• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.32-44
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• 2002

The role of radiology department has been greatly increased in the past few years as the technology in the medical imaging devices improved and the introduction of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) to the conventional film-based diagnostic structure is a truly remarkable factor to the medical history. In addition, the value of using digital information in medical imaging is highly expected to grow as the technology over the computer and the network improves. However, the current medical practice, using PACS is somewhat limited compared to the film-based conventional one due to a poor image quality. The image quality is the most important and inevitable factor in the PACS environment and it is one of the most necessary steps to more wide practice of digital imaging. The existing image quality control tools are limited in controlling images produced from the medical modalities, because they cannot display the real image changing status. Thus, the image quality is distorted and the ability to diagnosis becomes hindered compared to the one of the film-based practice. In addition, the workflow of the radiologist greatly increases; as every doctor has to perform his or her own image quality control every time they view images produced from the medical modalities. To resolve these kinds of problems and enhance current medical practice under the PACS environment, we have developed a program to display a better image quality by using the ROI optical density of the existing gray level values. When the LUT is used properly, small detailed regions, which cannot be seen by using the existing image quality controls are easily displayed and thus, greatly improves digital medical practice. The purpose of this study is to provide an easier medical practice to physicians, by applying the technology of converting the H-D curves of the analog film screen to the digital imaging technology and to preset image quality control values to each exposed body part, modality and group of physicians for a better and easier medical practice. We have asked to 5 well known professional physicians to compare image quality of the same set of exam by using the two different methods: existing image quality control and the LUT technology. As the result, the LUT technology was enormously favored over the existing image quality control method. All the physicians have pointed out the far more superiority of the LUT over the existing image quality control method and highly praised its ability to display small detailed regions, which cannot be displayed by existing image quality control tools. Two physicians expressed the necessity of presetting the LUT values for each exposed body part. Overall, the LUT technology yielded a great interest among the physicians and highly praised for its ability to overcome currently embedded problems of PACS. We strongly believe that the LUT technology can enhance the current medical practice and open a new beginning in the future medical imaging.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.25-30
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• 1992

With transmitted dose through chest which has the problem of wide variations in absorption, simple film/screen combination method makes it diffucult to image lung field, mediastinum and retrocardiac areas. In order to overcome this, it is very common to use the high kilovoltage technique in diminishing the differences between high and low contrast. We have been adopting this method at department of diagnostic radiology, Seoul National University Hospital. To compare the image of it with that of low kilovoltage technique, we did radiographic tests using beans on the skin. We marked off into three anatomical categories such as lungs, mediastinum and near diaphragm, then attached a bean on a marked area at random. In order to compare with high and low, we took a radiography of high($120{\sim}140\;kVp$) and low($70{\sim}90\;kVp$) kilovoltage tehchniques, respectively at the same time. We have done experiments 320 cases. We evaluated the results of test in response to sensitivity(true positive) and specificity(true negative). In evaluating, we gave them points from 1 to 5 according to true or false. With given points by a radiologist having much experiences, we could acquire the percentage of sensitivity and specificity. The percentage made us to get the schematic table of ROC curve of those two methods. Consequently, high kilovoltage technique appeared 18% better than low kilovoltage technique for detecting beans with our apparatus.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.75-88
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• 2002

Radiologic images are widely used in hospitals for diagnosing and treating patients' diseases. The radiologist accurately reads radiologic images, and thus helps diagnose patients correctly. The number of radiologists is much smaller than is necessary, however. In some small or rural hospitals, there are no radiologists residing there. In these cases, correct diagnosis and treatment are infeasible. Also, radiologists are not resident at hospitals all day long. Thus, emergency patients would suffer from the absence of radiologists at night. XRay21 Inc. and Data & Knowledge Engineering Lab. at Kangwon National University have been working together since 2000 in order to alleviate the problems above. Currently, the advances of the computer and network technology make it possible to connect a lot of radiologists and hospitals together through the Internet. By fully utilizing the Internet environment, we have developed an Internet-based medical diagnosis system, thus permitting remote diagnosis of radiologic images. This paper presents the technical experiences obtained in developing the system.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.153-163
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• 2014

3-dimensional information for anatomic stucture plays a role as integral part in clinical aspect of dental practice. CBCT(cone beam computed tomography) has been accepted as useful diagnostic tool offering Volume data and images for evaluating teeth and jaws in lower radiation dose than conventional CT. CBCT equipment is essential for the quality assurance of it to ensure continued satisfactory performance and result of adequate images. Dental practitioner and oral and maxillofacial radiologist should have a responsibility and critical thinking to deliver this technology to patients in a responsible way, so that diaganostic value is maximised and radiation doses kept as low as resonably achievable. CBCT imaging modality should be used only after a review of the patient's health and imaging history and the completion of a thorough clinical examination. Clinical guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances Dental practitioners should prescribe CBCT imaging only when they expect that the diagnostic yield will benefit patient care, enhance patient safety or improve clinical outcomes significantly. Knowledge of patient dose is essential for clinicians who are making the decision regarding the justification of the exposure. There are some limitation in the measurement of patient dose in CBCT for the approval and adaptation of conventinal methodolgy in CT. It is also important to ensure that doses are optimised and in line with any national and international guidelines. The higher radiation doses of CBCT compared with conventional radiography, mean that high standards must be maintained. The Quality Assurance(QA) programme should entail surveys and checks that are performed according to a regular timetable. QA programme should be maintained by staff to ensure adherence to the programme and to raise its importance among staff.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2014

Medical imaging has increased rapidly in the increase of interest in health, with the development of computer technology, digitization of medical imaging is rapidly advancing, PACS has been introduced to the medical field. Increase in the production of medical images by these phenomena made increased the workload of radiologist who must read a medical image. in response to the need for secondary diagnosis using a computer, The term of CAD in medical radiology field was introduced. In this study, we have proposed a CAD algorithm for the interpretation of the image obtained by the digital X-ray mammography equipment. The experiments were performed by programmed in Visual C++ for the proposed algorithm. A result of the execution of the CAD algorithm seven sample images, the results of five samples was confirmed in breast cancer and benign tumors, both the images sample was error processing. If you use a program that implements this with the algorithm proposed in this study it is helpful to reading breast images, and it is considered to contribute significantly to the early detection of breast cancer.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2015

Through the inspector's real name to improve the quality of inspection is to show the design Radiological examination pursuant to the Ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare for patient safety in the Image. However, the use of existing and in EMR, equipment within the handwriting input, the individual initial use has a problem. In this study, increasing the stability of the patient and the precise inspection, In order to increase the efficiency and convenience than the real-name system for quality control inspectors of medical equipment, Using the EMR and PACS developed and applied to evaluate the usefulness of automatic enrollment. Enter your information in the EMR, which was developed markers that inspectors use to compare the before and after images PACS satisfaction. Convenience than using traditional, consistency, the entry of the missing were higher as a statistically significant difference. A test strip automatic enrollment programs are developed in this study. You can increase the stability of the patient by checking the image to show the real tester, we expect the quality of care would be improved.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2019

For general radiological examinations, even in the same area and the same test, the test conditions must be set differently according to the patient. However, since it is impossible to consider the body shape and conditions of patients every time in medical institutions where various patients visit, the tests are conducted by setting the AEC which automatically sets the test conditions. AEC is most commonly used in chest radiography. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose the improvement plans for using AEC by measuring the exposure dose and evaluating the image quality according to whether the AEC is used or not, and to provide basic data for AEC research. In the present study, images were acquired while varying tube voltage and test distance according to the use of AEC in chest radiography. The radiation dose was measured by placing the dosimeter in front of the chest phantom, and the CNR and SNR of acquired images were analyzed using Image J. The t-test was conducted for the statistical analysis and the significance was determined at the level of 95%(p<.05). As a result of this study, in the inspection distance (100cm, 140cm, 180cm) according to the use of AEC, high doses were observed when the AEC was used and there was statistically significant difference(p<.05). In the t-test to determine the difference between CNR and SNR depending on whether AEC was used or not, there was no significant difference according to the use of AEC(p>.05). Therefore, when performing chest radiography, if the radiologist establishes the appropriate examination conditions and conducts the examination by not just relying solely on AEC, it may be possible to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to the patient.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.305-314
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to compare the findings on the chest low-dose CT (LDCT) images between the negative and positive groups for pneumoconiosis in the group exposed to inorganic dust. From May 30, 2007 to August 31, 2008, total 328 subjects were examined by a LDCT. LDCT images were read by a chest radiologist who has much experience for reading of pneumoconiosis. All subjects were classified into two groups based on digital images after consensus reading of two radiologists according to the ILO 2000 guidelines; negative group (87, 26.5%) without pneumoconiosis and positive group (241, 73.5%). Statistical analysis was performed using a SPSS 14.0. There were significant differences in age (60.9 vs. 65.0, p<0.001), and in dust expose duration (17.0 vs. 19.2, p=0.024) between two groups, but no significant difference in smoking (p=0.784). Of the 328 subjects, 13 diagnosis were extracted from 245 subjects (74.7%). Coronary artery calcification (CAC) was significantly higher in positive group than that in negative group (36.9% vs. 25.3%, p=0.049). Honeycombing showed higher frequency in positive group than in negative group (6.2% vs. 1.2%, p=0.079). Pneumoconiosis findings caused by inorganic dusts exposure showed the significant relation with CAC on LDCT images. Future studies need to prove that pneumoconiosis finding is independent risk factor for CAC using a coronary artery angiography.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.237-244
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• 2011

In this paper, a feature-based registration technique is proposed for pre-contrast and post-contrast lung CT images. It utilizes three dimensional(3-D) features with their descriptors and estimates feature correspondences by nearest neighborhood matching in the feature space. We design a transformation model between the input image pairs using a free form deformation(FFD) which is based on B-splines. Registration is achieved by minimizing an energy function incorporating the smoothness of FFD and the correspondence information through a non-linear gradient conjugate method. To deal with outliers in feature matching, our energy model integrates a robust estimator which discards outliers effectively by iteratively reducing a radius of confidence in the minimization process. Performance evaluation was carried out in terms of accuracy and efficiency using seven pairs of lung CT images of clinical practice. For a quantitative assessment, a radiologist specialized in thorax manually placed landmarks on each CT image pair. In comparative evaluation to a conventional feature-based registration method, our algorithm showed improved performances in both accuracy and efficiency.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 1998

We can and must improve the diagnostic images using available knowledge and technology. At the same time we must strive to reduce the patient's integral and entrance radiation dose. Reducing the integral dose to the patient during the radiologic procedure is a primary concern of the patient, especially the pediatric patient, the radiologist and the technologist. A 100cm focal film distance generally is used for most over-table radiography. The early x-ray tubes and screen film combinations required long exposures, which often resulted in motion artifacts. But nowaday, we have the generators and x-ray tubes that can deliver the energy necessary in a very short time and the receptors that can record the information just as rapidly. And, we performed this studies to evaluate the patient exposure dose and the image quality by increasing focal film distance in diagnostic radiography. There are many factors which affected to exposure factor, but we studied to verify of FFD increase, only. Effect of increasing the focal film distance to a 140 cm distance was tested as follows; 1. The focal film distances were set at 100, 120, and 140cm. 2. A 18cm acryl(tissue equivalent) phantom was placed on the table top. 3. An Capintec 192 electrometer with PM 05 ion chamber was placed at the entrance surface of the phantom, and exposure were made at each focal film distances. 4. The procedure was repeated in the same manner as above except the ion chamber was placed beneath the phantom at the film plane. 5. Exit exposure were normalize to 8mR for each portions of the experiment. Based on the success of the empirical measurements, a detailed mathematical analysis of the dose reduction was performed using the percent depth dose data. The results of this study can be summerized as followings ; 1) Increasing FFD from 100 cm to 140 cm, we would create a situation that would have a significant effect on the overall quality of radiograph and achive the 17.42% reduction of entrance dose and the 18.95% reduction of integral dose that the patient receives. 2) Thickness of Al step wedge for equal film density increased with the long distance. 3) Increasing FFD, Magnification of image was lowered. 4) Resolution of image also increased with the FFD. As the results described above, we strongly recommend using the long FFD to provide better information for our patients and profession in abdomen radiographic studies.