• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2017

Purpose 3D 프린팅 기술은 3D 스캔이나 모델링을 통하여 적측가공 방식으로 제작하는 기공기술로서 금형 없이 직접 생산이 가능하고 빠른 시간 내에 제작이 가능하여 최근 다양한 산업분야에서 본격적으로 적용되고 있다. 3D 프린팅 기술은 의료분야에 있어, 영상의학 및 방사선 치료분야에서 다양하게 활용되고 있지만 핵의학 분야에서는 관련 연구가 미비한 실정이다. 그러므로 본 연구는 기존에 적용되고 있는 핵의학분야 팬텀과 3D 프린팅 기술로 제작된 텀의 특성을 비교하고 적용 가능성을 평가하는데 목적을 두었다. Materials and Methods 방사선 투과도 변화측정 국제기준 팬텀인 알루미늄(Aluminum) 계단 쐐기(step wedge)를 기준($140mm{\times}62mm{\times}35mm$)으로 PMMA(Poly Methyl Meta Acrylate)와 ABS(Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)재질로 각각 동일한 크기의 팬텀을 제작하였다. PMMA 팬텀은 핵의학 분야에서 주로 적용되는 팬텀의 성분과 동일한 소재로 제작하였고, ABS 팬텀 제작은 3D 프린팅 기술의 액체 기반형의 SLA(Stereo Lithography Apparatus)기법을 사용하여 제작하였다. 본 연구는 SPECT/CT장비 BrightView XCT(Philips Health Care, Cleveland, USA)를 이용하였다. 영상 획득은 Rectangular Flood phantom(Biodex, New York, USA) $^{99m}TcO_4$ 3, 6 mCi와 $^{57}Co$ lood phantom(adqual, New Hampshire, USA) $^{57}Co$ 20 mCi를 이용하여 Aluminum, PMMA, ABS 팬텀에 대해 60 min 리스트모드(List mode)로 획득하였다. 획득한 영상의 분석을 위해 관심영역(ROI)을 설정하여 각 팬텀의 단계별로 평가하였다. Results 방사선원의 종류 및 방사선량에 따라 ABS 팬텀의 계수치는 PMMA 팬텀의 계수치와 유사한 값을 나타내며, 두께의 증가에 따라 선형적으로 감소하였다. Aluminum, PMMA, ABS 팬텀의 선감약계수를 비교했을 때, Aluminum 팬텀의 선감약계수는 나머지 두 팬텀보다 수치가 높았고, PMMA, ABS 팬텀에서는 근사치의 선감약계수가 나타났다. Conclusion 3D 프린팅 기술로 제작된 ABS 팬텀을 기준으로 PMMA 팬텀은 두께가 증가함에 따른 계수치의 변화가 유사하게 선형적으로 감소하였고, 선감약계수도 근사치로 나타내었다. ABS 팬텀의 핵의학적 적용 가능성을 확인할 수 있었으며, 추후 연구를 통해 세부적인 교정치(correction value)를 적용한다면 활발한 적용이 가능하리라 사료된다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.297-311
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• 1996

ANSI decided PMMA slab phantom as a calibration phantom and introduced a conversion coefficient calculation method for it. For photon, the conversion coefficient can be obtained by using backscatter factor and conversion coefficient of the ICRU tissue cube and backscatter factor of the PMMA slab. For neutron, however, the ANSI has not introduced any conversion coefficient calculation method for the PMMA slab. In this work, the ANSI method for the photon conversion coefficient calculation was applied to the neutron conversion coefficient calculation of the PMMA slab. Quality weighted tissue kerma of neutron was applied to calculate the backscatter factors on the ICRU cube and the PMMA slab. The dose conversion coefficient of the ICRU cube was also calculated by using MCNP code. Then, the dose conversion coefficient of the PMMA slab was calculated from two backscatter factors and the dose conversion coefficient of the ICRU cube. The discrepancies of the dose conversion coefficients of the PMMA slab and the ICRU cube were less than 10% except 1eV(20%), 1keV(17%), and 4 MeV(16%).

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate CTDI (computed tomography dose index at center) for various phantom shapes, sizes, and compositions by using GATE (geant4 application for tomographic emission) simulations. GATE simulations were performed for various phantom shapes (cylinder, elliptical, and hexagonal prism PMMA phantoms) and phantom compositions (water, PMMA, polyethylene, polyoxymethylene) with various diameters (1-50 cm) at various kVp and mAs levels. The $CTDI_{100center}$ values of cylinder, elliptical, and hexagonal prism phantom at 120 kVp, 200 mAs resulted in 11.1, 13.4, and 12.2 mGy, respectively. The volume is the same, but $CTDI_{100center}$ values are different depending on the type of phantom. The water, PMMA, and polyoxymethylene phantom $CTDI_{100center}$ values were relatively low as the material density increased. However, in the case of Polyethylene, the $CTDI_{100center}$ value was higher than that of PMMA at diameters exceeding 15 cm ($CTDI_{100center}$ : 35.0 mGy). And a diameter greater than 30 cm ($CTDI_{100center}$ : 17.7 mGy) showed more $CTDI_{100center}$ than Water. We have used limited phantoms to evaluate CT doses. In this study, $CTDI_{100center}$ values were estimated and simulated by GATE simulation according to the material and shape of the phantom. CT dosimetry can be estimated more accurately by using various materials and phantom shapes close to human body.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.383-389
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• 2011

This study offered a new method to calculate absorbed dose of actual patients through Monte Carlo Simulation by using the linkage of Geant4 and DICOM, and, the experimental value of absorbed dose at the center and Geant 4 simulation result according to the depth of PMMA mock phantom were compared by using MOSEF in order to verify Geant4 calculation code. In the area where there was no air space between the irregular gap due to incomplete compression of PMMA slab, the differences were $0.46{\pm}4.69$ percent and $-0.75{\pm}5.19$percent in $15{\times}15cm^2$ and $20{\times}20cm^2$ respectively. Excluding the error due to incomplete compression of PMMA mock phantom, the calculation values of the Monte Carlo simulation by linkage of Geant4 and DICOM was the same.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2018

To evaluate the effect of patient size on effective dose and image quality for Digital Chest Tomosynthesis(DTS) using additional 0.3 mm copper filtration. Eighty artificial nodules were placed in the thorax phantom("Lungman," Kyoto Kagaku, Japan), and Digital Chest Tomosynthesis(DTS) images of the phantom were acquired both with and without added 0.3 mm Cu filtration. To simulate patients of three sizes: small, average size and oversize, one or two 20-mm-thick layer of PMMA(polymethyl methacrylatek) blocks were placed on the phantom. The Effective dose was calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. Two evaluations of image quality methods have been employed. Three readers counted the number of nodules detected in the lung, and the measured contrast-to-noise ratios(CNRs) were used. Data were analyzed statistically. The ED reduced $26{\mu}Sv$ in a phantom, $33{\mu}Sv$ in one 20-mm-thick layer of PMMA block placed on the phantom, and $48{\mu}Sv$ in two 20-mm-thick layer of PMMA blocks placed on the phantom. The Effective dose(ED) differences between DTS with and without filtration were significant(p<0.05). In particular, when we used two 20-mm-thick layer of PMMA blocks placed on the phantom, the ED was significantly reduced by 36% compared with those without additional filtration. Nodule detection sensitivities were not different between with and without added filtration. Differences of CNRs were statistically insignificant(p>0.05). Use of additional filtration allows a considerable dose reduction during Digital Chest Tomosynthesis(DTS) without loss of image quality. In particular, additional filtration showed outstanding result for effective dose reduction on two 20-mm-thick layer of PMMA blocks placed on the phantom. It applies to overweight patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.453-458
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• 2017

Computed Tomography (CT) provides information on the Diagnostic Reference Level Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) and Dose Length Product (DLP) for accurate diagnosis of patients. However, it does not provide a dose change according to the table height for the diagnostic reference level provided by the CT equipment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the image and dose according to the table height change using phantom (PMMA: Polymethyl Methacrylate) in order to find the optimal image and the minimum dose during computed tomography examination. When examining using a 32 cm PMMA phantom with the same thickness as the abdomen of an adult, there was little change in dose with table height. However, the noise evaluation of the image caused a high fluctuation of noise depending on the table height. and in the case of the 16 cm PMMA phantom, the change of the noise was small, but the dose change was about 30%. In conclusion, the location of the patient and the center of the detector are important during computed tomography (CT) examinations. In addition, table height setting is considered to be important for examinations with optimized image and minimum dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.773-778
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• 2019

Images using X-rays are essential to diagnosis, but noise is inevitable in the image. To compensate for this, a total variation (TV) algorithm was presented to reduce the patient's exposure dose while increasing the quality of the images. The purpose of this study is to verify the effect on the image quality in radiographic imaging according to the thickness of the additional filtration plate through simulation, and to evaluate the usefulness of the TV algorithm. By using the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emissions (GATE) simulation image, the actual size, shape and material of the Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) phantom were identical, the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and coefficient of variation (COV) were compared. The results showed that the CNR value was the highest and the COV the lowest when applying the TV algorithm. In addition, we can acquire superior CNR and COV results with 0 mm Al in all algorithm cases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.395-403
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• 2022

Flat-panel detector (FPD) used in digital radiographic imaging systems was used to perform a quantitative power spectrum evaluation as a result of the thickness change of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), a tissue equivalent. As the PMMA thickness increases with the resolution-chart phantom image, the effect of the scattering line increases, indicating that the modulation characteristics decrease, and the image is bright. The results show that the noise of the image increases, and noise-power spectral images are obtained by Fourier transform to confirm by spatial frequency. Thus, it can be verified that the PMMA thickness and noise are proportional through the result of evaluating the change of resolution characteristics and representing the 2D noise-power spectrum as one-dimensional values by evaluating the change of scattering line with MTF as the PMMA thickness increases in the image.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2021

3D printing technology is an additive manufacturing technology produced through 3D scanning or modeling method. This technology can be produced in a short time without mold, which has recently been applied in earnest in various fields. In the medical field, 3D printing technology is used in various fields of radiology and radiation therapy, but related research is insufficient in the field of nuclear medicine. In this study, we compare the characteristics of traditional nuclear medicine phantom with 3D printing technology and evaluate its applicability in clinical trials. We manufactured the same size phantom of poly methyl meta acrylate(PMMA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS) based on the aluminum step wedge. We used BrightView XCT(Philips Health Care, Cleveland, USA) SPECT/CT. We acquired 60 min list mode for Aluminum, PMMA and ABS phantoms using Rectangular Flood Phantom (Biodex, New York, USA) ^99mTcO₄ 3 mCi(111 MBq), 6 mCi (222MBq) and ⁵⁷Co Flood phantom(adq, New Hampshire, USA). For the analysis of acquired images, the region of interest(ROI) were drawn and evaluated step by step for each phantom. Depending on the type of radioisotope and radiation dose, the counts of the ABS phantom was similar to that of the PMMA phantom. And as the step thickness increased, the counts decreased linearly. When comparing the linear attenuation coefficient of Aluminum, PMMA and ABS phantom, the linear attenuation coefficient of the aluminium phantom was higher than that of the others, and the PMMA and ABS phantom had similar the linear attenuation coefficient. Based on ABS phantom manufactured by 3D printing technology, as the thickness of the PMMA phantom increased, the counts and linear attenuation coefficient decreased linearly. It has been confirmed that ABS phantom is applicable in the clinical field of nuclear medicine. If the calibration factor is applied through further research, it is believed that practical application will be possible.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2008

In this study, we have fabricated a one-dimensional fiber-optic dosimeter for electron beam therapy dosimetry. Each fiber-optic dosimeter has an organic scintillator with a plastic optical fiber and it is embedded and arrayed in the plastic phantom to measure one-dimensional high energy electron beam profile of clinical linear accelerator. The scintillating lights generated from each sensor probe are guided by plastic optical fibers to the multi-channel photodiode amplifier system. We have measured one-dimensional electron beam profiles in a PMMA phantom according to different field sizes and energies of electron beam. Also, the isodose and three-dimensional percent depth dose curves in a PMMA phantom are obtained using a one-dimensional fiber-optic dosimeter with different electron beam energies.