• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2013

Purpose: We are to find out the difference of calculated dose of treatment planning system (TPS) and measured dose in case of inhomogeneous organ structure. Materials and Methods: Inhomogeneous phantom is made with solid water phantom and cork plate. CT image of inhomogeneous phantom is acquired. Treatment plan is made with TPS (Pinnacle3 9.2. Royal Philips Electronics, Netherlands) and calculated dose of point of interest is acquired. Treatment plan was delivered in the inhomogeneous phantom by ARTISTE (Siemens AG, Germany) measured dose of each point of interest is obtained with Gafchromic EBT2 film (International Specialty Products, US) in the gap between solid water phantom or cork plate. To simulate lung cancer radiation treatment, artificial tumor target of paraffin is inserted in the cork volume of inhomogeneous phantom. Calculated dose and measured dose are acquired as above. Results: In case of inhomogeneous phantom experiment, dose difference of calculated dose and measured dose is about -8.5% at solid water phantom-cork gap and about -7% lower in measured dose at cork-solid water phantom gap. In case of inhomogeneous phantom inserted paraffin target experiment, dose difference is about 5% lower in measured dose at cork-paraffin gap. There is no significant difference at same material gap in both experiments. Conclusion: Radiation dose at the gap between two organs with different electron density is significantly lower than calculated dose with TPS. Therefore, we must be aware of dose calculation error in TPS and great care is suggested in case of radiation treatment planning on inhomogeneous organ structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.1123-1133
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• 2023

Purpose Our study aimed to evaluate the association between automated quantified body composition on CT and pulmonary function or quantitative lung features in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Materials and Methods A total of 290 patients with COPD were enrolled in this study. The volume of muscle and subcutaneous fat, area of muscle and subcutaneous fat at T12, and bone attenuation at T12 were obtained from chest CT using a deep learning-based body segmentation algorithm. Parametric response mapping-derived emphysema (PRM^emph), PRM-derived functional small airway disease (PRM^fSAD), and airway wall thickness (AWT)-Pi10 were quantitatively assessed. The association between body composition and outcomes was evaluated using Pearson's correlation analysis. Results The volume and area of muscle and subcutaneous fat were negatively associated with PRM^emph and PRM^fSAD (p < 0.05). Bone density at T12 was negatively associated with PRM^emph (r = -0.1828, p = 0.002). The volume and area of subcutaneous fat and bone density at T12 were positively correlated with AWT-Pi10 (r = 0.1287, p = 0.030; r = 0.1668, p = 0.005; r = 0.1279, p = 0.031). However, muscle volume was negatively correlated with the AWT-Pi10 (r = -0.1966, p = 0.001). Muscle volume was significantly associated with pulmonary function (p < 0.001). Conclusion Body composition, automatically assessed using chest CT, is associated with the phenotype and severity of COPD.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.1 s.52
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• pp.15-26
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• 1996

It has been studied that a variety of fauna and flora are sensitive biological indicators which reflect the severity of regional pollution of heavy metals, but in the center of part of Taegu City the controversial issue of lead poisoning attributable to the atmosphere which contains an increased concentrations of lead has been raised recently, it is usually hard to find suitable plants or animal in the areas with heavy traffic. Pigeons are ubiquitous in and around Taegu City area, inhabiting even the most densely populated areas with heavy traffic. With its small body size, high metabolic turnover, and rather limited mobility, a pigeon, as a biological indicator is expected. This study was conducted to monitor lead pollution in the Taegu and Kyongju City in Korea. We measured the lead content of the various tissue of three groups of feral pigeon(Columba livia) and soil and atmospheric lead concentration. First group was obtained in heavy traffic area in Taegu City, the second group was obtained a park in Taegu City and the third group was obtained light traffic area in Kyongju City. The air and soil lead concentration of heavy traffic area in Taegu City was $0.11{\mu}g/m^3,\;4.96{\mu}g/g$, that of park in Taegu City was $0.05{\mu}g/m^3,\;2.65{\mu}g/g$ and that of light traffic area in Kyongju City was $0.03{\mu}g/m^3,\;0.01{\mu}g/g$. The lead content of lung, blood, kidney, femur and liver of feral pigeons in heavy traffic area in Taegu City was significantly higher than pigeons obtained in a park in Taegu City and low traffic density area in Kyongju City(p<0.01). But stomach lead content of three group did not reflect a significant difference. In this study positive correlation was found between atmospheric lead concentrations and the concentration of lead in the pigeon's lung(r=0.5040, p<0.001), blood(r=0.3322, p<0.01), kidney(r=0.4824, p<0.001), femur(r=0.7214, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.4836, p<0.01). We can also found positive correlation between soil lead concentrations and the concentration of lead in the pigeon's femur(r=0.4850, p<0.001), kidney(r=0.4850, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.4386, p<0.01). In the pigeon's tissue there were significant correlations between concentration of lead in the blood and kidney(r=4818, p<0.001), femur(r=0.6157, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.3889, p<0.001). In conclusion, at the heavy traffic area in Taegu City, lead concentrations found in the atmosphere and soil are reflected in the lead concentrations of different tissue of urban pigeons. It is suggested that the tissue of pigeons can be good biological indicators of environmental lead pollution.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 1999

Backround : Pneumoconiosis is the parenchymal lung disease that results from the inhalation and deposition of dust, usually mineral dust of occupational or environmental origin. Most of the pneumoconiosis can be categorized to coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in Korea. No effective treatement is currently available, and the therapy for symptomatic CWP is limited to treatment of complication. Therefore authors analyzed and reviewed clinical features and radiological findings of 95 patients with pneumoconiosis for assessing the prognostic factors in disease progression. Method: We reviewed medical records of 95 cases with pneumoconiosis including history, chest X-ray, pulmonary function test, electrocardiography, AFB stain and culture of sputum, and routine blood examination between June 1995 and June 1997 in Seonam University Namkwang Hospital. Results: All of cases are male(mean age, 57.4 years), 91 cases out of them are miners. The mean duration of exposure to dust is 18.8 years. Major clinical symptoms are dyspnea (100%), sputum (71.6%), chest pain (55.8%), cough (23.2%), and hemoptysis (6.3%). 82 % of cases are over Morgan-Seaton Grade 2 in the degree of dyspnea. Small opacity on chest x-ray is 82.1 % and large opacity is 17.9%. Small opacity has tit type (37.2%), q/q type (25.6%) and r/r type (11.5%). B type is 42.2% in large opacity. For the pulmonary function test, restrictive type is 40.3%, mixed type 19.5% and obstructive type 8.3%. The more increasing chest Xray density, the more decreasing $FEV_1$ (p<0.01). 38% of patients show tuberculosis in chest X-ray, 15.8% positive smear of acid fast bacilli in sputum. The prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis is high in patients with poor clinical condition. The cases with the active pulmonary tuberculosis have severe dyspnea. Expired cases show 100% and 75% of positive pulmonary tuberculosis in chest X-ray and sputum examination, respectively. 75% of expired cases show the chronic cor pulmonale, who died of acute respiratory failure. Conclusion: These findings indicate that tuberculoois infection has a decisive influence on the progress and prognoois of pneumoconioois.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2008

There are many kinds of anti-oxidant materials in natural plant resources. The Siberian ginseng and Eucommia are well known as anti-oxidant and medicinal plants. To investigate the effect of their anti-oxidant-like activity on telomere quantity and egg quality, diets containing Siberian ginseng leaf and Eucommia leaf at 0.5% and 1% were given Hyline Brown commercial laying hens during two periods of age: 20 to 30 wks and 60 to 70 wks. The amount of telomere in lymphocyte, liver, ovary, heart and lung was analyzed by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization using telomeric DNA probe. Egg weight, albumin height, Haugh unit, egg yolk color, egg shell color, egg shell thickness, egg shell weight and egg shell density were measured to analyze egg quality. The chickens consuming diets Siberian ginseng and Eucommia had higher telomeric DNA in lymphocytes than control chickens in younger layers whereas no significant differences were detected in all target cells analyzed from older layers. Egg quality was increased in younger hens with dietary supplementation as determined by egg weight, albumin height and Haugh unit but there were no effects in older hens. These results imply that dietary supplementation of Siberian ginseng and Eucommia in layers improves bio-activity and egg quality at early laying stage.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2012

The dose re-calculation process using Megavoltage cone-beam CT images is inevitable process to perform the Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART). The purpose of this study is to improve dose re-calculation accuracy using MVCBCT images by applying intensity calibration method and three dimensional rigid body transform and filtering process. The three dimensional rigid body transform and Gaussian smoothing filtering process to MVCBCT Rando phantom images was applied to reduce image orientation error and the noise of the MVCBCT images. Then, to obtain the predefined modification level for intensity calibration, the cheese phantom images from kilo-voltage CT (kV CT), MVCBCT was acquired. From these cheese phantom images, the calibration table for MVCBCT images was defined from the relationship between Hounsfield Units (HUs) of kV CT and MVCBCT images at the same electron density plugs. The intensity of MVCBCT images from Rando phantom was calibrated using the predefined modification level as discussed above to have the intensity of the kV CT images to make the two images have the same intensity range as if they were obtained from the same modality. Finally, the dose calculation using kV CT, MVCBCT with/without intensity calibration was applied using radiation treatment planning system. As a result, the percentage difference of dose distributions between dose calculation based on kVCT and MVCBCT with intensity calibration was reduced comparing to the percentage difference of dose distribution between dose calculation based on kVCT and MVCBCT without intensity calibration. For head and neck, lung images, the percentage difference between kV CT and non-calibrated MVCBCT images was 1.08%, 2.44%, respectively. In summary, our method has quantitatively improved the accuracy of dose calculation and could be a useful solution to enhance the dose calculation accuracy using MVCBCT images.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2016

An absorbed dose calculation method using a digital phantom is implemented in normal organs. This method cannot be employed for calculating the absorbed dose of tumor. In this study, we measure the S-value for calculating the absorbed dose of each organ and tumor. We inject a radioisotope into a torso phantom and perform Monte Carlo simulation based on the CT data. The torso phantom has lung, liver, spinal, cylinder, and tumor simulated using a spherical phantom. The radioactivity of the actual absorbed dose is measured using the injected dose of the radioisotope, which is Cu-64 73.85 MBq, and detected using a glass dosimeter in the torso phantom. To perform the Monte Carlo simulation, the information on each organ and tumor acquired using the PET/CT and CT data provides anatomical information. The anatomical information is offered above mean value and manually segmented for each organ and tumor. The residence time of the radioisotope in each organ and tumor is calculated using the time activity curve of Cu-64 radioactivity. The S-values of each organ and tumor are calculated based on the Monte Carlo simulation data using the spatial coordinate, voxel size, and density information. The absorbed dose is evaluated using that obtained through the Monte Carlo simulation and the S-value and the residence time in each organ and tumor. The absorbed dose in liver, tumor1, and tumor2 is 4.52E-02, 4.61E-02, and 5.98E-02 mGy/MBq, respectively. The difference in the absorbed dose measured using the glass dosimeter and that obtained through the Monte Carlo simulation data is within 12.3%. The result of this study is that the absorbed dose obtained using an image can evaluate each difference region and size of a region of interest.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2003

I. Purpose Uniform dose distribution of the whole body is essential factor for the total body irradiation(TBI). In order to achieved this goal, we used to compensation filter to compensate body contour irregularity and thickness differences. But we can not compensate components of body, namely lung or bone. The purpose of this study is evaluation of dose attenuation in bone tissue when TBI using diode detectors and TLD system. II. Materials and Methods The object of this study were 5 patients who undergo TBI at our hospital. Dosimetry system were diode detectors and TLD system. Treatment method was bilateral and delivered 10MV X-ray from linear accelerator. Measurement points were head, neck, pelvis, knees and ankles. TLD used two patients and diode detectors used three patients. III. Results Results are as followed. All measured dose value were normalized skin dose. TLD dosimetry : Measured skin dose of head, neck, pelvis, knees and ankles were $92.78{\pm}3.3,\;104.34{\pm}2.3,\;98.03{\pm}1.4,\;99.9{\pm}2.53,\;98.17{\pm}0.56$ respectably. Measured mid-depth dose of pelvis, knees and ankles were $86{\pm}1.82,\;93.24{\pm}2.53,\;91.50{\pm}2.84$ respectably. There were $6.67\%{\sim}11.65\%$ dose attenuation at mid-depth in pelvis, knees and ankles. Diode detector : Measured skin dose of head, neck, pelvis, knees and ankles were $95.23{\pm}1.18,\;98.33{\pm}0.6,\;93.5{\pm}1.5,\;87.3{\pm}1.5,\;86.90{\pm}1.16$ respectably. There were $4.53\%{\sim}12.6\%$ dose attenuation at mid-depth in pelvis, knees and ankles. IV. Conclusion We concluded that dose measurement with TLD or diode detector was inevitable when TBI treatment. Considered dose attenuation in bone tissue, We must have adequately deduction of compensator thickness that body portion involved bone tissue.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2014

Purpose: Integrated PET/MRI has been developed recently has become a lot of help to the point oncologic, neological, cardiological nuclear medicine. By using this PET/MRI, a ${\mu}-map$ is created some special MRI sequence which may be divided parts of the body for attenuation correction. However, because an MRI contrast agent is necessary in order to obtain an more MRI information, we will evaluate to see an effect of SUV on PET image that corrected attenuation by MRI with contrast agent. Materials and Methods: As PET/MRI machine, Biograph mMR (Siemens, Germany) was used. For phantom test, 1mCi $^{18}F-FDG$ was injected in cylinderical uniformity phantom, and then acquire PET data about 10 minutes with VIBE-DIXON, UTE MRI sequence image for attenuation correction. T1 weighted contrast media, 4 cc DOTAREM (GUERBET, FRANCE) was injected in a same phatnom, and then PET data, MRI data were acquired by same methodes. Using this PET, non-contrast MRI and contrast MRI, it was reconstructed attenuation correction PET image, in which we evanuated the difference of SUVs. Additionally, for let a high desity of contrast media, 500 cc 2 plastic bottles were used. We injected $^{18}F-FDG$ with 5 cc DOTAREM in first bottle. At second bottle, only $^{18}F-FDG$ was injected. and then we evaluated a SUVs reconstructed by same methods. For clinical patient study, rectal caner-pancreas cancer patients were selected. we evaluated SUVs of PET image corrected attenuastion by contrast weighted MRI and non-contrast MRI. Results: For a phantom study, although VIBE DIXON MRI signal with contrast media is 433% higher than non-contrast media MRI, the signals intensity of ${\mu}-map$, attenuation corrected PET are same together. In case of high contrast media density, image distortion is appeared on ${\mu}-map$ and PET images. For clinical a patient study, VIBE DIXON MRI signal on lesion portion is increased in 495% by using DOTAREM. But there are no significant differences at ${\mu}-map$, non AC PET, AC-PET image whether using contrast media or not. In case of whole body PET/MRI study, %diff between contras and non contrast MRAC at lung, liver, renal cortex, femoral head, myocardium, bladder, muscle are -4.32%, -2.48%, -8.05%, -3.14%, 2.30%, 1.53%, 6.49% at each other. Conclusion: In integrated PET/MRI, a segmentation ${\mu}-map$ method is used for correcting attenuation of PET signal. although MRI signal for attenuation correciton change by using contrast media, ${\mu}-map$ will not change, and then MRAC PET signal will not change too. Therefore, MRI contrast media dose not affect for attenuation correction PET. As well, not only When we make a flow of PET/MRI protocol, order of PET and MRI sequence dose not matter, but It's possible to compare PET images before and after contrast agent injection.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.240-247
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• 2010

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram (-) opportunistic human pathogen causing a wide variety of infections on lung, urinary tract, eyes, and burn wound sites and quorum sensing (QS), a cell density-sensing mechanism plays an essential role in Pseudomonas pathogenesis. In order to investigate the importance of QS in the Pseudomonas infections of Korean patients, we isolated 189 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa from the patients in Pusan Paik Hospital, Busan, South Korea. The QS signal production of these clinical isolates was measured by signal diffusion assay on solid media using reporter strains. While most clinical strains (79.4%) produced the QS signals as similar level as a wild type strain, PAO1 did, where LasR, the initial QS signal sensor-regulator was fully activated, a minority of them (4.2%) produced much less QS signals at the level to which LasR failed to respond. Similarly, while 72.5% of the clinical isolates produced QS signals enough to activate QscR, an another QS signal sensor-regulator, some few of them (9%) produced the QS signals at much lower level where QscR was not activated. For further analysis, we selected 74 clinical strains that were obtained from the patients under suspicion of Pseudomonas infection and investigated the total protease activity that is considered important for virulence. Interestingly, significant portion of them showed very low protease activity (44.6%) or no detectable protease activity (12.2%). When the biofilm-forming ability that is considered very important in chronic infection was examined, most isolates showed lower biofilm-forming activity than PAO1. Similarly, significant portion of clinical isolates showed reduced motility (reduced swarming activity in 51.4% and reduced twitching activity in 41.9%), or non-detectable motility (swarming-negative in 28.4% and twitching-negative in 28.4%). Our result showed that the clinical isolates that produced QS signals at the similar level to wild type could have significantly reduced activities in the protease production, biofilm formation, and motility, and some clinical isolates had unique patterns of motility, biofilm formation, and protease production that are not correlated to their QS activity.