• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.335-342
• /
• 2021

Studies on the side effects of contrast agents are being discussed based on various cases, but studies analyzing the chemical structure of the underlying contrast agents are difficult to understand as the manufacturers have not disclosed them. Therefore, in this study, the chemical structure of the contrast medium was analyzed using ¹H-NMR spectrometer for Omnipaque contrast medium prepared from Iohexol, which is a nonionic iodide contrast medium, Xenetix contrast medium from Iobitridol, and Iomeron contrast medium from Iomeprol. As a result, it was found that the Omnipaque contrast medium of Iohexol had 6 carboxyl groups, 3 carbonyl groups, 4 amine groups, 1 methyl group, and 2 cyano groups. It was found that the Xenetix contrast medium of the iobitridol formulation had 6 carboxyl groups, 3 carbonyl groups, 2 amine groups, and 4 cyano groups. It was found that the Iomeron contrast agent of the Iomeprol formulation had 5 carboxyl groups, 3 carbonyl groups, 4 amine groups, 1 methyl group, and 2 cyano groups. As shown in this study, the chemical structure of the non-ionic monomer contrast agent increases its affinity with water by binding a number of hydroxyl groups (OH) to the carboxyl group. It is necessary to accurately identify each of these factors and analyze the physical and chemical changes of the contrast medium according to various environmental factors.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.14 no.11
• /
• pp.1365-1372
• /
• 2011

This paper proposes a cognitive contrast enhancement algorithm based on the non-linear masking to advance low cognitive contrast in dark regions of images. In order to improve brightness in dark regions of an image, we propose a new contrast enhancement algorithm based on the non-linear masking using regional adaptive parameters of an image. For performance evaluation of the proposed method, chromaticity and saturation comparison as a quantitative assessment and z-score comparison as a qualitative assessment were executed between test images and their simulated images by SSR, MSR, a conventional non-linear masking and the proposed method, respectively. As a result, the proposed method showed low chromaticity and saturation difference and improved cognitive contrast for the three methods.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.2521-2526
• /
• 2015

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate computed tomography (CT) virtual non-contrast (VNC) spectral imaging for gastric carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two patients with histologically proven gastric carcinomas underwent gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) including non-contrast and contrast-enhanced hepatic arterial, portal venous, and equilibrium phase acquisitions prior to surgery. VNC arterial phase (VNCa), VNC venous phase (VNCv), and VNC equilibrium phase (VNCe) images were obtained by subtracting iodine from iodine/water images. Images were analyzed with respect to image quality, gastric carcinoma-intragastric water contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), gastric carcinoma-perigastric fat CNR, serosal invasion, and enlarged lymph nodes around the lesions. Results: Carcinoma-water CNR values were significantly higher in VNCa, VNCv, and VNCe images than in normal CT images (2.72, 2.60, 2.61, respectively, vs 2.35, $p{\leq}0.008$). Carcinoma-perigastric fat CNR values were significantly lower in VNCa, VNCv, and VNCe images than in normal CT images (7.63, 7.49, 7.32, respectively, vs 8.48, p< 0.001). There were no significant differences of carcinoma-water CNR and carcinoma-perigastric fat CNR among VNCa, VNCv, and VNCe images. There was no difference in the determination of invasion or enlarged lymph nodes between normal CT and VNCa images. Conclusions: VNC arterial phase images may be a surrogate for conventional non-contrast CT images in gastric carcinoma evaluation.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.93-102
• /
• 2005

Purpose: To develop an advanced non-linear curve fitting (NLCF) algorithm for dynamic susceptibility contrast study of brain. Materials and Methods: The first pass effects give rise to spuriously high estimates of $K^{trans}$ in voxels with large vascular components. An explicit threshold value has been used to reject voxels. Results: By using this non-linear curve fitting algorithm, the blood perfusion and the volume estimation were accurately evaluated in T2*-weighted dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MR images. From the recalculated each parameters, perfusion weighted image were outlined by using modified non-linear curve fitting algorithm. This results were improved estimation of T2*-weighted dynamic series. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated an improvement of an estimation of kinetic parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) T2*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data, using contrast agents. The advanced kinetic models include the relation of volume transfer constant $K^{trans}\;(min^{-1})$ and the volume of extravascular extracellular space (EES) per unit volume of tissue $\nu_e$.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.21-33
• /
• 2007

The study investigates the effects of luminance contrast, which is the contrast between text color and background color, on readability in VDT environments. Our research goals are to prove that the relationship between luminance contrast and readability is not linear and to explore the best luminance contrast level for optimal readability. We conducted two pretests before the main experiment to determine the operational readability and luminance contrast levels. We also conducted a controlled main experiment, in which luminance contrast, reading amount and screen size were tested in terms of its relation with readability. The results of the main experiment indicate that the readability has a non-linear relation with luminance contrast, and the optimal readability is obtained when the contrast is equal to 0.951. Furthermore, the non-linear function and optional point stay constant regardless of screen size and reading amount. The paper ends with implications of the results that maximal contrast does not always mean the optimal readability.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.24 no.10
• /
• pp.996-1005
• /
• 2023

Objective: To compare the incidence of aspiration pneumonia, nausea, and vomiting after intravascular administration of nonionic iodinated contrast media (ICM) between patients who fasted before contrast injection and those who did not. Materials and Methods: Ovid-MEDLINE and Embase databases were searched from their inception dates until September 2022 to identify original articles that met the following criteria: 1) randomized controlled trials or observational studies, 2) separate reports of the incidence of aspiration pneumonia, nausea, and vomiting after intravascular injection of non-ionic ICM, and 3) inclusion of patients undergoing radiological examinations without fasting. A bivariate beta-binomial model was used to compare the risk difference in adverse events between fasting and non-fasting groups. The I² statistic was used to assess heterogeneity across the studies. Results: Ten studies, encompassing 308013 patients (non-fasting, 158442), were included in this meta-analysis. No cases of aspiration pneumonia were reported. The pooled incidence of nausea was 4.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4%, 7.8%) in the fasting group and 4.6% (95% CI: 1.1%, 8.1%) in the non-fasting group. The pooled incidence of vomiting was 2.1% (95% CI: 0.0%, 4.2%) in the fasting group and 2.5% (95% CI: 0.7%, 4.2%) in the non-fasting group. The risk difference (incidence in the non-fasting group-incidence in the fasting group) in the incidence of nausea and vomiting was 0.0% (95% CI: -4.7%, 4.7%) and 0.4% (95% CI: -2.3%, 3.1%), respectively. Heterogeneity between the studies was low (I² = 0%-13.5%). Conclusion: Lack of fasting before intravascular administration of non-ionic ICM for radiological examinations did not increase the risk of emetic complications significantly. This finding suggests that hospitals can relax fasting policies without compromising patient safety.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2019

In this paper, we propose a application of conditional generative adversarial network (cGAN) for generation of contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) image. Two types of CT data which were the enhanced and non-enhanced were used and applied by the histogram equalization for adjusting image intensities. In order to validate the generation of contrast enhanced CT data, the structural similarity index measurement (SSIM) was performed. Prepared generated contrast CT data were analyzed the statistical analysis using paired sample t-test. In order to apply the optimized algorithm for the lymph node cancer, they were calculated by short to long axis ratio (S/L) method. In the case of the model trained with CT data and their histogram equalized SSIM were $0.905{\pm}0.048$ and $0.908{\pm}0.047$. The tumor S/L of generated contrast enhanced CT data were validated similar to the ground truth when they were compared to scanned contrast enhanced CT data. It is expected that advantages of Generated contrast enhanced CT data based on deep learning are a cost-effective and less radiation exposure as well as further anatomical information with non-enhanced CT data.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.209-217
• /
• 2021

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) plays an important role in accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment planning for patients with arterial disease. Contrast-enhanced (CE) MRA is fast and robust, offering hemodynamic information of arterial flow, but involves the risk of a side effect called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Various non-contrast-enhanced (NCE) MRA techniques have been developed by utilizing the fact that arterial blood is moving fast compared to background tissues. NCE MRA is completely free of any safety issues, but has different drawbacks for various approaches. This review article describes basic principles of CE and NCE MRA techniques with a focus on how to generate angiographic image contrast from a pulse sequence perspective. Advantages, pitfalls, and key applications are also discussed for each MRA method.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.797-809
• /
• 1998

The purposes of this study were to develop the computer program for the contrast and geometric correction in digital subtration radiography with the IDL (Interactive Data Language) and compare the results with this program for the correction of the non-standardized radiographs to those of standardized radiographs and those with "Emago" software, the commercial program for the correction. The procedures were written for the contrast correction and subtraction with the geometric correction, using IDL. 32 pairs of periapical radiographs of premolar and molar portion of two dry human mandibles were taken at two different occasions with XCP film holder(nonstandardized films) and another 32 pairs with customized XCP film holder(standardized films). Subtraction of standardized film pairs was performed. Subtraction after the contrast and geometric correction of non-standardized films was performed using the newly developed program and Emago software. Standard deviations of grey levels of the subtracted images by the newly developed program were compared with those of the standardized group and Emago-corrected group. Standard deviations of grey levels of new program-corrected group were much smaller than those of the Emago-corrected group (p<0.001) and slightly larger than those of standardized group (p<0.05). However, the difference was very minute. This study indicates that the newly developed program written with IDL may substitute the mechanical standardization for digital subtraction radiography.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
• /
• v.53 no.10
• /
• pp.77-83
• /
• 2016

This paper presents an adaptive retinex algorithm using skewness for contrast enhancement of color images. In order to estimate the degree of low contrast of an image, skewness of luminance of an observed image is used to define a parameter, and a non-linear function is proposed to compensate the reflectance using the parameter and estimated reflectance. In addition, determination of gain and offset of the non-linear function is addressed using statistics of the estimated reflectance. The relation between an observed luminance and the compensated luminance is used to compensate color components with the reduction of computational cost. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has the capability to effectively improve the contrast without color distortion.