• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.187-194
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• 2002

In this work we investigated through Monte Carlo calculations the physical characteristics of the absorbed dose from the Ir-192 source used in brachytherapy The Monte Carlo calculations were performed using the code EGS4, which was extensively modified in order to handle cylindrical sources, phantoms, and energy distributions to suit out own purpose. From the results of the calculations for the $\beta$ -rays, it was found that they contribute on the average 0.02% to The total absorbed dose in the distance range of 0.5-5.0 cm from the source. This is due to the face that, although most of the primary $\beta$ -rays are absorbed in the source and encapsulation material, the resulting low energy braking radiation from them contribute to such a distance. The absorbed dose in the encapsulation material varied on the average from 2.8% for platinum down to 1.1% for iron. The radial dose functions obtained by our Monte Carlo calculations were consistent within $\pm$3% with those of the TG-43 report for the radial distance interval 0.5-10.0 cm from the source. The user code we wrote in this work can be used for other sources of different sizes and so it can be very useful in designing and producing the sources for brachytherapy.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.441-454
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• 2018

Since the permanent shutdown of Kori Unit 1 in 2017, a full-scale decommissioning project for a commercial nuclear reactor has been approaching. It is estimated that about 160,000 t of low-activity concrete waste will be produced from decommissioning of one unit of this commercial nuclear power reactor. Accordingly, it is necessary to review whether the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework for clearance waste (i.e. waste stream that meets activity concentration guidelines or dose criteria for clearance set forth in NSSC Notice No. 2017-65) can be maintained for the clearance of a bulk amount of concrete waste. In this regard, the IAEA SRS No. 44, which was used as a basis for revision of the Korean clearance regulations, is thoroughly analyzed and the radiological effects from four different clearance scenarios, along with input values and parameters derived from industrial practices in Korea, were evaluated. Though it is shown that the maximum annual dose from most recycling scenarios will be less than the clearance dose criterion for the normal scenario (i.e. an order of magnitude of $0.01mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$), the radiation dose, estimated with conservative assumptions for the banking scenario, may exceed the above clearance dose criteria. Therefore, for safe and sustainable clearance of the bulk amount of concrete waste, it is required to diversify the concrete waste processors, perform more detailed site-specific assessment, and apply limiting conditions to the banking scenario.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2002

Purpose : A ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) has been known as a hypoxic cell radiosensitizer. Its mechanisms of action are increase of the red blood cell deformability, decrease the blood viscosity, and decrease the hypoxic cell fraction in the tumor. The aims of this study were to estimate the effect of GBE on fractionated radiotherapy and to clarify the mechanism of action of the GBE by estimating the blood flow in tumor and normal muscle. Materials and Methods : Fibrosarcoma (FSall) growing in a C3H mouse leg muscle was used as the tumor model. When the tumor size reached 7 mm in diameter, the GBE was given intraperitoneally at 1 and 25 hours prior to irradiation. The tumor growth delay was measured according to the various doses of radiation (3, 6, 9, 12 Gy and 15 Gy) and to the fractionation (single and fractionated irradiation) with and without the GBE injection. The radiation dose to the tumor the response relationships and the enhancement ratio of the GBE were measured. In addition, the blood flow of a normal muscle and a tumor was compared by laser Doppler flowmetry according to the GBE treatment. Results : When the GBE was used with single fraction irradiation with doses ranging from 3 to 12 Gy, GBE increased the tumor growth delay significantly (p<0.05) and the enhancement ratio of the GBE was 1.16. In fractionated irradiation with 3 Gy per day, the relationships between the radiation dose (D) and the tumor growth delay (TGD) were TGD $(days)=0.26{\times}D$ (Gy)+0.13 in the radiation alone group, and the TGD $(days)=0.30{\times}D$ (Gy)+0.13 in the radiation with GBE group. As a result, the enhancement ratio was 1.19 ($95\%$ confidence interval; $1.13\~1.27$). Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to measure the blood flow. The mean blood flow was higher in the muscle (7.78 mL/100 g/min in tumor and the 10.15 mL/100 g/min in muscle, p=0.005) and the low blood flow fraction (less than 2 mL/100 g/min) was higher in the tumor $(0.5\%\;vs.\;5.2\%,\;p=0.005)$. The blood flow was not changed with the GBE in normal muscle, but was increased by $23.5\%$ ( p=0.0004) in the tumor. Conclusion : Based on these results, it can be concluded that the GBE enhanced the radiation effect significantly when used with fractionated radiotherapy as well as with single fraction irradiation. Furthermore, the GBE increased the blood flow of the tumor selectively.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.377-383
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• 1995

Purpose : To obtain the optimal treatement method in patients with endometrial carcinoma(clinical stage FIGO I, II) by comparative analysis between preoperative radiotherapy (pre-op RT) and postoperative radiotherapy (post-op RT). Material and Methods : A retrospective review of 62 endometrial carcinoma patients referred to the Yonsei Cancer Center for radiotherapy between 1985 and 1991 was undertaken. Of 62 patients, 19 patients(Stagel : 12 patients. Stagell;7 patients) received pre-op RT before TAH(Total Abdominal Hysterectomy) and BSO (Bilateral Salphingoophorectomy) (Group 1) and 43 patients(Stage 1;32 patients, Stage 2; 11 patients) received post-op RT after TAH and BSO (Group 2). Pre-op irradiation was given 4-6 weeks prior to surgery and post-op RT administered on 4-5 weeks following surgery. All patients except 1 patient(Group 2: ICR alone) received external irradiation. Seventy percent(13/19) of pre-op RT group and 54 percent(23/42) of post-op RT group received external pelvic irradiation and intracavitary radiation therapy(ICR). External radiation dose was 39.6-55 Gy(median 45 Gy) in 5-6. 5weeks through opposed AP/PA fields or 4-field box technique treating daily, five days per week, 180 cGy per fraction. ICR doses were prescribed to point A(20-39.6 Gy, median 39 Gy) in Group 1 and 0.5cm depth from vaginal surface (18-30 Gy,median 21 Gy) in Group 2. Results : The overall 5 year survival rate was $95{\%}$. No survival difference between pre-op and post-op RT group.($89.3{\%}$ vs $97.7{\%}$, p>0.1) There was no survival difference by stage, grade and histology between two groups. The survival rate was not affected by presence of residual tumor of surgical specimen after pre-op RT in Group 1 (p>0.1), but affected by presence of lymph node metastasis in post-op RT group(P<0.5). The complication rate of pre-op RT group was higher than post-op RT. ($16{\%}$ vs $5{\%}$) Conclusion : Post-op radiotherapy offers the advantages of accurate surgical-pathological staging and low complication rate.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 2007

The Purpose of this study is to suggest the basic data for making good quality image and maintaining equipment homeostasis by accepting image quality evaluation and radiation dose evaluation in Multi-detector CT. In this study we surveyed 14 CT equipments in Seoul. The results obtained were as follows ; CT number was $0.56{\pm}0.70\;HU$. Noise was $0.39{\pm}0.09\;HU$. Uniformity was $1.08{\pm}0.52\;HU$. High contrast resolution was $0.48{\pm}0.05\;mm$ and low contrast resolution was $3.65{\pm}1.16\;mm$. For CTDI, the central part and the peripheral part of head phantom were $43.2{\pm}15.4\;mGy$ and $45.6{\pm}17.5\;mGy$, respectively. For body phantom, the central part and the peripheral part of head phantom were $13.5{\pm}4.5$ and $29.2{\pm}10.2\;mGy$, respectively. CTDIw was $44.8{\pm}16.8\;mGy$ and CTDIw/100 mAs was $18.8{\pm}5.3\;mGy$ using head phantom. CTDIW was $24.0{\pm}8.3\;mGy$ and CTDIw/100 mAs was $10.1{\pm}2.5\;mGy$ using body phantom. Therefore, CT number, noise, high contrast resolution, low contrast resolution, CTDI, CTDIw and CTDIw/100 mAs of MDCT were showed excellently in all equipments.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.161-166
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• 2008

In order to determine the effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on the frequency of micronuclei (MN), aneuploidy and chromosomal rearrangement induced by bleomycin (BLM) in human fibroblast cells, a 60 Hz ELF-EMF of 0.8 mT field strength was applied either alone or with ELM throughout the culture period and a micronucleus-centromere assay was performed. Our results indicate that the frequencies of MN, aneuploidy and chromosomal rearrangement induced by ELM increased in a dose-dependent manner. The exposure of cells to 0.8 mT ELF-EMF followed by ELM exposure for 3 hours led to significant increases in the frequencies of MN and aneuploidy compared to BLM treatment for 3 hours alone (p<0.05), but no significant difference was observed between field exposed and sham exposed control cells. The obtained results suggest that low density ELF-EMF could act as an enhancer of the initiation process of BLM rather than as an initiator of mutagenic effects in human fibroblast.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1995

Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of radiotherapy for the low-grade astrocy-tomas and confirm the variables influencing treatment results. Materials and Methods : Forty-six patients with low-grade astrocytoma received radiotherapy after surgical removal (36 patients) or biopsy (10 patients) from 1979 to 1990. Twenty patients had grade I histology and 26 had grade II. External radiotherapy was done by conventional schedule with the total dose of 45 to 60 Gy (median: 54 Gy). The median follow-up period was 5 years. Results : The 2- and 5-year survival rates were $80\%$ and $72\%$, respectively and the 2- and 5-year progression-free survival was $75\%$ and $63\%$, respectively. The survival was influenced significantly by the histologic grade, the histologic type, and performance status. Major complication was not found. Conclusion: In spite of good survival, the local failure was still the major problem. Age and the extent of surgery as well as three favorable factors should be considered in the future treatments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.301-306
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• 2021

The use of tin filters as a way to reduce the medical radiation in computed tomography (CT). However, due to the changed X-ray spectrum with the use of tin filters, disease diagnosis could be affected because it appears as images of different impressions from previous images. Therefore, this study evaluates the changes in images when using tin filter and high pitch in chest low-dose CT. In this study, images were acquired in groups of three for comparison. Group 1 did not apply to tin filter, and used the existing pitch 0.8. Group 2 used a tin filter, pitch 0.8, Group 3 used a tin filter, and pitch 2.5. To compare the image quality, the natural image quality evaluator (NIQE) and the blind/referenceless image quality evaluator (BRISQUE) were used among the blind quality evaluation factors depended on a no-reference basis. As a result, the NIQE values were low in the order of Group 1, Group 3, and Group 2. BRISQUE values were low in the order of Group 3, Group 2 and Group 1. This study confirms the superiority of images of tin filter and high pitch techniques in chest low-dose CT, which is considered to be a fundamental study for acquiring accurate images of patients with difficult breathing control.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.621-630
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• 2019

Objective: To study the prevalence and clinical characteristics of decreased myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantified by dynamic computed tomography (CT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in symptomatic patients without in-stent restenosis. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven (mean age, 71.3 ± 10 years; age range, 48-88 years; 31 males, 6 females) consecutive symptomatic patients with patent coronary stents and without obstructive de novo lesions were prospectively enrolled to undergo dynamic CT-MPI using a third-generation dual-source CT scanner. The shuttle-mode acquisition technique was used to image the complete left ventricle. A bolus of contrast media (50 mL; iopromide, 370 mg iodine/mL) was injected into the antecubital vein at a rate of 6 mL/s, followed by a 40-mL saline flush. The mean MBF value and other quantitative parameters were measured for each segment of both stented-vessel territories and reference territories. The MBF_ratio was defined as the ratio of the mean MBF value of the whole stent-vessel territory to that of the whole reference territory. An MBF_ratio of 0.85 was used as the cut-off value to distinguish hypoperfused from non-hypoperfused segments. Results: A total of 629 segments of 37 patients were ultimately included for analysis. The mean effective dose of dynamic CT-MPI was 3.1 ± 1.2 mSv (range, 1.7-6.3 mSv). The mean MBF of stent-vessel territories was decreased in 19 lesions and 81 segments. Compared to stent-vessel territories without hypoperfusion, the mean MBF and myocardial blood volume were markedly lower in hypoperfused stent-vessel territories (77.5 ± 16.6 mL/100 mL/min vs. 140.4 ± 24.1 mL/100 mL/min [p < 0.001] and 6.4 ± 3.7 mL/100 mL vs. 11.5 ± 4 mL/100 mL [p < 0.001, respectively]). Myocardial hypoperfusion in stentvessel territories was present in 48.6% (18/37) of patients. None of clinical parameters differed statistically significantly between hypoperfusion and non-hypoperfusion subgroups. Conclusion: Decreased MBF is commonly present in patients who are symptomatic after percutaneous coronary intervention, despite patent stents and can be detected by dynamic CT-MPI using a low radiation dose.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2013

Purpose: In this study, we analyzed how the dose change by field size effects on atomic number of shielding materials while using 6 MeV election beam. Materials and Methods: The parallel plate chamber is mounted in $25{\times}25cm^2$ the phantom such that the entrance window of the detector is flush with the phantom surface. phantom was covered laterally with aluminum, copper and lead which thickness have 5% of allowable transmission and then the doses were measured in field size $6{\times}6$, $10{\times}10$ and $20{\times}20cm^2$ respectively. 100 cGy was irradiated using 6 MeV electron beam and SSD (Source Surface Distance) was 100 cm with $10{\times}10cm^2$ field size. To calculate the photon flux, electron flux and Energy deposition produced after pass materals respectively, MCNPX code was used. Results: The results according to the various shielding materials which have 5% of allowable transmission are as in the following. Thickness change rate with field size of $6{\times}6cm^2$ and $20{\times}20cm^2$ that compared to the field size of $10{\times}10cm^2$ found to be +0.06% and -0.06% with aluminum, +0.13% and -0.1% with copper, -1.53% and +1.92% with lead respectively. Compare to the field size $10{\times}10cm^2$, energy deposition for $6{\times}6cm^2$ and $20{\times}20cm^2$ had -4.3% and +4.85% respectively without shielding material. With aluminum it had -0.87% and +6.93% respectively and with lead it had -4.16% and +5.57% respectively. When it comes to photon flux with $6{\times}6cm^2$ and $20{\times}20cm^2$ of field sizes the chance -8.95% and +15.92% without shielding material respectively, with aluminum the number -15.56% and +16.06% respectively and with copper the chance -12.27% and +15.53% respectively, with lead the number +12.36% and -19.81% respectively. In case of electron flux in the same condition, the number -3.92% and +4.55% respectively without shielding material respectively, with aluminum the number +0.59% and +6.87% respectively, with copper the number -1.59% and +3.86% respectively, with lead the chance -5.15% and +4.00% respectively. Conclusion: In this study, we found that the required thickness of the shielding materials got thinner with low atomic number substance as the irradiation field is increasing. On the other hand, with high atomic number substance the required thickness had increased. In addition, bremsstrahlung radiation have an influence on low atomic number materials and high atomic number materials are effected by scattered electrons.