• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.79 no.6
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• pp.340-347
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate value of image subtraction for identifying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) capsule on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR images. Materials and Methods: This study involved 108 patients at risk of HCC preoperatively examined using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI with hepatic resection between May 2015 and February 2017. We evaluated qualities of subtraction images and presence of capsular appearance on portal venous or transitional phases conventional and subtraction images. We assessed effect of capsular appearance on subtraction images on HCC. Results: After excluding 1 patient who had treated by transarterial chemoembolization prior to surgery and 33 patients with unsatisfactory subtraction image qualities, 82 focal hepatic lesions (73 HCC, 5 non-HCC malignancies, and 4 benign) from 74 patients were analyzed. Regarding detection of capsules, sensitivity, accuracy, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) on subtraction images were significantly higher than those on conventional images (95.4%, 89.0%, and 0.80, respectively; p < 0.001), though specificities were same (64.7%). For diagnosis of HCC, sensitivity, accuracy, and AUC on subtraction images were significantly higher than on conventional images (82.2%, 79.3%, and 0.69, respectively; p = 0.011), though specificities were identical (55.6%). Conclusion: Portal venous or transitional phase gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI subtraction images could improve detection of HCC capsule.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to evaluate image blurring according to variation of the ETL and propose the clinically appropriate ETL range. SIEMENS MAGNETOM Skyra 3.0T and 20 channel head coil were used for the study. MRI phantom was kept the lines horizontally to three direction(X,Y,Z) of the coil and T1, T2 weighted images that used the fast spin echo technique acquired. The ETL with increase of 10 was applied from 10 to 80. In addition, the ETL with increase of 1 was applied in the interval statistically significant differences occurred. And T1, T2 weighted images that used the conventional spin echo technique acquired to compare image blurring of the images that used the fast spin echo technique. The slope of lattice in the images was measured using Image J 1.47v program to evaluate image blurring. And image blurring was determined by the degree of the slope. The statistical significance of both techniques was evaluated by the Kruskal-Wallis test of the SPSS 17.0v. And the correlation of the ETL and image blurring was evaluated quantitatively by regression analysis. The slope of the T1, T2 weighted images that used fast spin echo technique decreased as contrasted with conventional spin echo technique. In the result of the Kruskal-Wallis test, the T1, T2 weighted images that used fast spin echo technique made a significant difference with conventional spin echo technique. Particularly, in the Tomhane' T2 test, the T1, T2 weighted images made a significant difference from ETL 22 and 31 respectively. In the result of the regression analysis, the R-squared of the T1, T2 weighted images are 0.762 and 0.793. It is difficult to apply the long ETL in the T1 weighted image caused by the short TR and multi-slices study. Therefore, clinical impact according to variation of the ETL is very slight in the T1 weighted images. But the application of the proper ETL is demanded in T2 weighted images using the fast spin echo technique in order to prevent image blurring.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.71-71
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• 2003

For fast MRI, the number of phase encoding steps has to be reduced. However, the reconstructed image is aliased if the phase encoding steps don't satisfy Nyquist sampling theory. SENSE is used in order to eliminate the aliasing effect as well as to reduce imaging time. SENSE is a linear algebraic technique applied to the multiple receiver data. In this study, we implement a tool to reconstruct the original image (SENSE image) with Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE)

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.373-380
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• 2009

In general, Independent component analysis (ICA) is a statistical blind source separation technique, used either in spatial or temporal domain. The spatial or temporal ICAs are designed to extract maximally independent sources in respective domains. The underlying sources for spatiotemporal data (sequence of images) can not always be guaranteed to be independent, therefore spatial ICA extracts the maximally independent spatial sources, deteriorating the temporal sources and vice versa. For such data types, spatiotemporal ICA tries to create a balance by simultaneous optimization in both the domains. However, the spatiotemporal ICA suffers the problem of source ambiguity. Recently, constrained ICA (c-ICA) has been proposed which incorporates a priori information to extract the desired source. In this study, we have extended the c-ICA for better analysis of spatiotemporal data. The proposed algorithm, i.e., constrained spatiotemporal ICA (constrained st-ICA), tries to find the desired independent sources in spatial and temporal domains with no source ambiguity. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested against the conventional spatial and temporal ICAs using simulated data. Furthermore, its performance for the real spatiotemporal data, functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI), is compared with the SPM (conventional fMRI data analysis tool). The functional maps obtained with the proposed algorithm reveal more activity as compared to SPM.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.295-345
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• 2003

This study investigated activation of cerebral cortex in patients with hemiplegia that was caused by neural damage. Key-point control movement therapy of Bobath was performed for 9 weeks in 3 subjects with hemiplegia and fMRI was used to compare and analyze activated degree of cerebral cortex in these subjects. fMRI was conducted using the blood oxygen level-dependent(BOLD) technique at 3.0T MR scanner with a standard head coil. The motor activation task consisted of finger flexion-extension exercise in six cycles(one half-cycles = 8 scans = $3\;sec{\times}\;8\;=\;24\;sec$). Subjects performed this task according to visual stimulus that sign of right hand or left hand twinkled(500ms on, 500ms off). After mapping activation of cerebral motor cortex on hand motor function, below results were obtained. 1. Activation decreased in primary motor area, whereas it increased in supplementary motor area and visual association area(p<.001). 2. Activation was observed in bilateral medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus of left cerebrum, inferior frontal gyrus, inter-hemispheric, fusiform gyrus of right cerebrum, superior parietal lobule of parietal lobe and precuneus in subjedt 1, parahippocampal gyrus of limbic lobe and cingulate gyrus in subject 2, and inferior frontal gyrus of right frontal lobe, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule of left cerebrum in subject 3 (p<.001). 3. Activation cluster extended in declive of right cellebellum posterior lobe in subject 1, culmen of anterior lobe and declive of posterior lobe in subject 2, and dentate gyrus of anterior lobe, culmen and tuber of posterior lobe in subject 3 (p<.001). In conclusion, these data showed that Key-point control movement therapy of Bobath after stroke affect cerebral cortex activation by increasing efficiency of cortical networks. Therefore mapping of brain neural network activation is useful for plasticity and reorganization of cerebral cortex and cortico-spinal tract of motor recovery mechanisms after stroke.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.76-78
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• 2013

The meniscus is considered "extruded" when it extends beyond the tibial margins more than 3 mm in a coronal view of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, identifying the meniscal extrusion intraoperatively may be difficult because of the simple fact that most of the arthroscopic procedures are done in knee flexion position while follow up MRI studies area taken at knee extension position. Here, we demonstrate the arthroscopic technique for evaluating the meniscal extrusion.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.26-36
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• 2024

Functional brain imaging techniques have been used to diagnose psychiatric disorders such as dementia, depression, and autism. Recently, these techniques have also been actively used to study hearing loss. The present study reviewed the application of the functional brain imaging techniques in auditory research, especially those focusing on hearing loss, over the past decade. EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, MEG, and PET have been utilized in auditory research, and the number of research studies using these techniques has been increasing. In particular, fMRI and EEG were the most frequently used technique in auditory research. EEG studies mostly used event-related designs to analyze the direct relationship between stimulus and the related response, and in fMRI studies, resting-state functional connectivity and block designs were utilized to analyze alterations in brain functionality in hearing-related areas. In terms of age, while studies involving children mainly focused on congenital and pre- and post-lingual hearing loss to analyze developmental characteristics with and without hearing loss, those involving adults focused on age-related hearing loss to investigate changes in the characteristics of the brain based on the presence of hearing loss and the use of a hearing device. Overall, ranging from EEG to PET, various functional brain imaging techniques have been used in auditory research, but it is difficult to perform a comprehensive analysis due to the lack of consistency in experimental designs, analysis methods, and participant characteristics. Thus, it is necessary to develop standardized research protocols to obtain high-quality clinical and research evidence.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.124-131
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• 2003

Purpose : To reveal clinical usefulness of functional MRI (fMRI) using sensorymotor and language stimuli for demonstrating anatomic relationship between sensorimotor or language cortices and lesions in the planning of brain tumor surgery. Materials and Methods : This study included 12 right-handed patients with brain tumors in or around sensorimotor or language cortices. Eleven patients were evaluated with primary motor and sensory stimuli. Of these patients, six patients were also evaluated with language stimuli. One patient was evaluated with language stimuli only. For fMR imaging, a 1.5T scanner was used and the EPI BOLD technique was employed. For postprocessing image, the SPM99 program and a program made by our department was utilized. We evaluated whether sensorimotor and language stimuli activate sensorimotor and language cortices. And also, clinical efficacy of revealing anatomic relationship between cerebral cortices and lesions for planning neurosurgical operation were evaluated. Finally, we compared post-operative neurologic function with pre-operative neurologic function in same patients. Results : The fMRI examination was successful in identifying the functional cortices and depicting anatomic relationship between functional cortices and lesions in all patients. In nine patients of 11 patients with identified sensorimotor cortices, postoperative grade of manual motor test was not changed, compared with preoperative grade. Whereas postoperative improved than preoperative grade in one patient of remaining two patients, postoperative aggravated than preoperative grade in the other. This result was due to atherosclerotic lacunar infarction, regardless of tumor resection. Postoperative deficit of language function was not found in seven patients with identified language cortices. Conclusion : fMRI could be a helpful method for determining the best approach to neurosurgical treatment in patients with brain tumors in or around sensorimotor or language cortices.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2016

Acoustic noise during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the main source for patient discomfort. we report our preliminary experience with this technique in neuroimaging with regard to subjective and objective noise levels and image quality. 60 patients(29 males, 31 females, average age of 60.1) underwent routine brain MRI with 3.0 Tesla (MAGNETOM Tim Trio; Siemens, Germany) system and 12-channel head coil. Q-$T_2$ and $T_2$ sequence were performed. Measurement of sound pressure levels (SPL) and heart rate on Q-$T_2$ and $T_2$ was performed respectively. Quantitative analysis was carried out by measuring the SNR, CNR, and SIR values of Q-$T_2$, $T_2$ and a statistical analysis was performed using independent sample T-test. Qualitative analysis was evaluated by the eyes for the overall quality image of Q-$T_2$ and $T_2$. A 5-point evaluation scale was used, including excellent(5), good(4), fair(3), poor(2), and unacceptable(1). The average noise and peak noise decreased by $15dB_A$ and $10dB_A$ on $T_2$ and Q-$T_2$ test. Also, the average value of heartbeat rate was lower in Q-$T_2$ for 120 seconds in each test, but there was no statistical significance. The quantitative analysis showed that there was no significant difference between CNR and SIR, and there was a significant difference (p<0.05) as SNR had a lower average value on Q-$T_2$. According to the qualitative analysis, the overall quality image of 59 case $T_2$ and Q-$T_2$ was evaluated as excellent at 5 points, and 1 case was evaluated as good at 4 points due to a motion artifact. Q-$T_2$ is a promising technique for acoustic noise reduction and improved patient comfort.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.1583-1590
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• 2011

As the existing radiation scanning systems use 2-dimensional radiation scanned images, the low accuracy has been pointed out as a problem of it. This research analyzes the applicability of the stereo image processing technique to X-ray scanned images. Two 2-dimensional radiation images which have different disparity values are acquired from a newly designed stereo image acquisition system which has one additional line sensor to the conventional system. Using a matching algorithm the 3D reconstruction process which find the correspondence between the images is progressed. As the radiation image is just a density information of the scanned object, the direct application of the general stereo image processing techniques to it is inefficient. To overcome this limitation of a stereo image processing in radiation area, we reconstruct 3-D shapes of the edges of the objects. Also, we proposed a new volume based 3D reconstruction algorithm. Experimental results show the proposed new volume based reconstruction technique can provide more efficient visualization for cargo inspection. The proposed technique can be used for such objects which CT or MRI cannot inspect due to restricted scan environment.