• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2019

This study conducted a comparative analysis of differences between cartesian trajectory in a linear rectangular coordinate system and MultiVane trajectory in a nonlinear rectangular coordinate system axial T1 and axial T2 images using an American College of Radiology(ACR) phantom. The phantom was placed at the center of the head coil and the top-to-bottom and left-to-right levels were adjusted by using a level. The experiment was performed according to the Phantom Test Guidance provided by the ACR, and sagittal localizer images were obtained. As shown in Figure 2, slices # 1 and # 11 were scanned after placing them at the center of a $45^{\circ}$ wedge shape, and a total of 11 slices were obtained. According to the evaluation results, the image intensity uniformity(IIU) was 93.34% for the cartesian trajectory, and 93.19% for the MultiVane trajectory, both of which fall under the normal range in the axial T1 image. The IIU for the cartesian trajectory was 0.15% higher than that for the MultiVane trajectory. In axial T2, the IIU was 96.44% for the cartesian trajectory, and 95.97% for the MultiVane trajectory, which fall under the normal range. The IIU for the cartesian trajectory was by 0.47% higher than that for the MultiVane trajectory. As a result, the cartesian technique was superior to the MultiVane technique in terms of the high-contrast spatial resolution, image intensity uniformity, and low-contrast object detectability.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.159-169
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze research trends and find whether Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of refugees could affect structural or functional changes of brains of those under MRI, focusing on volumes, functional connectivities, and metabolites. Methods: A literature search was done using PubMed, Embase, RISS, and KMBase to identify studies that matched our research purpose. A total of eight studies were identified using Prisma flow diagram by two reviewers independently. Results: Eight studies were identified. Three studies were on North Korean defectors as subjects. The number of studies that observed structural changes, functional changes, and metabolite changes in brains was 2, 5, and 2, respectively. Although each study observed various parts of the brain, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was observed commonly in three studies. The PTSD group showed reduction of ACC volume and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) metabolite in ACC compared to the non- PTSD group. When exposed to negative stimuli, the PTSD group showed higher neural activity than the non-PTSD group, but not vice versa. Conclusion: ACC showed significant difference in volume, neural activity, and NAA metabolite between the PTSD and the non-PTSD group, resulting in significant differences in structural changes, functional changes, metabolite changes, respectively. This study showed the need for conducting more research using various biomarkers to clarify the relationship between PTSD of refugees and their brain changes.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.114-118
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• 1997

Purpose: Functional MR imaging is the method of demonstrating changes in regional cerebral blood flow produced by sensory, motor, and any other tasks. Functional MR of visual cortex is performed as a patient stares a photic stimulation, so adaptable photic stimulation is necessary. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the size of photic stimulator can affect the degree of visual cortex activation. Materials and Methods: Functional MR imaging was performed in 5 volunteers with normal visual acuity. Photic stimulator was made by 39 light-emitting diodes on a plate, operating at 8Hz. The sizes of photic stimulator were full field, half field and focal central field. The MR imager was Siemens 1.5-T Magnetom Vision system, using standard head coil. Functional MRI utilized EPI sequence (TR/TE= 1.0/51. Omsec, matrix $No.=98{\times}128$, slice thickness=8mm) with 3sets of 6 imaging during stimulation and 6 imaging during rest, all 36 scannings were obtained. Activation images were obtained using postprocessing software(statistical analysis by Z-score), and these images were combined with T-1 weighted anatomical images. The activated signals were quantified by numbering the activated pixels, and activation a index was obtained by dividing the pixel number of each stimulator size with the sum of the pixel number of 3 study using 3 kinds of stimulators. The correlation between the activation index and the stimulator size was analysed. Results: Mean increase of signal intensities on the activation area using full field photic stimulator was about 9.6%. The activation index was greatest on full field, second on half field and smallest on focal central field in 4. The index of half field was greater than that of full field in 1. The ranges of activation index were full field 43-73%(mean 55%), half field 22-40 %(mean 32%), and focal central field 5-24%(mean 13%). Conclusion: The degree of visual cortex activation increases with the size of photic stimulator.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.229-235
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• 2011

Purpose: To compare the clinical and radiological result of arthroscopic Mattress Locking suture repair to that of a Simple suture repair with small and medium-sized rotator cuff tears. Materials and Methods: Among 92 patients who were followed up after arthroscopic repair in patients with small and medium-sized rotator cuff tear from April 2007 to October 2010, 27 patients who took Arthroscopic Mattress Locking suture were set as group I and 65 patients who took Simple suture were set as Group II. The average age of patients were 58 years old and average follow-up period was 30 months. For analysis, VAS, ASES and KSS were used to analyze the range of joint movement and pain. And, for the image result, MRI performed after operation were evaluated. Results: The average VAS, KSS, UCLA score and ASES prior to surgery improved in the last follow-up (p<0.001), while was no difference in two groups (p>0.001). In MRI follow-up examination, the 2 cases (7.41%) of group 1 showed increased rupture lesions with improved symptoms. And the 12 cases (18.47%) of group 2 showed increased rupture lesions with improved symptoms. Retears in the group I were significant less than the group II (p<0.001). Conclusion: Comparing patients with small and medium-sized rotator cuff tear who took arthroscopic mattress locking suture repair to those who took simple suture repair after over one year follow up period, the clinical result showed no significant difference between two groups. However, Mattress Locking suture repair showed excellent radiological result compared to simple suture repair when comparing rerupture.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2017

Objectives : Recent neuroimaging studies focus on dysfunctions in connectivity between cognitive circuits and emotional circuits: anterior cingulate cortex that connects dorsolateral orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex to limbic system. Previous studies on pediatric depression using DTI have reported decreased neural connectivity in several brain regions, including the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, superior longitudinal fasciculus. We compared the neural connectivity of psychotropic drug naïve adolescent patients with a first onset of major depressive episode with healthy controls using DTI. Methods : Adolescent psychotropic drug naïve patients(n=26, 10 men, 16 women; age range, 13-18 years) who visited the Korea University Guro Hospital and were diagnosed with first onset major depressive disorder were registered. Healthy controls(n=27, 5 males, 22 females; age range, 12-17 years) were recruited. Psychiatric interviews, complete psychometrics including IQ and HAM-D, MRI including diffusion weighted image acquisition were conducted prior to antidepressant administration to the patients. Fractional anisotropy(FA), radial, mean, and axial diffusivity were estimated using DTI. FMRIB Software Library-Tract Based Spatial Statistics was used for statistical analysis. Results : We did not observe any significant difference in whole brain analysis. However, ROI analysis on right superior longitudinal fasciculus resulted in 3 clusters with significant decrease of FA in patients group. Conclusions : The patients with adolescent major depressive disorder showed statistically significant FA decrease in the DTI-based structure compared with healthy control. Therefore we suppose DTI can be used as a bio-marker in psychotropic drug-naïve adolescent patients with first onset major depressive disorder.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2012

Purpose : Combined MR/PET scanners that use the MRI for PET AC face the challenge of absent surface coils in MR images and thus cannot directly account for attenuation in the coils. To make up for the weak point of MR attenuation correction, Three Modality System (PET/CT +MR) were used in Severance hospital. The goal of this work was to investigate the effects of MR Torso Coil on CT attenuation correction for PET. Materials and Methods : PET artifacts were evaluated when the MR Torso Coil was present of CTAC data with changing various kV and mA in uniformity water phantom and 1994 NEMA cylinderical phantom. They evaluated and compared the following two scenarios: (1) The uniform cylinder phantom and the MR Torso Coil scanned and reconstructed using CT-AC; (2) 1994 NEMA cylinderical phantom and the MR Torso Coil scanned and reconstructed using CT-AC. Results : Streak artifacts were present in CT images containing the MR Torso Coil due to metal components. These artifacts persisted after the CT images were converted for PET-AC. CT scans tended to over-estimate the linear attenuation coefficient when the kV and mA is increasing of the metal components when using conventional methods for converting from CT number. Conclusion : The presence of MR coils during PET/CT scanning can cause subtle artifacts and potentially important quantification errors. Alternative CT techniques that mitigate artifacts should be used to improve AC accuracy. When possible, removing segments of an MR coil prior to the PET/CT exam is recommended. Further, MR coils could be redesigned to reduce artifacts by rearranging placement of the most attenuating materials.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.166-176
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of visual activation and quantitative analysis of regional cerebral blood flow. Visual activation was known to increase regional cerebral blood flow in the visual cortex in occipital lobe. We evaluated that change in the distribution of $^{99m}Tc-HMPAO$ (Hexamethyl propylene amine oxime) to reflect in regional cerebral blood flow. Materials and Methods: The six volunteers were injected with 925 MBq (mean ages: 26.75 years, n=6, 3men, 3women) underwent MRI and $^{99m}Tc-HMPAO$ SPECT during a rest state with closed eyes and visual stimulated with 8 Hz LED. We delineate the legion of interest and calculated the mean count per voxel in each of the fifteen slices to quantitative analysis. The ROI to whole brain ratio and regional index was calculated pixel to pixel subtraction visual non-activation image from visual activation image and constructed brain map using a statistical parameter map (SPM99). Results: The mean regional cerebral blood flow was increased due to visual stimulation. The increase rate of the mean regional cerebral blood flow which of the activation region in primary visual cortex of occipital lobe was $32.50{\pm}5.67%$. The significant activation sites using a statistical parameter of brain constructed a rendering image and image fusion with SPECT and MRI. Conclusion: Visual activation was revealed significant increase through quantitative analysis in visual cortex. Activation region was certified in Talairach coordinate and primary visual cortex (Ba17),visual association area (Ba18,19) of Brodmann.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2008

Purpose : We sought to determine the early change of ventricular geometry and function after concomitant surgeries of modified Dor procedure and mitral valve annuloplasty by using magnetic resonance imaging. Materials and Methods : We enrolled 21 patients with dilated heart failure who underwent modified Dor procedure (n=8), mitral valve annuloplasty (n=6), or both surgeries (n=7). Cine MRI was used to assess left ventricular dimensions and function before and after surgery. We measured the left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and the dimensions of the left ventricular long-axis and short-axis. Left ventricular stroke volume, ejection fraction, and sphericity index were calculated from these measurements. These parameters were analyzed and compared between three different surgery groups to explain the combined effect of the concomitant surgeries. Results : MRI was performed within average $12\;{\pm}\;15$ days (range 1-58 days) before and $38\;{\pm}\;50$ days (range 7- 231 days) after the surgery. The patients who underwent concomitant surgeries had more profound enlargement of left ventricle and decreased contractility prior to surgery than those in the patients who underwent single surgical procedure. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume and endsystolic volume significantly decreased in all patients regardless of surgery type after surgery. Ejection fraction significantly increased only in the patients who got modified Dor procedure without mitral valve annuloplasty (25.4% to 40.7%). Sphericity index increased in patients with modified Dor procedure but decreased in patients with mitral valve annuloplasty (0.65 to 0.78 vs. 0.75 to 0.65). In the patients who underwent concomitant surgeries showed no significant change in sphericity index after surgery. Conclusion : The early change of the left ventricular geometry and function after the concomitant surgeries with modified Dor procedure and mitral valve annuloplasty in patients with dilated heart failure includes a marked reduction in left ventricular volume and in stroke volume. The shape of the left ventricle does not change because the effect of sphericity index decrease from mitral valve annuloplasty is counteracted by the effect of sphericity index increase from modified Dor procedure. Improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction is not the early change after the concomitant surgeries.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.172-180
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• 2007

Among the nuclear medicine imaging methods available today, $H_2^{15}O-PET$ is most widely used by cognitive neuroscientists to examine regional brain function via the measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). The short half-life of the radioactively labeled probe, $^{15}O$, often allows repeated measures from the same subjects in many different task conditions. $H_2^{15}O-$ PET, however, has technical limitations relative to other methods of functional neuroimaging, e.g., fMRI, including relatively poor time and spatial resolutions, and, frequently, insufficient statistical power for analysis of individual subjects. However, recent technical developments, such as the 3-D acquisition method provide relatively good image quality with a smaller radioactive dosage, which in turn results in more PET scans from each individual, thus providing sufficient statistical power for the analysis of individual subject's data. Furthermore, the noise free scanner environment $H_2^{15}O$ PET, along with discrete acquisition of data for each task condition, are important advantages of PET over other functional imaging methods regarding studying state-dependent changes in brain activity. This review presents both the limitations and advantages of $^{15}O-PET$, and outlines the design of efficient PET protocols, using examples of recent PET studies both in the normal healthy population, and in the clinical population.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2010

This study tested how S/N (Signal to Noise Ratio) ratios and ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient) values vary with different T-scores in a group of patients with osteoporosis. Based on DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) T-scores for L1.L4 for two groups of subjects consisting of 30 healthy people without osteoporosis and 30 patients who came for treatment of waist (lumbar or low back) pain and were suspected to have osteoporosis as judged from the simple X-ray findings, this study classified every spine into two groups of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Signal intensity measurements were made in the four regions of L1 to L4 on diffusion-weighted MR images obtained using 1.5T MR scanner, while ADC measurements were obtained from ADC map images. As an approach for quantitative analysis, the comparison of the variances in S/N ratios and ADC values for varying T-scores in the selected regions of interest was carried out based on averaged T-scores, S/N ratios, and ADC values. Also, the variances in S/N ratios and ADC values for each of the groups of osteoporosis and osteopenia, which were classified into by T-scores, were compared. For qualitative analysis, a careful naked eye examination of signal intensity differences in the area of L4 was made on T1-weighted sagittal images for each of the healthy (normal), osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups. In the qualitative analysis, it was found that for both the osteopenia group and the osteoporosis group, as T-scores deceased, the S/N ratios on diffusion-weighted MR images also decreased, with the greatest decrease in the S/N ratio found in the osteoporosis group. Additionally, among the three groups, the lowest S/N ratio was found in the osteoporosis group. With respect to ADC map, it was found that for both the osteopenia group and the osteoporosis group, as T-scores deceased, the ADC values on diffusion-weighted MR images also decreased, with the greatest decrease in the ADC values found in the osteoporosis group. Additionally, among the three groups, the lowest ADC value was found in the osteoporosis group. On the other hand, in the qualitative analysis, the osteoporosis group showed the highest signal intensity. Additionally, among the three groups, the lowest signal intensity was found in the healthy (normal) group. It was found that as osteoporosis progressed, S/N ratio and ADC decreased, whereas signal intensity increased on T1-weighted images. Also, in diagnosing osteoporosis, MRI tests turned out to be (more) effective.