• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2017

Considering that the X-ray apron used in the department of radiology is also used in the department of nuclear medicine, the study aimed to analyze the shielding rate of the apron according to types of radioisotopes, thus ${\gamma}$ ray energy, to investigate the protective effects. The radioisotopes used in the experiment were the top 5 nuclides in usage statistics $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$, $^{123}I$, and $^{201}Tl$, and the aprons were lead equivalent 0.35 mmPb aprons currently under use in the department of nuclear medicine. As a result of experiments, average shielding rates of aprons were $^{99m}Tc$ 31.59%, $^{201}Tl$ 68.42%, and $^{123}I$ 76.63%. When using an apron, the shielding rate of $^{131}I$ actually resulted in average dose rate increase of 33.72%, and $^{18}F$ showed an average shielding rate of -0.315%, showing there was almost no shielding effect. As a result, the radioisotopes with higher shielding rate of apron was in the descending order of $^{123}I$, $^{201}Tl$, $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$. Currently, aprons used in the nuclear medicine laboratory are general X-ray aprons, and it is thought that it is not appropriate for nuclear medicine environment that utilizes ${\gamma}$ rays. Therefore, development of nuclear medicine exclusive aprons suitable for the characteristics of radioisotopes is required in consideration of effective radiation protection and work efficiency of radiation workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.213-219
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• 2013

Currently, about 35 cyclotrons have been operating in South Korea. Most of them are mainly used for the synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals such as $^{18}FDG$, which is a cancer tracer for nuclear medicine. Highly enriched $H_2{^{18}}O$ containing up to 98% of $^{18}O/O$ isotope ratio is used as the target for $^{18}F$ production. The price of the highly enriched $H_2{^{18}}O$ ranges 60~70 USD/g, and all of them have been imported from foreign country in spite of the very expensive price. The target (enriched $H_2{^{18}}O$) is non-radioactive before the proton beam irradiation. But, the post-irradiation target (used $H_2{^{18}}O$) must be managed following the National Radiation Safety Regulations, because it turns into radioactive by the radioactivation of the impurities within the target. Recently, nevertheless of the fast increasing amount of used $H_2{^{18}}O$ in accordance with the increasing number of nuclear medicine cases, any activation analysis on the used $H_2{^{18}}O$ have been conducted yet in Korea. In this research, activation analysis have been conducted to confirm the specific radioactivity(Bq/g) of each radioisotopes within the used $H_2{^{18}}O$. The analysis have been done on the 3 of 20g samples collected from the used $H_2{^{18}}O$ storages at different cyclotron centers. Based on the results, it was confirmed that the "used $H_2{^{18}}O$" contains gamma emitters such as $^{56}Co$, $^{57}Co$, $^{58}Co$, and $^{54}Mn$ as well as the considerable amount of beta emitter $^3H$. It was also confirmed that the only one sample contained over exemption level of gamma emitters while the specific activity of tritium was lower than the exemption level in all samples. The specific activity of radioisotopes were measured different levels in the samples depending on the elapsed time after irradiation. Further study on the activation of the "used $H_2{^{18}}O$" is definitely necessary, nevertheless the as-is results of this research must be useful in establishing a rational "used $H_2{^{18}}O$" management protocol.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.725-733
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual grid software (VGS). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes in energy and object thickness by dividing the use of VGS into two cases (Without-VGS) without using a movable grid. We attempted to determine the effectiveness of VGS by acquiring images using a chest phantom and a thigh phantom and analyzing SNR and CNR. In the chest phantom and femoral phantom, the tube flow was fixed at 2.5 mAs, and the tube voltage was changed by 10 kVp from 60 to 100 kVp to measure SNR and CNR, and SNR was about 1.09 to 8.86% higher in the chest phantom than in Without-VGS, and CNR was 4.18 to 14.56% higher in the VGS than in Without-VGS. And in the femoral phantom, SNR was about 9.78 to 18.05% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS, and CNR was 21.07 to 44.44% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS. The tube voltage was fixed at 70 kVp in the chest phantom and the femoral phantom, and the amount of tube current was changed at 2.5 to 16 mAs, respectively, and after X-ray irradiation, SNR and CNR were measured in the chest phantom, which was about 1.49 to 11.11% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS, and CNR was 4.76 to 13.40% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS. And in the femoral phantom, SNR was about 2.22 to 17.38% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS, and CNR was 13.85 to 40.46% higher in VGS than in Without-VGS. Therefore, if an inspection is required with a mobile X-ray imaging device, it is believed that good image quality can be obtained by using VGS in an environment where it is difficult to use a mobile grid, and it is believed that the use of mobile X-ray devices can be increased.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.727-735
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• 2018

Targeting the radiological technologists working in Gyoungsangnam province, this study was performed to obtain the fundamental data to improve the competency and right awareness of the hospital infection management, and to educate infection management of radiological technologists by analyzing the status, awareness, and performance of the hospital infection management. During April 1, 2018 to April 31, 2015, after we sent out a total of 400 questionnaires for the survey to radiological technologists working at the clinic located in Gyoungsangnam province, 320 questionnaires suitable for research were analysis by using SPSS 18.0 statistical analysis software. As the hospital infection management factors, 5 items for hospital infection and 60 items of the awareness and performance for the hospital infection management were used. 60 items of the awareness and performance for the hospital infection management were consisted hand hygiene, personal hygiene and clothing, medical equipment and supplies, cleaning and waste, examination and environment. And as the sociodemographic characteristics, the gender, marriage, age, level of education, working organization, working period, and working department were used. Consequentially, the awareness for the hospital infection management($4.19{\pm}.60$) and the performance($4.22{\pm}.52$) were confirmed as high level. Using these results, the hospital infection management level of the radiological technologists working in Gyoungsangnam province was found to be high in arareness and performance of hospital infection management. There was a significant correlation between the degree of awareness and performance of radiological technologists for hospital infection management. Furthermore, in the multiple regression analysis of cognitive factors on performance, it was found that 66.1% explanatory power had a significant positive influence. In order to improve the awareness of hospital infection management of radiological technologist working in various departments, the infection management education and improvement of hospital work environment are necessary. And also, It is important to participate actively in hospital infection management and preventive education and to play a pivotal role in securing expertise in hospital infection management.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.464-472
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• 2005

Purpose: SPECT using a fan-beam collimator improves spatial resolution and sensitivity. For the reconstruction from fan-beam projections, it is necessary to implement direct fan-beam reconstruction methods without transforming the data into the parallel geometry. In this study, various fan-beam reconstruction algorithms were implemented and their performances were compared. Materials and Methods: The projector for fan-beam SPECT was implemented using a ray-tracing method. The direct reconstruction algorithms implemented for fan-beam projection data were FBP (filtered backprojection), EM (expectation maximization), OS-EM (ordered subsets EM) and MAP-EM OSL (maximum a posteriori EM using the one-step late method) with membrane and thin-plate models as priors. For comparison, the fan-beam protection data were also rebinned into the parallel data using various interpolation methods, such as the nearest neighbor, bilinear and bicubic interpolations, and reconstructed using the conventional EM algorithm for parallel data. Noiseless and noisy projection data from the digital Hoffman brain and Shepp/Logan phantoms were reconstructed using the above algorithms. The reconstructed images were compared in terms of a percent error metric. Results: for the fan-beam data with Poisson noise, the MAP-EM OSL algorithm with the thin-plate prior showed the best result in both percent error and stability. Bilinear interpolation was the most effective method for rebinning from the fan-beam to parallel geometry when the accuracy and computation load were considered. Direct fan-beam EM reconstructions were more accurate than the standard EM reconstructions obtained from rebinned parallel data. Conclusion: Direct fan-beam reconstruction algorithms were implemented, which provided significantly improved reconstructions.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.435-442
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• 2007

The number of thyroid diseases treated with radioiodine(I-131) is increasing steadily. The sharp increase in patients who require high dose radioiodine therapy greatly increased the need for new therapy rooms. Accordingly, interest in radiation exposure is rising as well, and is a major psychological stress factor for the patient and those who come in close contact with the patient. This study aimed to minimize the radiation exposure on discharge. Based on various previous reports, the decision for discharge should be individualized depending on many factors related to the patient's living or working environment. Educating patients repeatedly on the importance of sufficient oral hydration, while the adequate amount was relative to the patient's individual condition, greatly lowered the detected radiation measurement within the same admission period. In some cases, the period of admission could be abbreviated.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2007

Contrast medium is a useful drug for radiological examinations and usability of it gradually increases while it has some inevitable adverse reaction and it is difficult to predict the occurrence and the degree of adverse reactions. Although the patient consented permission for the use of contrast media, the hospital could not be exempted from the responsibility for the adverse contrast media reaction. During radiological contrast media examination, the radiologist and the contrast media producer have the duty of precaution, prediction and avoid adverse results. In addition, they have reliabi lity of patient remedy for neglecting the duty. Since contrast medium are manufactured or processed as movable properties, the manufacturers are bound to the product liability if damages occur due to the defects in pharmaceuticals. In consideration of the characteristics of product liability, it is necessary to demand high degree of duty of care and diligence from producer or to reduce patient's burden of proof in a product liability lawsuit. For securing compensation ability and liability implementation, products compensation liability insurance is required for contrast medium manufacturers. In conclusion, contrast medium producer has legal liability for adverse reactions and the contract concluded with producer and hospital including legal liability will reduce liability of hospital and radiologist, patient.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2012

Purpose : During brain MRI scanning, subject's head motion can adversely affect MRI images. To minimize MR image distortion by head movement, we developed an optical tracking system to detect the 3-D movement of subjects. Materials and Methods: The system consisted of 2 CCD cameras, two infrared illuminators, reflective sphere-type markers, and frame grabber with desktop PC. Using calibration which is the procedure to calculate intrinsic/extrinsic parameters of each camera and triangulation, the system was desiged to detect 3-D coordinates of subject's head movement. We evaluated the accuracy of 3-D position of reflective markers on both test board and the real MRI scans. Results: The stereo system computed the 3-D position of markers accurately for the test board and for the subject with glasses with attached optical reflective marker, required to make regular head motion during MRI scanning. This head motion tracking didn't affect the resulting MR images even in the environment varying magnetic gradient and several RF pulses. Conclusion: This system has an advantage to detect subject's head motion in real-time. Using the developed system, MRI operator is able to determine whether he/she should stop or intervene in MRI acquisition to prevent more image distortions.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.25-31
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• 2003

This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of Deconvolution perfusion CT in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Nine patients with acute cerebral infarction underwent conventional CT and cerebral perfusion CT within 23 hours of the onset of symptoms. The perfusion CT scan for each patient was obtained at the levels of basal ganglia and 1cm caudal to the basal ganglia. By special imaging software, perfusion images including cerebral blood volume(CBV), cerebral blood flow(CBF), and mean transit time(MTT) maps were created. The created lesions were evaluated on each perfusion maps by 3 radiolocical technician. MTT delay time was measured in the perfusion defect lesion and symmetric contralateral normal cerebral hemisphere. Lesion sire were measured on each perfusion map and compared with the value obtained by diffusion weighted MR imaging(DWMRI). All perfusion CT maps showed the perfusion defect lesion in all patients. There were remarkable CT delay in perfusion defect lesion. In comparison of lesion size between each perfusion map and DWMRI, the lesion on CBF map was the most closely correlated with the lesion on DWMRI(7/9). The size of perfusion defect lesion on MTT map was larger than that of lesion on DWMRI, suggesting that m map can evaluate the ischemic penumbra. Deconvolution Perfusion CT maps make it possible to evaluate not only ischemic core and ischemic penumbra but also hemodynamic status in perfusion defect area. These results demonstrate that perfusion CT can be useful to the diagnosis and treatment in the patients with acute cerebral ischemic infarction.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.311-316
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• 2017

Generally assessing bone mineral density (BMD) were performed on dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) the same as dual energy CT (DECT) with a rapid-kVp switching. The purpose of this study is to compare the different of BMD value between DEXA and DECT method, and evaluate usefulness of DECT method. Using scanner for BMD measurements were GE, Healthcare Discovery 750 HD for DECT and Hologic QDR 4500W for DEXA. For compare BMD value in each method, scanned lumbar spine phantom and subjects visiting Korean National Cancer Center from April 2015 to December 2015, records of 50 patients. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. The mean BMD value measures for spine phantom and for subjects in each scanners presented strong correlation (r=0.948 with p<0.05 for phantom; r=0.635 with p<0.05 and Kendall's tau $({\tau})=0.46$ with p<0.05 for subjects) and linear relationship between DECT and conventional DEXA. DECT technique for BMD measurement will provide a very useful methodology without additional radiation dose.