• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2012

Breast MRI is the most accurate adjunctive to the mammography for the screening of breast cancer. Despite lack of randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of MRI screening, it is now recommended for the women at high risk for breast cancer by the American Cancer Society and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network based on several prospective observational studies. In Korea, a retrospective study reported that preoperative MRI screening of the contralateral breast in women with unilateral breast cancer was associated with reduced metachronous cancer incidence. To introduce breast MRI as a supplemental modality to screening mammography in Korea, standardization and education of interpretation, establishment of MR-guided biopsy and adequate indication, and evaluation of cost-effectiveness and should be preceded.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2003

In this paper we present a brief description and summary results of each of our recent activities in three areas, all devoted to NMR and MRI superconducting magnet technologies: 1) development of a high-field LTS / HTS NMR magnet; 2) development of a novel digital flux injector for slightly resistive NMR magnets; and 3) a proposal fer a low-cost MRI magnet system based on $MgB_2$ composite and an innovative cryogenic design / operation concept.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2010

Although ultrasonography is the most commonly used first-line imaging modality of the female pelvis because of diagnostic accuracy, low cost and safety, MRI is the best imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of the female pelvis. The indication of female pelvis MRI is diverse and includes the evaluation of M$\ddot{u}$llerian duct anomaly, differential diagnosis and characterization of uterine and ovarian tumors, and staging of malignant uterine and ovarian tumors. Understanding of MR protocols according to the specific gynecologic pathology allows accurate diagnosis and proper patient management.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2008

Mobile IP is a solution to support mobile nodes, however, it does not handle NEtwork MObility (NEMO). The NEMO Basic Support (NBS) protocol ensures session continuity for all the nodes in the mobile network. Since the protocol is based on Mobile IP, it inherits the same fundamental problem such as tunnel convergence, when supporting the multicast for NEMO. In this paper, we propose the multicast route optimization scheme for NEMO environment. We assume that the Mobile Router (MR) has a multicast function and the Nested Mobile Router Information (NeMRI) table. The NeMRI is used to record o list of the CoAs of all the MRs located below it. And it covers whether MRs desire multicast services. Any Route Optimization (RO) scheme can be employed here for pinball routing. Therefore, we achieve optimal routes for multicasting based on the given architecture. We also propose cost analytic models to evaluate the performance of our scheme. We observe significantly better multicast cost in NEMO compared with other techniques such as Bi-directional Tunneling, Remote Subscription, and Mobile Multicast based on the NBS protocol.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 2021

Background: In 2018, the government increased the fee for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image deciphering services of the external hospital to discourage the redundant MRI scan and to induce appropriate use of the MRI services. It is important to evaluate the effect of the policy to provide the basis for establishing other MRI-related policies. Methods: The healthcare data of the patients who had brain MRI scans were organized by episode and analyzed using the panel study in order to find out the effect of the MRI-related policy on the substitution effect and the medical expenses. Results: As a result of the increase in the fee of deciphering the MRI image, there has been an uplift in deciphering the MRI scan of the external hospital. It implies that more hospitals chose to use the MRI scan taken by other clinics or hospitals, rather than the MRI scan taken at their own facilities. Conclusion: The research results imply that a policy that facilitates the exchange of the medical image data between the hospitals is needed in order to establish an efficient management system of the healthcare resources. Such improvement is expected to reduce the social cost and contribute to the stability in the finance of national health insurance.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2023

Background: While there are many studies estimating the effects of private health insurance on various types of health care utilization, few have examined how such effects change in conjunction with important policy reforms in national health insurance (NHI). This study examined how the effect of private health insurance (supplemental and fixed cash benefit) on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization changed following the expansion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coverage in 2018, which is a key example of the NHI benefit expansion policy in recent years. Methods: Data from the 2017 and 2019 Korea Health Panel Survey, which contained information about healthcare utilization before and after the expansion of MRI coverage in 2018, were used. The incremental effect of private health insurance on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization for each period were quantified and compared, with special attention given to the type of private health insurance. Results: While people with supplemental private health insurance were more likely to use high-cost outpatient imaging tests than those without, both before and after the expansion of MRI coverage, the incremental effect increased from 1.6% points in 2017 to 2.5% points in 2019. Conclusion: Benefit expansion in NHI does not necessarily reduce disparities in the use of health care between private health insurance subscribers and non-subscribers. The results of our study also suggest that the path through which private health insurance affects healthcare utilization may not be limited to the price mechanism alone but can be more complex.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.231-241
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• 2005

New methods to register multiple hemispheric slices of the postmortem brain to anatomically corresponding in-vivo MRI slices within a 3D volumetric MRI are presented. Gel-embedding and fiducial markers are used to reduce geometrical distortions in the postmortem brain volume. The registration algorithm relies on a recursive extraction of warped MRI slices from the reference MRI volume using a modified non-linear polynomial transformation until matching slices are found. Eight different voxel similarity measures are tested to get the best co-registration cost and the results show that combination of two different similarity measures shows the best performance. After validating the implementation and approach through simulation studies, the presented methods are applied to real data. The results demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of the presented co­registration methods, thus providing a means of MR signal analysis and histological examination of tissue lesions via co­registered images of postmortem brain slices and their corresponding MRI sections. With this approach, it is possible to investigate the pathology of a disease through both routinely acquired MRls and postmortem brain slices, thus improving the understanding of the pathological substrates and their progression.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.69-72
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• 2000

This paper shows the more improved design of MRI receiver compared to conventional one based on Elscint Spectrometer. At first, the low-cost ADC is 16 bits, 3MHz sampling A/D converter Comparing to conventional one with signal bits of 14 bits, this device with those of 16 bits helps getting Improved the image resolution improved. If frequency is designed centering around 7.6 MHz to be satisfied in 10 MHz of maximum input bandwidth of ADC. For 1st demodulation, fixed IF is used for the purpose of the implementing multi nuclei system. Control parts & partial digital parts are integrated on one chip(FPGA). In DDC(Digital Down Converter), we got required bandwidth of LPF by controlling its decimation rate. With above considerations, we designed optimal receiver for high resolution imaging to be implemented through PC interface & experimental test of receiver of MRI after receiver's fabrication.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.569-575
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• 2014

Although mammography is the primary imaging modality for the breast, it has its limitations especially with dense breast parenchyma. Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved into an important adjunctive tool as it is currently the most sensitive technique for breast cancer detection. Despite this high sensitivity, overlap in the appearances of some benign and malignant breast lesions results in additional unnecessary intervention with negative results. These false positives, in addition to high cost and limited availability, necessitate establishing proper indications for breast MRI. The literature was here reviewed for recent clinical trials, meta-analyses and review papers which have studied this important subject. PubMed; the US national library of medicine, was utilized to review the literature in the last twenty years. Using the obtained information, current uses of breast MRI are discussed in this paper to determine the indications which are relevant to clinical practice.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2008

As medical insurance had been implemented for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) from January 1, 2005, this study investigated whether there had been any change in the amount of the medical care utilization of patients who undertook MRI before and after the insurance coverage, and was to examine factors affecting the amount of medical care utilization of MRI. Data were collected from patients who undertook MRI before and after the insurance coverage for a year at a general hospital in Kyeanggi-do. $X^2$ and t-test were used for the analysis of their general characteristics, the number of MRI, and its medical costs before and after the insurance coverage, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis for the factors affecting the amount of the medical care utilization of MRI. The results of this study were as follows. First, the number of MRI after the insurance coverage was significantly decreased. Second, there was no significant difference in the total medical costs of MRI after the insurance coverage, but a significant difference was found in patient's share of medical costs. Third, six variables were found to be affecting the amount of the medical care utilization of MRI, and the variables showed to lead the number of MRI decrease after the insurance coverage. These six factors explained 21.4% of the total number of MRI. As MRI had been covered by insurance, the use of MRI and patient's share of the costs were deceased, but the total medical costs were not affected. Reasons for that could be found in that MRI insurance, different from the case of CT insurance coverage, was allowed not to cover some items and the kinds of diseases subjected to the insurance coverage were extremely limited, lowering insurance prescription rate. In addition to that, the average medical cost of MRI was not changed after the insurance coverage. Therefore, as future measures for the MRI insurance, coverage, it should be considered to allow insurance coverage to no coverage items and to expand the scope of benefit coverage, or to lower patient's share of the costs. Furthermore, researches should be done to explore how recipients will act and how suppliers will react if the coverage is expanded, including expanding the scope of coverage and reducing patient's share of the costs, as well as to conduct research on its economic analysis according to case mix.