• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.353-355
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• 1997

A single molecule detection system, which consists of confocal fluorescence microscope and single photon counter, has been used to observe the dye concentration dependence of photon counting rate. With increasing concentration, a saturation effect of counting is observed and demonstrated on the basis of the dead time of photon detector. The equations presented here show the relations between the counting rate and some parameters such as probe volume, quantum efficiency of detector, and fluorescence photon number entered onto detector. The signal-to-noise ratio is also discussed briefly.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.854-865
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• 2022

Photon-counting detector (PCD) CT is a new CT technology utilizing a direct conversion X-ray detector, where incident X-ray photon energies are directly recorded as electronical signals. The design of the photon-counting detector itself facilitates improvements in spatial resolution (via smaller detector pixel design) and iodine signal (via count weighting) while still permitting multi-energy imaging. PCD-CT can eliminate electronic noise and reduce artifacts due to the use of energy thresholds. Improved dose efficiency is important for low dose CT and pediatric imaging. The ultra-high spatial resolution of PCD-CT design permits lower dose scanning for all body regions and is particularly helpful in identifying important imaging findings in thoracic and musculoskeletal CT. Improved iodine signal may be helpful for low contrast tasks in abdominal imaging. Virtual monoenergetic images and material classification will assist with numerous diagnostic tasks in abdominal, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular imaging. Dual-source PCD-CT permits multi-energy CT images of the heart and coronary arteries at high temporal resolution. In this special review article, we review the clinical benefits of this technology across a wide variety of radiological subspecialties.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.662-672
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• 2024

Since the emergence of the first photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) system in late 2021, its advantages and a wide range of applications in all fields of radiology have been demonstrated. Compared to standard energy-integrating detector-CT, PCCT allows for superior geometric dose efficiency in every examination. While this aspect by itself is groundbreaking, the advantages do not stop there. PCCT facilitates an unprecedented combination of ultra-high-resolution imaging without dose penalty or field-of-view restrictions, detector-based elimination of electronic noise, and ubiquitous multi-energy spectral information. Considering the high demands of orthopedic imaging for the visualization of minuscule details while simultaneously covering large portions of skeletal and soft tissue anatomy, no subspecialty may benefit more from this novel detector technology than musculoskeletal radiology. Deeply rooted in experimental and clinical research, this review article aims to provide an introduction to the cosmos of PCCT, explain its technical basics, and highlight the most promising applications for patient care, while also mentioning current limitations that need to be overcome.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.929-934
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• 2018

Studies for counting and detecting X-rays for the improvement of image quality and material analysis are active. In this work, the detector for X-ray photon counting was designed using Multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) array and the detector characteristics were evaluated through simulation. Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) was used to obtain the position where the X-ray and the scintillation interacted, and this position was used as the light generation position of DETECT2000. 0.5 mm and 1 mm thick Gadolinium Aluminium Gallium Garnet (GAGG) scintillators were used and the light generated through a $4{\times}4$ array of MPPCs was acquired. The spatial resolution of the designed detector was evaluated by reconstructed image using the light signal acquired for each channel. We obtained images of more than 2 lp/mm in both 0.5 mm and 1 mm thick GAGG scintillation. When this detector is used in a X-ray system, a low-cost system capable of photon counting can be made.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.776-780
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• 2017

To avoid imaging artifacts and interpretation mistakes, an improvement of the uniformity in gamma camera systems is a very important point. We can expect excellent uniformity using cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) photon counting detector (PCD) because of the direct conversion of the gamma rays energy into electrons. In addition, the uniformity performance such as integral uniformity (IU), differential uniformity (DU), scatter fraction (SF), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) varies according to the energy window setting. In this study, we compared a PCD and conventional scintillation detector with respect to the energy windows (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) using a $^{99m}Tc$ gamma source with a Geant4 Application for Tomography Emission simulation tool. The gamma camera systems used in this work are a CZT PCD and NaI(Tl) conventional scintillation detector with a 1-mm thickness. According to the results, although the IU and DU results were improved with the energy window, the SF and CNR results deteriorated with the energy window. In particular, the uniformity for the PCD was higher than that of the conventional scintillation detector in all cases. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the uniformity of the CZT PCD was higher than that of the conventional scintillation detector.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.165-166
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• 2009

A hologram was recorded with two-dimensional scanning of an optical fiber connected to a single-photon counting detector under ultra-weak illumination. The object image was clearly reconstructed in a computer from the hologram. The dependence of hologram quality on the illumination light intensity was estimated.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.947-948
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• 2023

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3380-3389
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• 2022

We evaluated the performance of an improved hybrid median filter (IHMF) applied to X-ray computed tomography (CT) images obtained using a high-resolution photon-counting cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector. To study how the proposed approach improves the image quality, we measured the noise levels and the overall CT-image quality. We established a CZT imaging system with a detector length of 5.12 cm and thickness of 0.3 cm and acquired phantom images. To evaluate the efficacy of the proposed filter, we first modeled two conventional median filters. Subsequently, we were able to achieve a normalized noise power spectrum result of ~10^-8 mm², and furthermore, the proposed method improved the contrast-to-noise ratio by a factor of ~1.51 and the coefficient of variation by 1.55 relative to the counterpart values of the no-filter image. In addition, the IHMF exhibited the best performance among the three filters considered as regards the peak signal-to-noise ratio and no-reference-based image-quality evaluation parameters. Thus, our results demonstrate that the IHMF approach provides a superior image performance over conventional median filtering methods when applied to actual CZT X-ray CT images.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2057-2062
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• 2024

Among photon counting detector (PCD)-based technologies, the K-edge subtraction (KES) method has a very high material decomposition efficiency. Yet, since the increase in noise in the X-ray image to which the KES method is applied is inevitable, research on image quality improvement is essential. Here, we modeled a block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D) algorithm and applied it to PCD-based X-ray images with the improved KES (IKES) method. For PCD modeling, Monte Carlo simulation was used, and a phantom composed of iodine substances with different concentrations was designed. The IKES method was modeled by adding a log term to KES, and the X-ray image used for subtraction was obtained by applying the 3.0 keV range based on the K-edge region of iodine. As a result, the IKES image using the BM3D algorithm showed the lowest normalized noise power spectrum value. In addition, we confirmed that the contrast-to-noise ratio and no-reference-based evaluation results when the BM3D algorithm was applied to the IKES image were improved by 29.36 % and 20.56 %, respectively, compared to the noisy image. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the IKES imaging technique using a PCD-based detector and the BM3D algorithm fusion technique were very efficient for X-ray imaging.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.21-33
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• 2020

Single photon detector technologies have emerged as powerful tools in optical quantum information applications such as quantum communication, quantum information, and integrated quantum photonics. Owing to significant attempts in the previous decade at improving photon-counting detectors, several single photon detectors with high efficiency and low noise have been realized within the optical wavelength regime. In this paper, we provide an overview of current studies on single photon detectors operating at wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared. In addition, we discuss applications of single photon detector technologies in quantum communication and integrated quantum photonics.