• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.135-149
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• 2022

Purpose: To assess clinically significant imaging findings of malignant intramammary lymph nodes (IMLNs) in breast cancer patients and to evaluate their diagnostic performance in predicting malignant IMLN. Materials and Methods: A total of 110 cases with IMLN of BI-RADS category 3 or more, not typical benign IMLN, in MR of breast cancer patients between January 2016 and January 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. After excluding 33 cases, 77 cases were finally included. Among them, 58 and 19 were confirmed as benign and malignant, respectively. Qualitative and quantitative MR imaging features of the IMLN were retrospectively analyzed. Sizes and final assessment categories of IMLN on MRI, mammography, and ultrasound were reviewed. Diagnostic performances of imaging features on MRI, mammography, and ultrasound were then evaluated. Results: For qualitative MR features, shape, margin, and preserved central hilum were significantly different between benign and malignant groups (P < 0.05). For quantitative MR features, long diameter over 6 mm, short diameter over 4 mm, and cortical thickening over 3 mm showed high sensitivities in predicting malignant IMLNs (89.5%, 94.7%, and 100%, respectively). Size exceeding 1 cm showed high specificity and accuracy in predicting malignant IMLN on MR, mammography, and ultrasound (91.4% and 80.5%; 96.6% and 79.25; 98.3% and 80.5%, respectively). Conclusion: Various MR imaging features and size can be helpful for predicting malignant IMLN in breast cancer patients.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.311-317
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• 2000

The puroose of the study was carried out to investigate the change of bacterial growth in vitro according to intensities and exposure time. to basic data far ultrasound and clinical research. The Staphylococcus aureus which are commonly isolated from open wound were incubated in an incubator for 24 hours following expoure 1MHz continuous ultrasound(CUS). Then quantitative bacterial counts were obtained. The results were as following. 1. The groups CUS was appied changed in bacterial growth according to intensities and time respectively. 2. The groups CUS was appied showed the inhibitory effect of bacterial growth. 3. The number of S. aureus significantly reduced to fellowing expoure $3.0w/cm^2$ CUS during 20min.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2777-2783
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to explore the expression of ATAD2 in ovarian tumor tissue as well as its relationship with degree of malignancy. Tumor tissue from 110 cases of ovarian cancer was collected in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki for evaluation of ATAD2 expression iimmunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting. The correlation between the ATAD2 expression and and the prognosis of ovarian cancer was evaluated by Cox regression model. In addition, HO-8910 and OVCAR-3 cells were transfected with two siRNAs targeting ATAD2. Cell viability was evaluated with MTT assay, and cell migration by transwell migration assay. ATAD2 was shown to be highly expressed in 65.5% (72/110) of ovarian cancer cases, both at transcriptional and protein levels. Moreover, highly expression was positively correlated with degree of malignancy. Knock-down of ATAD2 in HO-8910 and OVCAR-3 cells was found to reduce cell migration. In addition, follow-up visits of the patients demonstrated that the 5-year survival rate was lower in patients with high expression of ATAD2. Our study suggested that ovarian tumor tissue may have highly expressed ATAD2, which is associated with tumor stage, omentum-metastasis, ascites and CA-125. Increased ATAD2 may play important roles in tumor proliferation and migration. ATAD2 could serve in particular as a prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.10a
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• pp.307-310
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• 2021

In the recent years, studies using Computer-Aided Diagnostics(CAD) have been actively conducted, such as signal and image processing technology using breast ultrasound images, automatic image optimization technology, and automatic detection and classification of breast masses. As computer diagnostic technology is developed, it is expected that early detection of cancer will proceed accurately and quickly, reducing health insurance and test ice for patients, and eliminating anxiety about biopsy. In this paper, a quantitative analysis of tumors was conducted in ultrasound images using a gray level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM) to experiment with the possibility of use for computer assistance diagnosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1285-1290
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• 2014

The aim was to determine whether ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) promotes dual targeting of HSP72 and HSC70 for therapy of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), to improve the specific and efficient delivery of siRNA, to induce tumor cell specific apoptosis, and to find new therapeutic targets specific of CRPC.VCaP cells were transfected with siRNA oligonucleotides. HSP70, HSP90 and cleaved caspase-3 expression were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Apoptosis and transfection efficiency were assessed by flow cytometry. Cell viability assays were used to evaluate safety. We found HSP72, HSC70 and HSP90 expression to be absent or weak in normal prostate epithelial cells (RWPE-1), but uniformly strong in prostate cancerous cells (VCaP). UTMD combined with dual targeting of HSP72 and HSC70 siRNA improve the efficiency of transfection, cell uptake of siRNA, downregulation of HSP70 and HSP90 expression in VCaP cells at the mRNA and protein level, and induction of extensive tumor-specific apoptosis. Cell counting kit-8 assays showed decreased cellular viability in the HSP72/HSC70-siRNA silenced group. These results suggest that the combination of UTMD with dual targeting HSP70 therapy for PCa may be most efficacious, providng a novel, reliable, non-invasive, safe targeted approach to improve the specific and efficient delivery of siRNA, and achieve maximal effects.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.381-389
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• 2019

The physiological function test is the only patient contact area in the field of clinical laboratory. We need to recruit and encourage the experts due to requiring the expertise and long time for examination. However, there is currently no rule for estimating optimal workforce in the field of physiological function tests. The purpose of this study is to establish the basis of the studies for mid- to long-long term job creation in the field of ultrasound by evaluating the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce. We calculated the quantitative and qualitative workload for the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce using online questionnaire. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A total of 216 respondents were 48 (22.2%) male and 168 (77.8%) female. A total of 157 laboratories were 62 (39.5%) for echocardiography, 91 (58.0%) for the transcranial Doppler (TCD) and 4 (5.7%) for the carotid ultrasound. The mean number of appropriate tests was 10 ± 2 in the echocardiography, 9 ± 2 in TCD and 11 ± 2 in the carotid ultrasound. In addition, the number of laboratories required to recruit employees for appropriate workforce was 19 in echocardiography, 18 in TCD, and 0 in carotid ultrasound. The number of hospital required to recruit workforce were 7 primary hospitals, 22 secondary hospitals, 7 third hospitals. This study can be used as an important data as the first study at present time when the data on the workforce status and work environment of the ultrasonic laboratories is insufficient. Based on the quantitative and qualitative workloads, the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce can support mid- to long-long term job creation in the field of ultrasound.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.244-252
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• 2012

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the correlations between acoustic properties, such as speed of sound and normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation, and bone mineral density in femur with high fracture risk. The speed of sound and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation in 15 bovine femoral trabecular bone samples in vitro were measured by using a through-transmission method with two matched pairs of ultrasonic transducers with center frequencies of 0.5 and 1.0 MHz. The volumetric bone mineral density of the trabecular bone samples was measured by using micro-computed tomography. The bone mineral density exhibited strong correlations with both the speed of sound and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation measured by using the 0.5 and the 1.0 MHz transducers. The highest correlation was found between the bone mineral density and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation measured by using the 0.5 MHz ultrasonic transducers. The results suggest that the acoustic properties measured in the femur in vitro can be used as indices for the prediction of femoral bone mineral density.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1045-1054
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• 2020

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of combining the quantitative parameters of shear wave elastography (SWE) and superb microvascular imaging (SMI) to breast ultrasound (US) to differentiate between benign and malignant breast masses. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 pathologically confirmed breast lesions in 192 patients were retrospectively reviewed using breast US with B-mode imaging, SWE, and SMI. Breast masses were assessed based on the breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) and quantitative parameters using the maximum elasticity (Emax) and ratio (Eratio) in SWE and the vascular index in SMI (SMI_VI). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of B-mode alone versus the combination of B-mode US with SWE or SMI of both parameters in differentiating between benign and malignant breast masses was compared, respectively. Hypothetical performances of selective downgrading of BI-RADS category 4a (set 1) and both upgrading of category 3 and downgrading of category 4a (set 2) were calculated. Results: Emax with a cutoff value of 86.45 kPa had the highest AUC value compared to Eratio of 3.57 or SMI_VI of 3.35%. In set 1, the combination of B-mode with Emax or SMI_VI had a significantly higher AUC value (0.829 and 0.778, respectively) than B-mode alone (0.719) (p < 0.001 and p = 0.047, respectively). B-mode US with the addition of Emax, Eratio, and SMI_VI had the best diagnostic performance of AUC value (0.849). The accuracy and specificity increased significantly from 68.0% to 84.0% (p < 0.001) and from 46.1% to 79.1% (p < 0.001), respectively, and the sensitivity decreased from 97.6% to 90.6% without statistical loss (p = 0.199). Conclusion: Combining all quantitative values of SWE and SMI with B-mode US improved the diagnostic performance in differentiating between benign and malignant breast lesions.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1841-1849
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• 2021

Objective: To prospectively investigate the feasibility of shear wave elastography (SWE) as a new quantitative and objective method for evaluating the stiffness of the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) muscle during passive stretching in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials and Methods: SWE of the GM muscle was performed in 28 patients with PD [13 female and 15 male; mean age ± standard deviation (SD): 63.0 ± 8.5 years] and 12 healthy controls (5 female and 7 male; mean age ± SD: 59.3 ± 6.4 years) during passive ankle rotation. A Young's modulus-ankle angle curve was constructed. The GM slack angle and baseline Young's modulus (E₀) were compared between the markedly symptomatic and mildly symptomatic sides of patients with PD, and healthy controls. Additionally, the correlation between the GM slack angle and the severity of rigidity, and the observer reproducibility of SWE in determining the GM slack angle were evaluated. Results: The GM slack angle was smaller on both the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD than in healthy controls (mean ± SD of -29.13° ± 3.79° and -25.65° ± 3.39°, respectively, vs. -21.22° ± 3.52°; p < 0.001 and p = 0.006, respectively). Additionally, in patients with PD, the GM slack angle on the markedly symptomatic side was smaller than that on the mildly symptomatic side (p = 0.003). The E0 value was lower on both the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD than in healthy controls (mean ± SD of 10.11 ± 2.85 kPa and 10.08 ± 1.88 kPa, respectively, vs. 12.23 ± 1.02 kPa; p = 0.012 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, no significant difference was found between the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD (p = 0.634). A negative linear relationship was observed between the GM slack angle and lower limb rigidity score on the markedly symptomatic side in patients with PD (r = -0.719; p < 0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficients for observer reproducibility of SWE ranged from 0.880 to 0.951. Conclusion: The slack angle determined by SWE may be a useful quantitative and reproducible method for evaluating muscle stiffness in patients with PD.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.43-51
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• 2010

Attenuation coefficients of medical ultrasound not only reflect the pathological information of tissues scanned but also provide the quantitative information to compensate the decay of backscattered signals for other medical ultrasound parameters. Based on the frequency-selective attenuation property of human tissues, attenuation estimation methods in spectral domain have difficulties for real-time implementation due to the complexicity while estimation methods in time domain do not achieve the compensation for the diffraction effect effectively. In this paper, we propose the modified VSA method, which compensates the diffraction with reference phantom in time domain, using adaptive bandpass filters with decreasing center frequencies along depths. The adaptive bandpass filtering technique minimizes the distortion of relative echogenicity of wideband transmit pulses and maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio due to the random scattering, especially at deeper depths. Since the filtering center frequencies change according to the accumulated attenuation, the proposed algorithm improves estimation accuracy and precision comparing to the fixed filtering method. Computer simulation and experimental results using tissue-mimicking phantoms demonstrate that the distortion of relative echogenicity is decreased at deeper depths, and the accuracy of attenuation estimation is improved by 5.1% and the standard deviation is decreased by 46.9% for the entire scan depth.