two consecutive days for treatment and measurement of elbow flexion, extension, resting angle (universal goniometer), and pain (visual analogue scale: VAS) on a daily basis. Measurements were taken after treatment. Analysis of results were as follows; 1) There were no significant differences between TENS and MENS by one-way repeated ANOVA, 2) The t-test for pain, resting, flexion and extension angle revealed significant differences within TENS group, 3) The t-test for resting angle revealed significant differences within MENS group.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.55-60
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of constitutional herbal tea for treating chronic fatigue with no diagnosed cause, which is called Mibyeong in Korea. Methods: Males and females with ages between 40 and 59 years who had complained of fatigue for 1 month consistently or for 6 months intermittently without a definite cause were recruited. At the same time, a Chalder fatigue scale (CFS) score of 19 was essential for participation in this study. Sixty five subjects completed the entire process, including blood tests and tests with medical devices. Five assessments of health status were accomplished over 8 weeks by using the CFS and the visual analogue scale (VAS). To ensure that the constitutional herbal tea was being safely used, we conducted and analyzed renal function and liver function tests. For the diagnosis of the Sasang constitution, the Sasang Constitutional Analysis Tool (SCAT) was used, and a specialist in Sasang constitutional medicine made the final diagnosis based on the SCAT result. Constitutional herbal tea was served four weeks after the first visit. The subjects took the constitutional herbal tea twice a day for one month. Results: The results are as follows: The CFS and the VAS scores were significantly improved for the subjects in the constitutional herbal tea. No abnormalities were found on the blood tests to evaluate safety after taking the constitutional herbal tea. The improvements in the CFS and the VAS scores due to the constitutional herbal tea had no significant differences according to the Sasang constitution. Conclusion: Constitutional herbal tea may be used to reduce fatigue and improve health and has no adverse effect on either the kidney or the liver.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.457-462
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to compare image quality of indirect digital radiography (IDR) system using the International Electro-technical Commission standard (IEC 62220-1), and to suggest the analysis of noise power spectrum (NPS) which were applied to IEC 62220-1 in medical imaging. In this study, Pixium 4600 (Trixell, France) which is indirect flat panel detector (FPD) was used. The size of image receptor (IR) is $7{\times}17$ inch (matrix $3001{\times}3001$) which performed 14bit processing and pixel pitch is $143{\mu}m$. In IEC standard, NPS evaluation were applied to RQA3, RQA5, RQA7 and RQA9. Because of different radiation quality, each region of interesting (ROI) were compared. The results of NPS indicated up to $3.5mm^{-1}$ including low Nyquist frequency. RQA5 indicated the lowest NPS and the others indicated higher NPS results relatively. NPS result of ROI a38 was higher than ROI a92 and this result indicated that there are more noise in left (cathode) than right (anode). This study were to evaluate NPS by using different radiation quality and setting the each ROI, and to suggest the quantitative methods of measuring NPS.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.165-171
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• 2020

In this study, it focuses on the development of radiographic devices for patellar imaging. On the previous X-ray examination of patella and patellofemoral joint, it analyzed the problems which could affect the results: unstable patients' pose, radiation exposure, and deterioration of image quality. The purpose of the research is to propose a future use of a developed device with an explanation of the process, function, and advantage of the device including the methods. The device is developed to focus on the diagnosis of the longitudinal and longitudinal fractures of the patella and patella/femoral joint, displacement such as dislocation, bone formation, stenosis of the patella/femorla joint, and cartilage wear. Due to the patient's anxious posture, it caused a shaking image, overlapping structures, and etcs, these factors challenge to diagnose accurately. In addition, the existing Settegast method and Hughston method, which are most frequently performed in the hospital field, are not suitable for the presence or absence of features or dislocation due to the heavy load on the patella of the patient. The developed device requires patients in a lying position and placing only their leg on the device, it increases the conveniences of the examination and decreases unnecessary radiation exposure of the patient except the patellar examination area. Moreover, one of the systems in the device fixes the detector, where the patients no longer need to hold the detector nor be in unstable posture, but describes the structure of the patella/femoral joint more clearly. Hoping the device will apply to more patients.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to investigate knowledge of and compliance with the multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infection control guidelines among student nurses on clinical practicum, Methods: survey questionnaire on MORO infection control was administered to a convenience sample of 259 nursing students from 3 different nursing schools Results: The mean knowledge score was 28.01/39 (71.82%). The percentages of correct answers for basic concepts, route of transmission, hand washing/ protective devices and environment management, were 55.40, 81.14, 84.94 and 69.17 respectively. The mean compliance score was 3.83/5. The compliance scores for education, communication, contact precaution, environment management, and hand washing were 3.06, 3.33, 3.86, 4.50, 3.92 and 4.29 respectively. 96.9% of subjects knew that they should wash hands after touching MORO patient while only 22.8% of subjects knew how to collect samples for VRE surveillance culture, The highest compliant item was hand washing after touching MORO patient. The Lo-west compliant item was referring to infection control manual. Conclusion: Comprehensive MDRO infection control education programs for nursing students should be developed to decrease MORO infection.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 1999

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate fundamental aspects of the dose response of fluorescent screen-based electronic portal imaging devices (EPIDS). Materials and Methods : We acquired scanned signal across portal planes as we varied the radiation that entered the EPID by changing the thickness and anatomy of the phantom as well as the air gap between the phantom and the EPID. In addition, we simulated the relative contribution of the scintillation light signal in the EPID system. Results : We have shown that the dose profile across portal planes is a function of the air gap and phantom thickness. We have also found that depending on the density change within the phantom geometry, errors associated with dose response based on the EPID scan can be as high as $7\%$. We also found that scintillation light scattering within the EPID system is an important source of error. Conclusion : This study revealed and demonstrated fundamental characteristics of dose response of EPID, as relative to that of ion chambers. This study showed that EPID based on fluorescent screen cannot be an accurate dosimetry system.