• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2006

Purpose : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging is performed at 3 Tesla MRI system. Since the gradient waveforms for the spiral-scan imaging have lower slopes than those for the Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), they can be implemented with the gradient systems having lower slew rates. The spiral-scan imaging also involves less eddy currents due to the smooth gradient waveforms. The spiral-scan imaging method does not suffer from high specific absorption rate (SAR), which is one of the main obstacles in high field imaging for rf echo-based fast imaging methods such as fast spin echo techniques. Thus, the spiral-scan imaging has a great potential for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields. In this paper, we presented various high-resolution images obtained by the spiral-scan methods at 3T MRI system for various applications. Materials and Methods : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging technique is implemented at 3T whole body MRI system. An efficient and fast higher-order shimming technique is developed to reduce the inhomogeneity, and the single-shot and interleaved spiral-scan imaging methods are developed. Spin-echo and gradient-echo based spiral-scan imaging methods are implemented, and image contrast and signal-tonoise ratio are controlled by the echo time, repetition time, and the rf flip angles. Results : Spiral-scan images having various resolutions are obtained at 3T MRI system. Since the absolute magnitude of the inhomogeneity is increasing in higher magnetic fields, higher order shimming to reduce the inhomogeneity becomes more important. A fast shimming technique in which axial, sagittal, and coronal sectional inhomogeneity maps are obtained in one scan is developed, and the shimming method based on the analysis of spherical harmonics of the inhomogeneity map is applied. For phantom and invivo head imaging, image matrix size of about $100{\times}100$ is obtained by a single-shot spiral-scan imaging, and a matrix size of $256{\times}256$ is obtained by the interleaved spiral-scan imaging with the number of interleaves of from 6 to 12. Conclusion : High field imaging becomes increasingly important due to the improved signal-to-noise ratio, larger spectral separation, and the higher BOLD-based contrast. The increasing SAR is, however, a limiting factor in high field imaging. Since the spiral-scan imaging has a very low SAR, and lower hardware requirements for the implementation of the technique compared to EPI, it is suitable for a rapid imaging in high fields. In this paper, the spiral-scan imaging with various resolutions from $100{\times}100$ to $256{\times}256$ by controlling the number of interleaves are developed for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.5682-5688
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to maximize diagnositc usefulness with increasing signal to noise ratio(SNR) and contrast to noise ratio(CNR) by using a 1mmol/mL gadolinium contrast agent. From January 2012 to June 2013 fourty-seven patients were underwent the MRI scanning to investigate the contrast difference in gadolinium content. Twenty of the patients were injencted the commercial contrast agent containing 0.5mmol/mL gadolinium and the rest of them were injected the new contrast agent containing 1mmol/mL gadolinium called gadobutrol. We measured and evaluated each SNR and CNR of the hip joint space, iliopsoas muscle and femoral head. As a result, using the 1mmol/mL gadolinium contrast agent had the higher SNR results than using the 0.5mmol/mL agent(27% in the hip joint, 30.01% in the femoral head). Also CNR using the 1mmol/mL gadolinium agent was proved to be higher than that of using 0.5mmol/mL agent(28.31% in the ilopsoas muscle and 26.74% in the femoral head). Therefore, the contrast agent containing more gadolinium like 1mmol/mL used in this study is more effective to shorten T1 relaxation time, so it increases the signal intensity and CNR and furthermore maximizes diagnostic value. This study reports the usefulness of the 1mmol/mL contrast agent in the contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance hip arthrography for the first. Therefore, it can be considered to have an meaningful academic value as showing the method for increasing the diagnostic usefulness by using the 1mmol/mL contrast agent.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.265-273
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• 1997

The MR ratios and the exchange biasing field and interlayer coupling field were investigated in $Ni_{91}Fe_{19}/Co_{90}Fe_{10}/Cu/Co_{90}Fe_{10}/NiO$ spin-valve sandwiches grown on antiferromagnetic NiO films as a function of the NiO thickness, the thickness of Cu and pinning layer $Co_{90}Fe_{10}$. The spin-valve sandwiches were deposited on the Corning glass 7059 by means of the 3-gun dc and 1-gun rf magnetron sputtering at a 5 mtorrpartial Ar pressure and room temperature. The deposition field was 50 Oe. The MR curve was measured by the four-terminal method with applied magnetic soft bilayer [NiFe/CoFe] (90$\AA$) decreased dramatically to less than 10 Oe when the NiFe/CoFe bilayer used an NiFe bilayer thicker that 20$\AA$. So NiFe layer improved the softmagnetic properties in the NiFe/CoFe bilayer. The GMR ratio and the magnetic field sensitivity of the spin-valve film $Ni_{91}Fe_{19}(40{\AA})/Co_{90}Fe_{10}(50{\AA}) /Cu(30{\AA})/Co_{90}Fe_{10}(35{\AA})/NiO(800{\AA})$ was 6.3% and about 0.5 (%/Oe), respectively. The MR ratio had 5.3% below an annealing temperature of 20$0^{\circ}C$ which slowly decreased to 3% above 30$0^{\circ}C$. The large blocking temperature of the spin-valve film was taken (as being) due to the good stability of the NiO films. Thus, the spin-valve films with a free NiFe/CoFe layer clearly had a high large GMR output and showed a effective magnetic field sensitivity for a suitable spin-valve head material.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.96-103
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• 2005

The motor recovery mechanism of a 21-year-old male monoparetic patient with cerebral palsy, who had complained of a mild weakness on his right hand since infancy, was examined using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). The patient showed mild motor impairment on the right hand. MRI located the main lesion on the left precentral knob of the brain. fMRI was performed on this patient as well as 8 control subjects using the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent technique at 1.5 T with a standard head coil. The motor activation task consisted of finger flexionextension exercises at 1 Hz cycles. TMS was carried out using a round coil. The anterior portion of the coil was applied tangentially to the scalp at a 1.0 cm separation. Magnetic stimulation was carried out with the maximal output. The Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs) from both Abductor Pollicis Brevis muscles (APB) were obtained simultaneously. fMRI revealed that the unaffected (right) primary sensori-motor cortex (SM1), which was centered on precentral knob, was activated by the hand movements of the control subjects as well as by the unaffected (left) hand movements of the patient. However, the affected(right) hand movements of the patient activated the medial portion of the injured precentral knob of the left SM1. The optimal scalp site for the affected (right) APB was located at 1 cm medial to that of the unaffected (left) APB. When the optimal scalp site was stimulated, the MEP characteristics from the affected (right) APB showed a delayed latency, lower amplitude, and a distorted figure compared with that of the unaffected (left) APB. Therefore, the motor function of the affected (right) hand was shown to be reorganized in the medial portion of the injured precentral knob.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.481-489
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• 2018

In MRI examination, when irradiating the human body with RF Pulse to acquire images, the portion of the irradiated RF Pulse energy is absorded into the human body, and this will affect the temperature of the human body. If a metal is inserted into the human body even if the same RF Pulse energy is applied, the SAR value increases and the body temperature changes due to the increase in the electromagnetic wave conductivity of the metal. So we measure and compared with the change in the SAR and temperature in the implant material of the dental implant in Brain MRI examinations. Experiments were performed on a human head model using a 64MHz and 128 MHz RF Pulse frequency generated by a 3.0 Tesla MRI apparatus. And then changed material of dental implants to Titanium and $Al_2O_3$. Using the XFDTD program, the changes in SAR and body temperature around the head were examined. When with Titanium the SAR value and temperature of Brain increased, but with $Al_2O_3$ showed lower SAR and temperature as compared with Titanium. The dental implants were low in SAR and temperature of the head in $Al_2O_3$, which are electrical insulators with low electrical conductivity, compared to Titanium, which is an electrical conductor. It is necessary to study the biologic effect of patient with brain MRI when titanium dental implant material is inserted in the future. Because the maximum value of SAR is much higher than the limit when dental implant material is Titanium. In addition, it is necessary to use an implant of $Al_2O_3$ material to reduce the SAR value and temperature of the Brain in Brain MRI examination.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.1274-1278
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• 2003

Syncope in children and adolescents have a common occurrence according for up to 15% before adulthood. Micturition syncope, a kind of situational syncope, can be considered a form of reflex syncope. It can typically occur in healthy young men after rising from bed in the early morning who experience sudden loss of consciousness during or immediately after urination. The mechanism of micturition syncope is not completely understood, but it has been suggested that vasovagal reflex mediated bradycardia and peripheral vasodilation and decreased venous return due to Valsalva effect and standing position lead to the decrease in cerebral blood flow resulting in syncope. The causes of syncope are variable. So complete history taking, physical examination, electrocardiography, exercise stress test, echocardiography, head-up tilt table test, electroencephalography(EEG), brain magnetic resonance image and urodynamic study should be required for the diagnosis of micturition syncope. There were several reports about micturition syncope. However, literature of micturition syncope at the pediatric age has rarely been reported in Korea so far. Therefore, we report a case of a 9-year-old boy with micturition syncope with typical EEG findings of high amplitude delta wave and flattening during syncope.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2006

Four dogs with neurologic dysfunction resulted from intracranial hemorrhage by head trauma were referred to Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Chungnam National University. There were no remarkable findings in survey radiography in four cases. CT and MRI scans were diagnostic in these cases. Three dogs underwent CT scanning. On CT images, the lesion was hyperdense and was not enhanced after intravenous contrast administration in dog 1 and dog 2. On CT of dog 4, there was no significant finding. All of four dogs were verified by dorsal, sagittal, and transverse T1-weighted (T1W) and T2-weighted (T2W) images. Appearance of the lesions in dog 1 and dog 2 was isointense (dog 2) or isointense with hyperintense rim (dog 1) on T1W images and hyperintense on T2W images. In dog 3 and dog 4, there were hypointense and hyperintense lesions on T1Wand T2W images respectively. The lesions in four dogs were located in the left intracerebral region, intracerebral and cerebellovestibular region, subdural space, and right cerebral hemisphere, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.999-1005
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• 2021

The object of this research is CS, which increases resolution while shortening inspection time, is applied to MRA to compare the quality of images for SENSE and CS techniques and to evaluate SNR and CNR to find out the optimal techniques and to provide them as clinical basic data based on this information. Data were analyzed on 32 patients who performed TOF MRA tests at a university hospital in Chung cheong-do (15 males, 17 females), ICA stenosis:10, M1 Aneurysm:10, and average age 53 ± 4.15). In the inspection, the inspection equipment was Ingenia CX 3.0T, Archieva 3.0T, and 32 channel head coil and 3D gradient echo as a method for equipment data. SNR and CNR of each image were measured by quantitative analysis, and the quality of the image was evaluated by dividing the observer's observation into 5 grades for qualitative evaluation. Imaging evaluation is described as being significant when the p-value is 0.05 or less when the paired T-test and Wilcoxon test are performed. Quantitative analysis of SNR and CNR in TOF MRA images Compared to the SENSE method, the CS method is a method measurement method (p <0.05). As an observer's evaluation, the sharpness of blood vessels: CS (4.45 ± 0.41), overall image quality: CS (4.77 ± 0.18), background suppression of images: CS (4.57 ± 0.18) all resulted in high CS technique (p = 0.000). In conclusion, the Compressed SENSE TOF MRA technique shows superior results when comparing and evaluating the SENSE and Compressed SENSE techniques in increased flow rate magnetic resonance angiography. The results are thought to be the clinical basis material in the 3D TOF MRA examination for brain disease.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.981-984
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• 2014

Volumetric measurement of hippocampus using IBASPM, the 20's normal adults 10 people's brain images were acquired in order to assess the changes according to the type of the Atlas. Images was obtained using MPRAGE of a 3-D gradient echo pulse sequence on Head matrix coil of 1.5T MRI system. The results of Paired t-test using obtained volume of hippocampus depending on the type of the Atlas, Atlas69-Altas84, Atlas69-Atlas116(p=0.729, 0.729) in the left hippocampus and Atlas69-Atlas84, Atlas69-Atlas116(p=0.219, 0.219) in right hippocampal formation were no significant differences but in the area except this, there was significant difference(p=0.000). The volume of the hippocampus using Atlas84 and Atlas116, represented the same value and there was no significant difference. In the image analysis using the overlay of atlas image and original image, Atlas71 could be found that the area of hippocampus did mismatch. In the case of atlas used in this study, because it has been developed by the westerners, there are differences between brain of asian. It would be needed to development of new Atlas for high accuracy measurement of the volume of hippocampus.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.91-97
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• 2008

What if the memory is not erased but continues to exist in the head as it was before? The typical answer to this question would be summarized as the "love for memory". It is almost unbearable that the memory is erased, forgotten or replaced with others. Even though three episodes may be understood as separate things, they have a different image when they are seen under one subject . he three episodes impresses the people with their unique fantastic images and artistic air. In the episode of , we can see a woman who is so much concerned with her past memory so that she does not love the present. In this episode, we can realize how much destructive the bad past memory gives effect on a woman and how memory can give bad effect on a person if that does not connect the past and the present. The work criticizes the society whichdoes not understand the current problems by depicting a person who is so preoccupied with the thing near that person only. shows that the dream is meaningless if people have the future dream without understanding what they really want. Theaudience is absorbed to each hero or heroin who is so obsessed with the past, present and future. What we can feel from these three works is the doubt about the human society which is so much preoccupied with the pessimism and the individuals who do not recognize the importance of the present because they are so much obsessed with their superficial past, present and future as well as the society where they live.