• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.33
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• pp.35-46
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• 2021

Purpose : By comparing and analyzing treatment plans using abdominal compression and The Continuous Positive Air Pressure(CPAP) during SABR of lung cancer, we try to contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy effect. Materials & Methods : In two of the lung SABR patients(A, B patient), we developed a SABR plan using abdominal compression device(the Body Pro-Lok, BPL) and CPAP and analyze the treatment plan through homogeneity, conformity and the parameters proposed in RTOG 0813. Furthermore, for each phase, the X, Y, and Z axis movements centered on PTV are analyzed in all 4D CTs and compared by obtaining the volume and average dose of PTV and OAR. Four cone beam computed tomography(CBCT) were used to measure the directions from the center of the PTV to the intrathoracic contacts in three directions out of 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°, and compare the differences from the average distance values in each direction. Result : Both treatment plans obtained using BPL and CPAP followed recommendations from RTOG, and there was no significant difference in homogeneity and conformity. The X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis movements centered on PTV in patient A were 0.49 cm, 0.37 cm, 1.66 cm with BPL and 0.16 cm, 0.12 cm, and 0.19 cm with CPAP, in patient B were 0.22 cm, 0.18 cm, 1.03 cm with BPL and 0.14 cm, 0.11 cm, and 0.4 cm with CPAP. In A patient, when using CPAP compared to BPL, ITV decreased by 46.27% and left lung volume increased by 41.94%, and average dose decreased by 52.81% in the heart. In B patient, volume increased by 106.89% in the left lung and 87.32% in the right lung, with an average dose decreased by 44.30% in the stomach. The maximum difference of A patient between the straight distance value and the mean distance value in each direction was 0.05 cm in the a-direction, 0.05 cm in the b-direction, and 0.41 cm in the c-direction. In B patient, there was a difference of 0.19 cm in the d-direction, 0.49 cm in the e-direction, and 0.06 cm in the f-direction. Conclusion : We confirm that increased lung volume with CPAP can reduce doses of OAR near the target more effectively than with BPL, and also contribute more effectively to restriction of tumor movement with respiration. It is considered that radiation therapy effects can be improved through the application of various sites of CPAP and the combination with CPAP and other treatment machines.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.33
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• pp.127-135
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficiency of Vertical MLC VMAT plan(VMV plan) Using 273° and 350° collimator angle compare to Complemental MLC VMAT plan(CMV plan) using 20° and 340° collimator angle for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Materials & Methods : Thirty patients treated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma with the VMAT technique were retrospectively selected. Those cases were planned by Eclipse, PO and AcurosXB Algorithm with two 6MV 360° arcs and Each arc has 273° and 350° of collimator angle. The Complemental MLC VMAT plans are based on existing treatment plans. Those plans have the same parameters of existing treatment plans but collimator angle. For dosimetric evaluation, the dose-volumetric(DV) parameters of the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) were calculated for all VMAT plans. MCSv(Modulation complexity score of VMAT), MU and treatment time were also compared. In addition, Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to confirm whether there was a correlation between the difference in the MCSv and the difference in each evaluation index of the two treatment plans. Result : In the case of PTV evaluation index, the CI of PTV_67.5 was improved by 3.76% in the VMV Plan, then for OAR, the dose reduction effect of the spinal cord (-14.05%) and brain stem (-9.34%) was remarkable. In addition, the parotid glands (left parotid : -5.38%, right : -5.97%) and visual organs (left optic nerve: -4.88%, right optic nerve: -5.80%, optic chiasm : -6.12%, left lens: -6.12%, right lens: -5.26%), auditory organs (left: -11.74%, right: -12.31%) and thyroid gland (-2.02%) were also confirmed. The difference in MCSv of the two treatment plans showed a significant negative (-) correlation with the difference in CI (r=-0.55) of PTV_54 and the difference in CI (r=-0.43) of PTV_48. Spinal cord (r=0.40), brain stem (r=0.34), and both salivary glands (left: r=0.36, right: r=0.37) showed a positive (+) correlation. (For all the values, p<.05) Conclusion : Compared to the CMV plan, the VMV plan is considered to be helpful in improving the quality of the treatment plan by allowing the MLC to be modulated more efficiently

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.33
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• pp.137-144
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• 2021

Purpose : The usability of X-Jaw split VMAT was evaluated by comparative analysis of the dose distribution between the treatment plan divided by X-Jaw and Full field VMAT treatment plan in left breast cancer treatment including supraclavicular lymph nodes. Materials and Methods : 10 patients with left breast cancer, including supraclavicular lymph nodes, were simulated using vacuum cushion, and 2 Full field Arc VMAT and 4 X-Jaw split Arc VMAT were planned The treatment plan was designed to include more than 95% of the Planning Target Volume (PTV) and to be minimally irradiated in the surrounding Organ at risk (OAR). Dose analysis of PTV and OAR was performed through dose volume histogram (DVH). Results : The Full field VMAT treatment plan and the X-Jaw split VMAT treatment plan of 10 patients were expressed as average values and compared. The difference between the two treatment plans was not large, with a Conformity index (CI) of 1.05±0.04, 1.04±0.03, and a Homogeneity index (HI) of 1.07±0.008, 1.07±0.009. For OAR, V5 in the left lung is 56.1±6.50%, 50.4±6.30%, and V20 is 20.0±4.15%, 13.52±3.61%. Compared to Full field VMAT, V5 decreased by 10.0% V20 by 32.6% in X-Jaw split VMAT. The V30 of the heart is 3.68±1.85%, 2.23±1.52%, and the Mean dose is 8.93±1.65 Gy, 7.67±1.52 Gy. In the X-Jaw split VMAT, V30 decreased by 39.3% and the Mean dose decreased by 14.1%. The left lung and heart, which are normal tissues, were found to have a statistical significance of that p-value is less than 0.05. Conclusion : In the case of left breast cancer treatment, which includes Supraclavicular lymph nodes with a large PTV volume and a length of X Jaw of 15 cm or more, the X-Jaw split VMAT shows improved dose distribution, which can reduce radiation dose of OAR such as lungs and heart, while maintaining similar PTV coverage with HI and CI equivalent to Full field VMAT. It is thought to be effective in reducing radiation complications.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.408-415
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• 2022

In this paper, we propose a 3D point cloud reconstruction technique from 2D images using efficient feature map extraction network. The originality of the method proposed in this paper is as follows. First, we use a new feature map extraction network that is about 27% efficient than existing techniques in terms of memory. The proposed network does not reduce the size to the middle of the deep learning network, so important information required for 3D point cloud reconstruction is not lost. We solved the memory increase problem caused by the non-reduced image size by reducing the number of channels and by efficiently configuring the deep learning network to be shallow. Second, by preserving the high-resolution features of the 2D image, the accuracy can be further improved than that of the conventional technique. The feature map extracted from the non-reduced image contains more detailed information than the existing method, which can further improve the reconstruction accuracy of the 3D point cloud. Third, we use a divergence loss that does not require shooting information. The fact that not only the 2D image but also the shooting angle is required for learning, the dataset must contain detailed information and it is a disadvantage that makes it difficult to construct the dataset. In this paper, the accuracy of the reconstruction of the 3D point cloud can be increased by increasing the diversity of information through randomness without additional shooting information. In order to objectively evaluate the performance of the proposed method, using the ShapeNet dataset and using the same method as in the comparative papers, the CD value of the method proposed in this paper is 5.87, the EMD value is 5.81, and the FLOPs value is 2.9G. It was calculated. On the other hand, the lower the CD and EMD values, the better the accuracy of the reconstructed 3D point cloud approaches the original. In addition, the lower the number of FLOPs, the less memory is required for the deep learning network. Therefore, the CD, EMD, and FLOPs performance evaluation results of the proposed method showed about 27% improvement in memory and 6.3% in terms of accuracy compared to the methods in other papers, demonstrating objective performance.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2021

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term clinical results and survivorship of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) in elderly patients older than 70 years by analyzing cases that have been implanted for >10 years ago. Materials and Methods: The long-term follow-up results were evaluated in 39 patients (46 cases) who underwent medial UKA from March 2002 to February 2004. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 74.0 years, and the preoperative diagnosis was degenerative arthritis of the knee in all cases. Results: Of the 46 cases, reoperation occurred due to the complications in four cases. In 22 cases without 14 cases of death and six cases of follow-up loss, follow-up more than 10 years was possible. The mean Knee Society knee and function scores improved significantly from 53.0 and 52.5 points pre-operatively to 89.4 and 80.9 points at the last follow-up, respectively (p<0.001). The mean range of motion of the knee recovered to 132.5°, and the mean tibiofemoral angle changed to 5.9° of valgus at the last follow-up. Complications following the UKA occurred in four cases; the most prevalent complication was mobile bearing dislocation (n=2). One case of failure occurred due to aseptic loosening and degenerative arthritis of the lateral compartment, respectively. The cumulative survival rate of the implants was 95.0% at 10 years and 85.7% at 15 years. Of the 40 cases, excluding six cases of follow-up loss, 36 cases (90.0%) could be used without reoperation until death or at the last follow-up after surgery. Conclusion: These results showed the outstanding functions of the knee and satisfactory long-term survivorship after UKA. Therefore, UKA could be a useful method for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee in elderly patients older than 70 years of age.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.520-526
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• 2020

Purpose: The need for revision fusion surgery after spinal fusion has increased. A revision rod that connects to the previous rod was newly developed for revision surgery. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical and radiological results after spinal fusion revision surgery using revision rods. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients who underwent revision fusion surgery after spinal fusion in two university hospitals with minimum 1 year follow-up were reviewed. This study assessed 16 cases of adjacent-segment disease, four cases of thoracolumbar fracture, and one case of ossification of ligament flavum. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and numerical rating scale (NRS) were evaluated as clinical outcomes, and the union rate, lordosis or kyphosis of the revision level, lumbar lordosis, T5-12 kyphosis, and proximal junctional kyphosis angle were evaluated as the radiological outcomes. Results: The average ODI was 54.6±12.5 before surgery and improved to 29.8±16.5 at the final follow-up. The NRS for back pain and leg pain was 5.0±1.7 and 6.4±2.0 before surgery, which changed to 2.9±1.6 and 2.9±2.2 at the final follow-up. Lumbar lordosis was 18.1°±11.9° before surgery and 21.1°±10.3° at the final follow-up. Proximal junctional kyphosis was 10.8°±10.1° before surgery, and 9.2°±10.5° at the final follow-up. These angles were not changed significantly after surgery. Bony union was successful in all cases except for one case who underwent posterolateral fusion. Conclusion: Revision surgery using a newly developed revision rod on the thoracolumbar spine achieved good clinical outcomes with successful bony union. No problems with the newly developed revision rod were encountered.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2020

Purpose: To determine if sparing the interspinous and supraspinous ligaments during posterior decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis is significant in preventing postoperative spinal instability. Materials and Methods: A total of 83 patients who underwent posterior decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis between March 2014 and March 2017 with a minimum one-year follow-up period, were studied retrospectively. The subjects were divided into two groups according to the type of surgery. Fifty-six patients who underwent posterior decompression by the port-hole technique were grouped as A, while 27 patients who underwent posterior decompression by a subtotal laminectomy grouped as B. To evaluate the clinical results, the Oswestry disability index (ODI), visual analogue scale (VAS) for both back pain (VAS-B) and radiating pain (VAS-R), and the walking distance of neurogenic intermittent claudication (NIC) were checked pre- and postoperatively, while simple radiographs of the lateral and flexion-extension view in the standing position were taken preoperatively and then every six months after to measure anteroposterior slippage (slip percentage), the difference in anteroposterior slippage between flexion and extension (dynamic slip percentage), angular displacement, and the difference in angular displacement between flexion and extension (dynamic angular displacement) to evaluate the radiological results. Results: The ODI (from 28.1 to 12.8 in group A, from 27.3 to 12.3 in group B), VAS-B (from 7.0 to 2.6 in group A, from 7.7 to 3.2 in group B), VAS-R (from 8.5 to 2.8 in group A, from 8.7 to 2.9 in group B), and walking distance of NIC (from 118.4 m to 1,496.2 m in group A, from 127.6 m to 1,481.6 m in group B) were improved in both groups. On the other hand, while the other radiologic results showed no differences, the dynamic angular displacement between both groups showed a significant difference postoperatively (group A from 6.2° to 6.7°, group B from 6.5° to 8.4°, p-value=0.019). Conclusion: Removal of the posterior ligaments, including the interspinous and supraspinous ligaments, during posterior decompression of lumbar spinal stenosis can cause a postoperative increase in dynamic angular displacement, which can be prevented by the port-hole technique, which spares these posterior ligaments.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.512-518
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• 2021

Purpose: This study compared the change in foraminal space on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the clinical outcome after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) versus foraminotomy in cervical foraminal stenosis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted from January 2018 to March 2019 on 186 patients who underwent ACDF and foraminotomy. One hundred and two cases were selected considering age, sex, and body mass index. MRI was performed before and on the 5^th day after surgery to compare the changes in the foraminal diameter between the ACDF group (group A-51) and foraminotomy group (group B-51). Results: Between groups A and B, the average change in foraminal vertical diameter was 1.7 mm and 1.2 mm, respectively; group A was 0.5 mm larger difference (p=0.042). The average change in foraminal transverse diameter was 1.2 mm and 1.8mm, respectively; group B showed a 0.6 mm larger change (p=0.21). Both the neck disability index (NDI) and Japanese orthopaedic association (JOA) scores improved in both groups. Group A showed more improvement, but there was no significant difference (p=0.356, p=0.607, respectively). Conclusion: Foraminotomy is a useful option for patients with foraminal stenosis of the cervical spine because it showed comparable clinical and morphological results to ACDF and could minimize motion segment loss and muscle and ligament damage.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.239-252
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• 2022

Quality control methods for the first G-band vapor radiometer (GVR) mounted on a weather aircraft in Korea were developed using the GVR Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV). The aircraft attitude information (degree of pitch and roll) was applied to quality control to select the shortest vertical path of the GVR beam. In addition, quality control was applied to remove a GVR PWV ≥20 mm. It was found that the difference between the warm load average power and sky load average power converged to near 0 when the GVR PWV increased to 20 mm or higher. This could be due to the high brightness temperature of the substratus and mesoclouds, which was confirmed by the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS) data (cloud type, cloud top height, and cloud amount), cloud combination probe (CCP), and precipitation imaging probe (PIP). The GVR PWV before and after the application of quality control on a cloudy day was quantitatively compared with that of a local data assimilation and prediction system (LDAPS). The Root Mean Square Difference (RMSD) decreased from 2.9 to 1.8 mm and the RMSD with Korea Local Analysis and Precipitation System (KLAPS) decreased from 5.4 to 4.3 mm, showing improved accuracy. In addition, the quality control effectiveness of GVR PWV suggested in this study was verified through comparison with the COMS PWV by using the GVR PWV applied with quality control and the dropsonde PWV.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.126-142
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• 2022

Background: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare, and information regarding their surgical outcomes and prognostic factors has rapidly changed in the past few decades. We analyzed surgical treatment practices for TETs and outcomes in terms of overall survival (OS) and freedom from recurrence (FFR) during a 13-year period in Korea. Methods: In total, 1,298 patients with surgically resected TETs between 2000 and 2013 were enrolled retrospectively. OS and FFR were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated with the log-rank test. Prognostic factors for OS and FFR were analyzed with multivariable Cox regression. Results: A total of 1,098 patients were diagnosed with thymoma, and 200 patients were diagnosed with thymic carcinoma. Over the study period, the total number of patients with surgically treated TETs and the proportion of patients who underwent minimally invasive thymic surgery (MITS) increased annually. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates of surgically treated TETs were 91.0% and 82.1%, respectively. The 5-year and 10-year recurrence rates were 86.3% and 80.0%, respectively. The outcomes of surgically treated TETs improved over time. Multivariable Cox hazards analysis for OS, age, tumor size, and Masaoka-Koga stage were independent predictors of prognosis. The World Health Organization classification and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging were also related to the prognosis of TETs. Conclusion: Surgical treatment of TETs achieved a good prognosis with a recent increase in MITS. The M-K stage was the most important prognostic factor for OS and FFR. The new TNM stage could also be an effective predictor of the outcomes of TETs.