• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.413-420
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• 2005

Purpose: Neuroreceptor PET studies require 60-120 minutes to complete and head motion of the subject during the PET scan increases the uncertainty in measured activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of the data-driven head mutton correction on the evaluation of endogenous dopamine release (DAR) in the striatum during the motor task which might have caused significant head motion artifact. Materials and Methods: $[^{11}C]raclopride$ PET scans on 4 normal volunteers acquired with bolus plus constant infusion protocol were retrospectively analyzed. Following the 50 min resting period, the participants played a video game with a monetary reward for 40 min. Dynamic frames acquired during the equilibrium condition (pre-task: 30-50 min, task: 70-90 min, post-task: 110-120 min) were realigned to the first frame in pre-task condition. Intra-condition registrations between the frames were performed, and average image for each condition was created and registered to the pre-task image (inter-condition registration). Pre-task PET image was then co-registered to own MRI of each participant and transformation parameters were reapplied to the others. Volumes of interest (VOI) for dorsal putamen (PU) and caudate (CA), ventral striatum (VS), and cerebellum were defined on the MRI. Binding potential (BP) was measured and DAR was calculated as the percent change of BP during and after the task. SPM analyses on the BP parametric images were also performed to explore the regional difference in the effects of head motion on BP and DAR estimation. Results: Changes in position and orientation of the striatum during the PET scans were observed before the head motion correction. BP values at pre-task condition were not changed significantly after the intra-condition registration. However, the BP values during and after the task and DAR were significantly changed after the correction. SPM analysis also showed that the extent and significance of the BP differences were significantly changed by the head motion correction and such changes were prominent in periphery of the striatum. Conclusion: The results suggest that misalignment of MRI-based VOI and the striatum in PET images and incorrect DAR estimation due to the head motion during the PET activation study were significant, but could be remedied by the data-driven head motion correction.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2012

Purpose : We studied enhanced method to view the vessels in the brain using Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA). Noticing that Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) image is often used to evaluate the arteries of the neck and brain, we propose a new method for view brain vessels to stereo image in 3D space with more superior and more correct compared with conventional method. Materials and Methods: We use 3T Siemens Tim Trio MRI scanner with 4 channel head coil and get a 3D MRA brain data by fixing volunteers head and radiating Phase Contrast pulse sequence. MRA brain data is 3D rotated according to the view angle of each eyes. Optimal view angle (projection angle) is determined by the distance between eye and center of the data. Newly acquired MRA data are projected along with the projection line and display only the highest values. Each left and right view MIP image is integrated through anaglyph imaging method and optimal stereoscopic MIP image is acquired. Results: Result image shows that proposed method let enable to view MIP image at any direction of MRA data that is impossible to the conventional method. Moreover, considering disparity and distance from viewer to center of MRA data at spherical coordinates, we can get more realistic stereo image. In conclusion, we can get optimal stereoscopic images according to the position that viewers want to see and distance between viewer and MRA data. Conclusion: Proposed method overcome problems of conventional method that shows only specific projected image (z-axis projection) and give optimal depth information by converting mono MIP image to stereoscopic image considering viewers position. And can display any view of MRA data at spherical coordinates. If the optimization algorithm and parallel processing is applied, it may give useful medical information for diagnosis and treatment planning in real-time.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.43 no.6 s.312
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• pp.28-35
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• 2006

Statistical models of shape variability based on active shape models (ASMs) have been successfully utilized to perform segmentation and recognition tasks in two-dimensional (2D) images. Three-dimensional (3D) model-based approaches are more promising than 2D approaches since they can bring in more realistic shape constraints for recognizing and delineating the object boundary. For 3D model-based approaches, however, building the 3D shape model from a training set of segmented instances of an object is a major challenge and currently it remains an open problem in building the 3D shape model, one essential step is to generate a point distribution model (PDM). Corresponding landmarks must be selected in all1 training shapes for generating PDM, and manual determination of landmark correspondences is very time-consuming, tedious, and error-prone. In this paper, we propose a novel automatic method for generating 3D statistical shape models. Given a set of training 3D shapes, we generate a 3D model by 1) building the mean shape fro]n the distance transform of the training shapes, 2) utilizing a tetrahedron method for automatically selecting landmarks on the mean shape, and 3) subsequently propagating these landmarks to each training shape via a distance labeling method. In this paper, we investigate the accuracy and compactness of the 3D model for the human liver built from 50 segmented individual CT data sets. The proposed method is very general without such assumptions and can be applied to other data sets.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2009

Purpose : To evaluate magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features of non-surgically treated tuberculous spondylitis and to evaluate the relationships between these features and clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods : Data from ten patients (male:female=6:4, mean age=45 years) with clinically proven tuberculous spondylitis who were treated nonsurgically over three months were analyzed retrospectively from 2000 to 2007. MRI was performed at least three times for each patient, at baseline, every three or six months, and at the end of treatment. All images were analyzed by two radiologists. Results : The mean follow-up period for the MR examination was 10.1 months (range, 4-17 months). Six patients had clinically complete resolution of tuberculous spondylitis with medication treatment only. Four patients were treated with surgical management alongside medication. All ten patients were divided into two groups by clinical outcome; six patients with complete treatment and four patients with incomplete treatment. In the complete treatment group, follow-up MR findings showed a loss of subligamentous spread of abscesses, decreased size of abscesses, no interval changes in vertebral body heights, and fatty changes in spinal lesions. MR findings in the incomplete treatment group showed bone marrow edema extension to adjacent vertebra, extension of the abscesses, and decreased height of the vertebral bodies. Conclusion : During the nonsurgical management of tuberculous spondylitis, MR imaging may play a role in predicting patient response to antituberculous drug treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.464-472
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• 2005

Purpose: SPECT using a fan-beam collimator improves spatial resolution and sensitivity. For the reconstruction from fan-beam projections, it is necessary to implement direct fan-beam reconstruction methods without transforming the data into the parallel geometry. In this study, various fan-beam reconstruction algorithms were implemented and their performances were compared. Materials and Methods: The projector for fan-beam SPECT was implemented using a ray-tracing method. The direct reconstruction algorithms implemented for fan-beam projection data were FBP (filtered backprojection), EM (expectation maximization), OS-EM (ordered subsets EM) and MAP-EM OSL (maximum a posteriori EM using the one-step late method) with membrane and thin-plate models as priors. For comparison, the fan-beam protection data were also rebinned into the parallel data using various interpolation methods, such as the nearest neighbor, bilinear and bicubic interpolations, and reconstructed using the conventional EM algorithm for parallel data. Noiseless and noisy projection data from the digital Hoffman brain and Shepp/Logan phantoms were reconstructed using the above algorithms. The reconstructed images were compared in terms of a percent error metric. Results: for the fan-beam data with Poisson noise, the MAP-EM OSL algorithm with the thin-plate prior showed the best result in both percent error and stability. Bilinear interpolation was the most effective method for rebinning from the fan-beam to parallel geometry when the accuracy and computation load were considered. Direct fan-beam EM reconstructions were more accurate than the standard EM reconstructions obtained from rebinned parallel data. Conclusion: Direct fan-beam reconstruction algorithms were implemented, which provided significantly improved reconstructions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.324-333
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• 2001

Purpose: $^{123}I$-labeled fatty acids have been used in the evaluation of regional myocardial energy metabolism. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of $^{123}I$-BMIPP as a liposarcoma-imaging agent. Materials and Methods: We compared in vitro uptakes between liposarcoma(SW872) and glioma(9L) cell lines, and examined biodistribution and in vivo images of $^{123}I$-BMIPP in liposarcoma-bearing nude mice. Cold-BMIPP was labeled with $^{123}I\;using\;Cu^{2+}$ as catalyst. After purification by Sep-pak, radiochemical purity was determined by TLC. We compared cellular uptake between glioma and liposarcoma after incubation of 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 180 mins with culture medium containing $^{123}I$-BMIPP. The difference in biodistribution was determined between non-feeding (water only) group for 18 hr and feeding group in normal mice (n=6/group) at 0.5, 2, and 24 hr. In liposarcoma-hearing nude mice model, liposarcoma, SW872, ceil lines were injected subcutaneously into the felt thigh of nude mice. The biodistribution of $^{123}I$-BMIPP was evaluated at 0.5, 2, and 24 hr (n:5 / group) and in vivo Image of $^{123}I$-BMIPP was obtained with gamma camera at 2 and 24 hr in liposarcoma-hearing nude mice. Results: Radiolabeling yield and radiochemical purity were 95% and above 99%, respectively. SW872 cell line showed more increased uptake than 9L with 1.5 times at 180 mins. The clearance of $^{123}I$-BMIPP in various tissues was more delayed in the non-feeding group than in the feeding group, especially at delayed time (24 hr) in normal mice, and the major excreting organ was the gastrointestinal tract. In liposarcoma-bearing nude mice, tumor/blood ratio of $^{123}I$-BMIPP was 0.94, 0.75, and 1.38 and tumor/muscle ratio was 0.66, 1.53, and 1.11 at 0.5, 2, and 24hr, respectively. $^{123}I$-BMIPP was selectively localized in liposarcoma at 24 hr image. Conclusions: These results suggest that $^{123}I$-BMIPP can be used as a liposarcoma-imaging agent.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.9-13
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• 2016

Purpose PET-CT examinations using $^{18}F-FDG$ to treat urinary system cancer are limited in terms of anatomical structure and excretion route of $^{18}F-FDG$. But one of the ongoing examinations utilizing $^{11}C-Acetate$ can compensate for such defects. We would like to introduce a clinical application of $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT in urinary cancer patients. Materials and Methods We conducted a clinical survey of 22 patients diagnosed with urinary cancer at our hospital, 10 prostate cancer patients, 10 renal cell carcinoma patients, and 2 bladder cancer patients. All patients were performed $^{18}F-FDG$ PET-CT examinations, $^{11}C-Acetate$ examinations were performed after two weeks on average. The equipment used to D-710 PET-CT in GE Company and we performed PET-CT procedures 15 minutes after injecting $^{11}C-Acetate$, and a medical doctor from the department of nuclear medicine appraised and compared images between $^{18}F-FDG$ and $^{11}C-Acetate$. Results According to our survey, prostate cancer patients generally had lower uptake of $^{18}F-FDG$ than other cancer patients did. In 2 out of 10 prostate cancer patients, metastasized cancer showed greater uptake in $^{11}C-Acetate$ than $^{18}F-FDG$. In renal cell carcinoma cases, 8 out of 10 patients displayed evidently greater uptake in $^{11}C-Acetate$ than $^{18}F-FDG$. We excluded bladder cancer cases in this study because uptake of $^{18}F-FDG$ in the bladder was too hot, the number of patients was insufficient, and the cases did not meet criteria such as the use of diuretics. Conclusion It is too premature to draw solid conclusions from the survey, since it involved only a small number of participants. However, there are a number of studies conducted abroad that prove the effectiveness of the $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT examinations in treating urinary system cancer, and this study is still ongoing at our hospital. If the tests were to be conducted on a larger number of participants, this study could lead to numerous other potential research topics, such as the correlation between Prostatic specific antigen (PSA) values and $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT, Gleason sum values from biopsy before surgery, Specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) between $^{18}F-FDG$ PET-CT examinations and $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT examinations in other urinary system cancers.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2002

Purpose : Three dimensional conformal radiotherapy planning is being used widely for the treatment of patients with brain tumor. However, it takes much time to develop an optimal treatment plan, therefore, it is difficult to apply this technique to all patients. To increase the efficiency of this technique, we need to develop standard radiotherapy plant for each site of the brain. Therefore we developed several 3 dimensional conformal radiotherapy plans (3D plans) for tumors at each site of brain, compared them with each other, and with 2 dimensional radiotherapy plans. Finally model plans for each site of the brain were decide. Materials and Methods : Imaginary tumors, with sizes commonly observed in the clinic, were designed for each site of the brain and drawn on CT images. The planning target volumes (PTVs) were as follows; temporal $tumor-5.7\times8.2\times7.6\;cm$, suprasellar $tumor-3\times4\times4.1\;cm$, thalamic $tumor-3.1\times5.9\times3.7\;cm$, frontoparietal $tumor-5.5\times7\times5.5\;cm$, and occipitoparietal $tumor-5\times5.5\times5\;cm$. Plans using paralled opposed 2 portals and/or 3 portals including fronto-vertex and 2 lateral fields were developed manually as the conventional 2D plans, and 3D noncoplanar conformal plans were developed using beam's eye view and the automatic block drawing tool. Total tumor dose was 54 Gy for a suprasellar tumor, 59.4 Gy and 72 Gy for the other tumors. All dose plans (including 2D plans) were calculated using 3D plan software. Developed plans were compared with each other using dose-volume histograms (DVH), normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP) and variable dose statistic values (minimum, maximum and mean dose, D5, V83, V85 and V95). Finally a best radiotherapy plan for each site of brain was selected. Results : 1) Temporal tumor; NTCPs and DVHs of the normal tissue of all 3D plans were superior to 2D plans and this trend was more definite when total dose was escalated to 72 Gy (NTCPs of normal brain 2D $plans:27\%,\;8\%\rightarrow\;3D\;plans:1\%,\;1\%$). Various dose statistic values did not show any consistent trend. A 3D plan using 3 noncoplanar portals was selected as a model radiotherapy plan. 2) Suprasellar tumor; NTCPs of all 3D plans and 2D plans did not show significant difference because the total dose of this tumor was only 54 Gy. DVHs of normal brain and brainstem were significantly different for different plans. D5, V85, V95 and mean values showed some consistent trend that was compatible with DVH. All 3D plans were superior to 2D plans even when 3 portals (fronto-vertex and 2 lateral fields) were used for 2D plans. A 3D plan using 7 portals was worse than plans using fewer portals. A 3D plan using 5 noncoplanar portals was selected as a model plan. 3) Thalamic tumor; NTCPs of all 3D plans were lower than the 2D plans when the total dose was elevated to 72 Gy. DVHs of normal tissues showed similar results. V83, V85, V95 showed some consistent differences between plans but not between 3D plans. 3D plans using 5 noncoplanar portals were selected as a model plan. 4) Parietal (fronto- and occipito-) tumors; all NTCPs of the normal brain in 3D plans were lower than in 2D plans. DVH also showed the same results. V83, V85, V95 showed consistent trends with NTCP and DVH. 3D plans using 5 portals for frontoparietal tumor and 6 portals for occipitoparietal tumor were selected as model plans. Conclusion : NTCP and DVH showed reasonable differences between plans and were through to be useful for comparing plans. All 3D plans were superior to 2D plans. Best 3D plans were selected for tumors in each site of brain using NTCP, DVH and finally by the planner's decision.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.403-413
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• 1998

Purpose: We investigated reproducibility of the quantification of left ventricular volume and ejection fraction, and grading of myocardial wall motion and systolic thickening when we used gated myocardial SPECT and Cedars quantification software. Materials and Methods: We performed gated myocardial SPECT in 33 consecutive patients twice in the same position after Tc-99m-MIBI SPECT We used 16 frames per cycle for the gating of sequential Tc-99m-MIBI SPECT. After reconstruction, we used Cedars quantitative gated SPECT and calculated ventricular volume and ejection fraction (EF). Wall motion was graded using 5 point score. Wall thickening was graded using 4 point score. Coefficient of variation for re-examination of volume and fraction were calculated. Kappa values (k-value) for assessing reproducibility of wall motion or wall thickening were calculated. Results: Enddiastolic volumes (EDV) ranged from 58 ml to 248 ml (122 ml +/- 42 ml), endsystolic volumes (ESV) from 20 ml to 174 ml (65 ml +/- 39 ml), and EF from 20% to 65% (51% +/- 14%). Geometric mean of standard deviations of 33 patients was 5.0 ml for EDV, 3.9 ml for ESV and 1.9% for EF. Their average differences were not different from zero (p>0.05). k-value for wall motion using 2 consecutive images was 0.76 (confidence interval: 0.71-0.81). k-value was 0.87 (confidence interval: 0.83-0.90) for assessment of wall thickening. Conclusion: We concluded that quantification of functional indices, assessment of wall motion and wall thickening using gated Tc-99m-MIBI SPECT was reproducible and we could use this method for the evaluation of short-acting drug effect.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2007

This study is to calculate the proper angle for the optimal image of PNS Water's view on children, comparing and analyzing the PNS Water's projection angles between children and adults at every age. This study randomly selected 50 patients who visited the Medical Center from January to May in 2005, and examined the incidence path of central ray, taking a PNS Water's and skull trans-Lat. view in Water's filming position while attaching a lead ball mark on the Orbit, EAM, and acanthion of the patients's skull. And then, we calculated the incidence angles(Angle A) of the line connected from OML and the petrous ridge to the inferior margin of maxilla on general(random) patients's skull image, following the incidence path of central ray. Finally, we analyzed two pieces of the graphs at ages, developing out the patients' ideal images at PNS Water's filming position taken by a digital camera, and calculating the angle(Angle B) between OML and IP(Image Plate). The angle between OML and IP is about $43^{\circ} in 4-years-old children, which is higher than $37^{\circ}, as age increases the angle decreases, it goes to $37^{\circ} around 30 years of age. That is similar result to maxillary growth period. We can get better quality of Water's image for children when taking the PNS Water's view if we change the projection angles, considering maxillary growth for patients in every age stage.