• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.209-218
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• 2008

According to improved radiation therapy technology such as IMRT and proton therapy, the accuracy of patient alignment system is more emphasized and IGRT is dominated research field in radiation oncology. We proposed to study the feasibility of cone-beam CT system using simple x-ray imaging systems for image guided proton therapy at National Cancer Center. 180 projection views ($2,304{\times}3,200$, 14 bit with 127 ${\mu}m$ pixel pitch) for the geometrical calibration phantom and humanoid phantoms (skull, abdomen) were acquired with $2^{\circ}$ step angle using x-ray imaging system of proton therapy gantry room ($360^{\circ}$ for 1 rotation). The geometrical calibration was performed for misalignments between the x-ray source and the flat-panel detector, such as distances and slanted angle using available algorithm. With the geometrically calibrated projection view, Feldkamp cone-beam algorithm using Ram-Lak filter was implemented for CBCT reconstruction images for skull and abdomen phantom. The distance from x-ray source to the gantry isocenter, the distance from the flat panel to the isocenter were calculated as 1,517.5 mm, 591.12 mm and the rotated angle of flat panel detector around x-ray beam axis was considered as $0.25^{\circ}$. It was observed that the blurring artifacts, originated from the rotation of the detector, in the reconstructed toomographs were significantly reduced after the geometrical calibration. The demonstrated CBCT images for the skull and abdomen phantoms are very promising. We performed the geometrical calibration of the large gantry rotation system with simple x-ray imaging devices for CBCT reconstruction. The CBCT system for proton therapy will be used as a main patient alignment system for image guided proton therapy.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.459-467
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• 2009

Purpose: The maximum likelihood-expectation maximization (ML-EM) is the statistical reconstruction algorithm derived from probabilistic model of the emission and detection processes. Although the ML-EM has many advantages in accuracy and utility, the use of the ML-EM is limited due to the computational burden of iterating processing on a CPU (central processing unit). In this study, we developed a parallel computing technique on GPU (graphic processing unit) for ML-EM algorithm. Materials and Methods: Using Geforce 9800 GTX+ graphic card and CUDA (compute unified device architecture) the projection and backprojection in ML-EM algorithm were parallelized by NVIDIA's technology. The time delay on computations for projection, errors between measured and estimated data and backprojection in an iteration were measured. Total time included the latency in data transmission between RAM and GPU memory. Results: The total computation time of the CPU- and GPU-based ML-EM with 32 iterations were 3.83 and 0.26 see, respectively. In this case, the computing speed was improved about 15 times on GPU. When the number of iterations increased into 1024, the CPU- and GPU-based computing took totally 18 min and 8 see, respectively. The improvement was about 135 times and was caused by delay on CPU-based computing after certain iterations. On the other hand, the GPU-based computation provided very small variation on time delay per iteration due to use of shared memory. Conclusion: The GPU-based parallel computation for ML-EM improved significantly the computing speed and stability. The developed GPU-based ML-EM algorithm could be easily modified for some other imaging geometries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2014

In diagnostic radiology, each part is examined through serial radiography in most cases of general radiography. However, the reality is that, as for diagnostic reference level, measured values have been set up only for AP projection of each part and lateral projection. In the clinical setting, cumulative dose is incurred by serial radiography of patients, and this can make comparison of diagnostic reference level and cumulative exposure dose impossible or can lead to underestimation of diagnostic reference level. In this study, measurement of cumulative dose of serial radiography of each part revealed that when converting entrance surface dose to effective dose in case it is included in the exposure field, cumulative dose measured from a maximum of 38.06% to a minimum of 0.23% of individual dose limitation of the public. Also, when converting entrance surface dose of each part that is not included in the exposure field into effective dose, it measured from a maximum of 5% to a minimum of 0.04% of individual dose limitation of the public. Results of this study show entrance surface dose substantially increases in serial radiography of each part. Therefore, it is deemed that hospitals need to establish diagnostic reference level specifically, and subdivision of radiography orders for patients is also required in order to reduce unnecessary inspections. Moreover, the need of accurate exposure field is emphasized in case of inspection of several parts.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.316-323
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• 2015

In this study, we analyzed radiation dose and MTF with setting of Ion chamber and changing kVp so that we are able to suggest acquiring optimized diagnostic images and minimizing patient dose. we assumed right lateral decubitus position among chest decubitus projection and set 7 combination of Ion chamber. By changing kVp(100, 110, 120, 130kVp), we exposed x-ray five times respectively and calculated average value after measuring entrance dose. we input the entrance dose value to PCXMC Monte carlo simulation tool and calculated organ dose and effective dose. Then we did physical image evaluation with MTF for the purpose to compare image quality. As a result, the high kVp, entrance dose is reduced. As change of ion chamber, when selecting second ion chamber, both organ dose and effective dose were the lowest. In contrast, selecting first ion chamber was the highest. MTF is superior to set second Ion chamber and using 120 kVp. Consequently, when taking chest right lateral decubitus using Digital radiography, the optimized combination which have both reducing dose efficiently without declining image quality and aquring good qualified image is set 120 kVp and selecting second Ion chamber.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.415-420
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to know the exposure dose nearby table on the general radiography(skull AP, chest PA, abdomen AP, lumbar lateral, hip joint, knee joint) and to find the reducing it. We measured beside the 45cm and 75cm table center, and 70cm, 80cm, 130cm, 150cm height from the bottom. That were measured highly from the radiography of lumbar lateral, abdomen AP and hip joint as followed $66.21{\mu}Sv$, $34.22{\mu}Sv$, and $32.35{\mu}Sv$ at the 80cm height beside 45cm from the center of table. Measured doses were reduced in order of chest PA, abdomen, hipjoint, skull, knee joint projection. It appears exposure dose of nearby radiographic table was extremely low amount compared with limit of dose(1mSv). If it protected by Pb apron, exposure dose of assisting person will not be exceed a limit of dose. Conclusively, Wearing apron is very important to avoid radiation from the general radiography.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.18-27
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• 2015

Since a Compton camera has high detection sensitivity due to electronic collimation and a good energy resolution, it is a potential imaging system for nuclear medicine. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of a Compton camera for multi-tracer imaging and proposed a rotating Compton camera to satisfy Orlov's condition for 3D imaging. Two software phantoms of 140 and 511 keV radiation sources were used for Monte-Carlo simulation and then the simulation data were reconstructed by listmode ordered subset expectation maximization to evaluate the capability of multi-tracer imaging in a Compton camera. And the Compton camera rotating around the object was proposed and tested with different rotation angle steps for improving the limited coverage of the fixed conventional Compton camera over the field-of-view in terms of histogram of angles in spherical coordinates. The simulation data showed the separate 140 and 511 keV images from simultaneous multi-tracer detection in both 2D and 3D imaging and the number of valid projection lines on the conical surfaces was inversely proportional to the decrease of rotation angle. Considering computation load and proper number of projection lines on the conical surface, the rotation angle of 30 degree was sufficient for 3D imaging of the Compton camera in terms of 26 min of computation time and 5 million of detected event number and the increased detection time can be solved with multiple Compton camera system. The Compton camera proposed in this study can be effective system for multi-tracer imaging and is a potential system for development of various disease diagnosis and therapy approaches.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.329-340
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• 1974

Sulfadiazine, $C_{10}H_{10}N_4O_2S$, forms monoclinic crystals of space group $P21}c$ from a mixture of acetone and ethanol with $a=13.71{\pm}0.04,\;b=5.84{\pm}0.03,\;c=15.11{\pm}0.05{\AA},\;{\beta}=115.0{\pm}0.3^{\circ}$, and four molecules per cell. Three dimensional photographic data were collected with $CuK\alpha$ radiation. The structure was determined using Patterson and Fourier synthesis methods and refined by block diagonal least-squares methods with isotropic thermal parameter for all non-hydrogen atoms. The final R value was 0.15 for the 1517 observed independent reflections. The dihedral angle between the planes through the benzene ring and the pyrimidine ring is $76^{\circ}$. The conformational angle formed by the projection of the S-C(5) bond with that of N(1)-C(1) where the projection is taken along the S-N(1) bond is $77^{\circ}$. The imino nitrogen atom, N(1), and pyrimidine nitrogen atom, N(3), form intermolecular $N-H{\cdots}N$ hydrogen bond between the molecules related by center of symmetry. Amino nitrogen atom, N(4), forms two intermolecular $N-H{\cdots}O$ hydrogen bonds, with O(1) and O(2) atoms of different molecules separated by b. A two dimensional network of hydrogen bonds form infinite molecular sheets parallel to the (100) plane. Adjacent sheets are bound together by van der Waals forces.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.435-442
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• 2022

The heel effect creates a density difference in the X-ray images because the intensity of the anode and cathode side of the X-ray tube is not equal. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the density difference due to the heel effect by rotating the step wedge by 180 degrees and then changing the distance. After fixing the tube voltage and tube current to 72 kVp and 10 mAs, the forward and reverse directions were taken using a step wedge. At this time, the distance (80 cm ~ 130 cm) was taken at 10 cm intervals, and the density value was measured by setting the region of interest for each step of the step wedge through the M6 program. First, the difference in intensity between the anode and the cathode was confirmed through the radiation exposure test. In addition, when the distance (from 80 cm to 130 cm) was changed, the difference in density between the cathode and the anode decreased as the projection distance increased. As a result, images of uniform density can be obtained as the projection distance increases.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.234-240
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• 2007

Purpose: In this study we propose a block-iterative method for reconstructing Compton scattered data. This study shows that the well-known expectation maximization (EM) approach along with its accelerated version based on the ordered subsets principle can be applied to the problem of image reconstruction for Compton camera. This study also compares several methods of constructing subsets for optimal performance of our algorithms. Materials and Methods: Three reconstruction algorithms were implemented; simple backprojection (SBP), EM, and ordered subset EM (OSEM). For OSEM, the projection data were grouped into subsets in a predefined order. Three different schemes for choosing nonoverlapping subsets were considered; scatter angle-based subsets, detector position-based subsets, and both scatter angle- and detector position-based subsets. EM and OSEM with 16 subsets were performed with 64 and 4 iterations, respectively. The performance of each algorithm was evaluated in terms of computation time and normalized mean-squared error. Results: Both EM and OSEM clearly outperformed SBP in all aspects of accuracy. The OSEM with 16 subsets and 4 iterations, which is equivalent to the standard EM with 64 iterations, was approximately 14 times faster in computation time than the standard EM. In OSEM, all of the three schemes for choosing subsets yielded similar results in computation time as well as normalized mean-squared error. Conclusion: Our results show that the OSEM algorithm, which have proven useful in emission tomography, can also be applied to the problem of image reconstruction for Compton camera. With properly chosen subset construction methods and moderate numbers of subsets, our OSEM algorithm significantly improves the computational efficiency while keeping the original quality of the standard EM reconstruction. The OSEM algorithm with scatter angle- and detector position-based subsets is most available.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.227-245
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• 1998

A most appropriate model of 3-D conformal radiotherapy has been induced by clinical evaluation and animal study, and therapeutic gains were evaluated by numerical equation of tumor control probability(TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). The radiation dose to the tumor and the adjacent normal organs was accurately evaluated and compared using the dose volume histogram(DVH). The TCP and NTCP was derived from the distribution of given dosage and irradiated volume, and these numbers were used as the biological index for the assessment of the treatment effects. Ten patients with liver disease have been evaluated and 3 dogs were sacrificed for this study. Based on the 3-D images of the tumor and adjacent organs, the optimum radiation dose and the projection direction which could maximize the radiation effect while minimizing the effects to the adjacent organs could be decided. 3). The most effective collimation for the normal adjacent organs was made through the beams eye view with the use of multileaf collimator. When the dose was increased from 50Gy to 70Gy, the TCP for the conventional 2-port radiation and the 5-port multidimensional therapy was 0.982 and 0.995 respectively, while the NTCP was 0.725 and 0.142 respectively, suggesting that the 3-D conformal radiotherapy might be the appropriate therapy to apply sufficient radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing the damages to the normal areas of the liver. Positive correlation was observed between the NTCP and the actual complication of the normal liver in the animal study. The present study suggest that the use of 3-D conformal radiotherapy and the application of the mathematical models of TCP and NTCP may provide the improvements in the treatment of hepatoma with enhanced results.