• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.2E
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• pp.64-72
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• 2010

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by two factors: reduced bone mass and microstructure disruption of bone tissue. These symptoms increase bone fragility and can contribute to eventual fracture. In recent years, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) technologies have played a growing role in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Most of the commercial bone sonometers measure speed of sound and/or broadband ultrasound attenuation at peripheral skeletal sites. However, QUS parameters are purely empirical measures that have not yet been firmly linked to physical parameters, such as bone strength or porosity, and the underlying physics for their variations in cancellous bone is not well understood yet. This paper reviews the QUS technologies for the diagnosis of osteoporosis and also addresses several theoretical models, such as the Biot model, the scattering model, the stratified model, and the modified Biot-Attenborough model, for ultrasonic wave propagation in bone.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.1E
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• pp.1-10
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• 2010

The difference in echogenicity between cancerous and normal tissues is not quite distinguishable in ultrasound B-mode imaging. However, tumor or cancer in breast or prostate tends to be stiffer than the surrounding normal tissue. Thus, imaging the stiffness contrast between the two different tissue types is helpful for quantitative diagnosis, and such a method of imaging the elasticity of human tissue is collectively referred to as ultrasound elasticity imaging. Recently, elasticity imaging has established itself as an effective diagnostic modality in addition to ultrasound B-mode imaging. The purpose of this paper is to present various elasticity imaging methods that have been reported up to now and to describe their principles of operation and characteristics.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2012

As a result of the medium coupling, propagation characteristics of ultrasonic waves guided by a multi-phase medium can be different from those in a homogeneous system. This phenomenon becomes prominent for a medium consisting of phases with considerably distinct material and physical properties (e.g., submerged structures or human bones covered with soft tissues). In this study, the coupling effect arising from both fluid and soft tissues on wave propagation in engineering structures and human bone phantoms, respectively, was explored and calibrated quantitatively, with a purpose of enhancing the precision of ultrasonic-wave-based non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and clinical quantitative ultrasound (QUS). Calibration results were used to rectify conventional NDE during evaluation of corrosion in a submerged aluminium plate, and QUS during prediction of simulated healing status of a mimicked bone fracture. The results demonstrated that with the coupling effect being appropriately taken into account, the precision of NDE and QUS could be improved.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-44
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• 1986

The objective of tissue characterization is to provide quantitative information about the physical state of tissue interrogated by an ultrasound beam. In the computer simulation, it was found that the echoes were composed of the interferences of the ultrasonic waves reflected from both sides of the thin object, and could be separated by the spectral correlation method. Also, the phantom study demonstrates that thickness of the thin acryl layer beyond the resolution of common ultrasonic imaging systems can be measured- using this method.

• The Journal of Information Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2005

Quantitative analysis for distribution of penetrating ultrasound in vivo is very important to determine the treatment region and method. In this paper, we constructed a simplified 2-D femoral region model that consists of skin-fat-muscle-bone layered system, and simulated the pressure distribution in the model in case of applying ultrasound using Finite Element Method(FEM). The ultrasound used in the simulation was assumed to be pulse wave and the pressure distribution was analyzed during only one period of pulse wave. In order to find the penetration depth, amplitude of pressure and sphere that ultrasound reaches in the model, we performed the simulation with varying the applied frequency, transducer size and amplitude of transducer's output. The result showed that applied frequency is inversely proportional to the penetration depth and amplitude of pressure but the amplitude of transducer's output is proportional to the amplitude of pressure in the model. Also, the sphere that ultrasound reaches was widened and the amplitude of pressure became larger as the transducer size became larger. This results were similar to that obtained from the previous model consisting of fat-muscle-bone layered system, but we observed that the pressure of ultrasound is decreased due to the decrements of pressure by the absorption coefficient of skin and the interference that depends on the reflection of ultrasound caused by the difference of acoustic impedance of skin and fat. Finally, we can infer that the model proposed in this study is closer to the realistic model than the previous ones. It shows that the results obtained from this study can be useful in designing the ultrasound treatment instrument or in setting up the treatment plan.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2018

When focusing using an ultrasonic transducer array, a main lobe is formed in the focal region of an ultrasound field, but side lobes also arise around the focal region due to the leakage. Since the side lobes cannot be completely eliminated in the focusing process, they are responsible for subsequent ultrasound image quality degradation. To improve ultrasound image quality, a signal processing strategy to reduce side lobes is definitely in demand. To this end, quantitative determination of main and side lobes is necessary. We propose a theoretically and actually error-free method of exactly discriminating and separately computing the main lobe and side lobe parts in ultrasound image by computer simulation. We refer to images constructed using the main and side lobe signals as the main and side lobe images, respectively. Since the main and side lobe images exactly represent their main and side lobe components, respectively, they can be used to evaluate ultrasound image quality. Defining the average brightness of the main and side lobe images, the conventional to side lobe image ratio, and the main to side lobe image ratio as image quality metrics, we can evaluate image characteristics in speckle images. The proposed method is also applied in assessing the performance of side lobe suppression filtering. We show that the proposed method may greatly aid in the evaluation of medical ultrasonic images using computer simulations, albeit lacking the use of actual experimental data.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.408-416
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• 2001

Objectives : To evaluate the diagnostic value of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) in the prediction of osteoporosis as defined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in postmenopausal women. Methods : Questionnaires and height and weight measurements were used in the investigation of 176 postmenopausal women. QUS measurements were taken on the right calcaneus while bone mineral density (BMD) measurements of the lumbar spine and femoral neck were made with DEXA. The areas under the curves (AUC) of the speed of sound (SOS) for osteoporosis in the lumbar spine and femoral neck were obtained through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and evaluated. A comparison was made, for osteoporosis in the lumbar spine and femoral neck, between the AUCs of the logistic model with clinical risk factors and SOS. Results : Pearson's correlation coefficients of SOS and lumbar spine BMD, and of SOS and femoral neck BMD were 0.26 and 0.37. The AUC for the logistic model in its discrimination for lumbar spine osteoporosis was 0.764, and for SOS 0.605. The AUCs for the logistic model in its discrimination for femoral neck osteoporosis and for SOS were 0.890 and 0.892, respectively. Conclusions : These results suggest that the diagnostic value of QUS as a screening tool for osteoporosis is moderate for the femoral neck, but merely low for the lumbar spine and that the predictability provided by SOS is no better than that by the sole use of clinical risk factors in postmenopausal women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7449-7452
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic (CEUS) features with microvessel density (MVD) in papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs). Materials and Methods: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) was performed in 62 patients (17 men and 45 women) with PTC. Tomtec software was applied to analyze the time intensity curve of CEUS. Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the level of MVD in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Then the relationship between quantitative feature and the level of MVD was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software. Results: The mean peak intensity of PTC tissues was lower than that of peripheral thyroid parenchyma ($61.9{\pm}11.8%$ vs 100%, p<0.05). The MVDs of CD34 and CD31 antibodies staining were $38.0{\pm}6.1$ and $37.9{\pm}5.1$ respectively in 62 PTC samples. A significantly positive correlation was observed between peak intensity and MVD in PTC tissues ($P_{CD34}$<0.01, $r_{CD34}$=0.838, $P_{CD31}$<0.01, $r_{CD31}$=0.837). Conclusions: The peak intensity in CEUS could reflect the MVD in PTC tissues. Therefore, quantification of CEUS seems to be helpful for assessment of MVD in PTC tissues.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.171-176
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• 1998

The objective of this study was to re-evaluate ultrasound attenuation as an indicator of bone properties. Ultrasound attenuation(BUA), were measured in the three orthogonal directions of trabecular bone cubes, Measurements of bone mineral density(BMD) were made using quantitative computed tomography and apparent density by weighing bone specimens and measuring their volume. Ultrasonic modulus was calculated from the standard equation with apparent density and ultrasound velocity. Ultrasound attenuation at a frequency of 0.5 MHz and BUA were correlated with BMD and ultrasonic modulus in the anterior/posterior, medial/lateral, and superior/inferior directions. Analysis of correlations demonstrated that attenuation at 0.5 MHz was superior to BUA in describing both BMD and elastic modulus of trabecular bone. This result may be used to improve current ultrasound diagnostic techniques for assessing bone status.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2010

Purpose : This study is to offer clinical primary data that examines the change of imaging structure and the quantitative evaluation of muscle activity on myofascial trigger points. This study examines neuromuscular physiological characteristic by comparing the differences in physical findings, pressure pain threshold, imaging, and electrophysiological characteristics in latent and active myofascial trigger points muscle and normal muscle through the following experimental procedures. Methods : The participants for the study were thirty-three adults in their twenties. We divided three groups into normal, latent and active myofascial trigger points groups by physical findings. We analyzed the results of measured pressure pain, threshold for pain, ultrasound imaging perform for structure characteristic of muscle, surface EMG according to type of muscle contraction for function of muscle contraction. Results : Significant differences were indicated in pressure pain threshold (p<0.05). Significant differences were discovered in the ultrasound imaging analysis. There were increases in muscle Echogenicity white area index (p<0.001). There were significant differences that decrease in %MVIC (p<0.05), increase in MDF (p<0.05). Conclusion : From these results, active rnyotascial trigger points muscle showed quality deterioration on ultrasound imaging and decreased function of muscle contraction, increased motor unit action potential of II type fiber, and electrophysiologically. Imaging structure and neuromuscular physiological characteristic can be diagnostic and quantitative analytical techniques for myofascial pain syndrome and a primary factor that reflected in physical therapy intervention.