• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2018

Computed tomography, which obtains section images from reconstruction process using projection images, has been applied to various fields. The spatial resolution of the reconstructed image depends on the device used in CT system, the object, and the reconstruction process. In this paper, we investigates the effect of the number of projection images and the pixel size of the detector on the spatial resolution of the reconstructed image under the parallel beam geometry. The reconstruction program was written in Visual C++, and the matrix size of the reconstructed image was $512{\times}512$. The numerical bar phantom was constructed and the Min-Max method was introduced to evaluate the spatial resolution on the reconstructed image. When the number of projections used in reconstruction process was small, artifact like streak appeared and Min-Max was also low. The Min-Max showed upper saturation when the number of projections is increased. If the pixel size of the detector is reduced to 50% of the pixel size of the reconstructed image, the reconstructed image was perfectly recovered as the original phantom and the Min-Max decreased as increasing the detector pixel size. This study will be useful in determining the detector and the accuracy of rotation stage needed to achieve the spatial resolution required in the CT system.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.425-432
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• 2014

4K high speed camera shooting enables shooting of fast subjects in Full HD 4 times resolution without motion blur due to increase in resolution and shutter speed. However, this shooting incurs several limitations including focus, intensity of radiation and increase in data quantity. As lack of intensity of radiation may occur due to increased shutter speed, it is shoot by opening aperture and limitation in focusing follows. In addition, there is limitation in shooting records since it has restriction in storage due to increased resolution and frame rate. In this regard, this study aims to analyze the limitations shown above through production case of 4K high speed camera (Phantom Flex 4K) and to design effective workflow to overcome this.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2341-2347
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• 2021

Because single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is one of the widely used nuclear medicine imaging systems, it is extremely important to acquire high-quality images for diagnosis. In this study, we designed a super-resolution (SR) technique using dense block-based deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and evaluated the algorithm on real SPECT phantom images. To acquire the phantom images, a real SPECT system using a^99mTc source and two physical phantoms was used. To confirm the image quality, the noise properties and visual quality metric evaluation parameters were calculated. The results demonstrate that our proposed method delivers a more valid SR improvement by using dense block-based deep CNNs as compared to conventional reconstruction techniques. In particular, when the proposed method was used, the quantitative performance was improved from 1.2 to 5.0 times compared to the result of using the conventional iterative reconstruction. Here, we confirmed the effects on the image quality of the resulting SR image, and our proposed technique was shown to be effective for nuclear medicine imaging.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.158-164
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• 2011

Breast cancer is the most frequently appearing cancer in women, these days. To reduce mortality of breast cancer, periodic check-up is strongly recommended. X-ray mammography is one of powerful diagnostic imaging systems to detect 50~100 um micro-calcification which is the early sign of breast cancer. Although x-ray mammography has very high spatial resolution, it is not easy yet to distinguish cancerous tissue from normal tissues in mammograms and new tissue characterizing methods are required. Recently ultrasound elastography technique has been developed, which uses the phenomenon that cancerous tissue is harder than normal tissues. However its spatial resolution is not enough to detect breast cancer. In order to develop a new elastography system with high resolution we are developing x-ray elasticity imaging technique. It uses the small differences of tissue positions with and without external breast compression and requires an algorithm to detect tissue displacement. In this paper, computer simulation is done for preliminary study of x-ray elasticity imaging. First, 3D x-ray breast phantom for modeling woman's breast is created and its elastic model for FEM (finite element method) is generated. After then, FEM experiment is performed under the compression of the breast phantom. Using the obtained displacement data, 3D x-ray phantom is deformed and the final mammogram under the compression is generated. The simulation result shows the feasibility of x-ray elasticity imaging. We think that this preliminary study is helpful for developing and verifying a new algorithm of x-ray elasticity imaging.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.133-138
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• 2010

Background and Objectives : High-speed imaging can be useful in studies of linguistic and artistic singing styles, and laryngeal examination of patients with voice disorders, particularly in irregular vocal fold vibrations. In this study, we introduce new laryngeal imaging systems which are commercially available high speed cameras connected with a laryngoscope. Materials and Method : The laryngeal images were captured from three different types of cameras. First, the adapter was made to connect with laryngoscope and Casio EX-F1 to capture the images using $2{\times}150$ Watt Halogen light source (EndoSTROB) at speeds of 1,200 tps (frame per second)($336{\times}96$). Second, Phantom Miro ex4 was used to capture the digital laryngeal images using Xenon Nova light source 175 Watt (STORZ) at speeds of 1,920 fps ($512{\times}384$). Finally, laryngeal images were captured using MotionXtra N-4 with 250 Watt halogen lamp (Olympus CLH-250) light source at speeds of 2,000tps ($384{\times}400$) by connecting with laryngoscope. All images were transformed into the Kymograph using KIPS (Kay's image processing Software) of Kay Pentex Inc. Results: Casio EX-F1 was too small to adjust the focus and screen size was diminished once the images were captured despite of high resolution images. High quality of color images could be obtained with Phantom Miro ex4 whereas good black and white images from Motion Xtra N-4 Despite of some limitations of illumination problems, limited recording time capacity, and time consuming procedures in Phantom Miro ex4 and Motion Xtra N-4, those portable devices provided high resolution images. Conclusion : All those high speed cameras could capture the laryngeal images by connecting with laryngoscope. High resolution images were able to be captured at the fixed position under the good lightness. Accordingly, these techniques could be applicable to observe the vocal fold vibration properties in the clinical practice.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.53-58
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• 2013

Purpose: To optimize correction method for SPECT/CT, image quality consisting of resolution and contrast was evaluated using three radioisotopes ($^{99m}Tc$, $^{201}Tl$ and $^{131}I$) and three different correction methods; attenuation correction (AC), scatter correction (SC) and both attenuation and scatter correction (ACSC). Materials and Methods: Images were acquired with a SPECT/CT scanner and a conventional CT protocol with an OESM reconstruction algorithm (2 iterations and 10 subsets). For resolution measurement, fixed radioactivity (2.22 kBq) was infused into a spatial resolution phantom and full width at half maximum (FWHM) was measured using a vendor-provided software. For contrast evaluation, radioactive source with a ratio of 1:8 to background was filled in a Flanged Jaszczak phantom and percent contrast (%) were calculated. All the parameters for image quality were compared with non-correction (NC) method. Results: As compared with NC, image resolution of all three isotopes were significantly improved by AC and ACSC, not by SC. In particular, ACSC showed better resolution than AC alone for $^{99m}Tc$ and $^{201}Tl$. Image contrast of all three radioisotopes in a sphere with the largest diameter were enhanced by all correction methods. ACSC showed the highest contrast in all three radioisotopes, which was the most accurate in $^{99m}Tc$ (85.9%). Conclusion: Image quality of SPECT/CT was improved in all the radioisotopes by CT-based attenuation correction methods, except SC alone. SC failed to improve resolution in any radioisotopes, but it was effective in contrast enhancement. ACSC would be the best correction method as it improved resolution in radioisotopes with low energy levels and contrast in radioisotope with low energy levels. However, in radioisotope with high energy level, AC would be better than ACSC for resolution improvement.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.160-166
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• 2019

This study examined the clinical use of two newly installed computed tomography (CT) simulators in the Department of Radiation Oncology. The accreditation procedure was performed by the Korean Institute for Accreditation of Medical Imaging. An Xi R/F dosimeter was used to measure the CT dose index for each plug of the CT dose index phantom. Image qualities such as the Hounsfield unit (HU) value of water, noise level, homogeneity, existence of artifacts, spatial resolution, contrast, and slice thickness were evaluated by scanning a CT performance phantom. All test items were evaluated as to whether they were within the required tolerance level. CT calibration curves-the relationship between CT number and relative electron density-were obtained for dose calculations in the treatment planning system. The positional accuracy of the lasers was also evaluated. The volume CT dose indices for the head phantom were 22.26 mGy and 23.70 mGy, and those for body phantom were 12.30 mGy and 12.99 mGy for the first and second CT simulators, respectively. HU accuracy, noise, and homogeneity for the first CT simulator were -0.2 HU, 4.9 HU, and 0.69 HU, respectively, while those for second CT simulator were 1.9 HU, 4.9 HU, and 0.70 HU, respectively. Five air-filled holes with a diameter of 1.00 mm were used for assessment of spatial resolution and a low contrast object with a diameter of 6.4 mm was clearly discernible by both CT scanners. Both CT simulators exhibited comparable performance and are acceptable for clinical use.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.05
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• pp.45-48
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• 1996

In the case of $^{123}I$ from the $^{124}Te$ (p,2n)reaction, the radionuclidic impurity is the high-energy gamma-emitting $^{124}I$, which interferes greatly with nuclear medicine images. The choice of a collimator can affect the quality of clinical SPECT images of [I-123]MIBG or [I-123]TPT. The tradeoffs that two different collimators make among spatial resolution, sensitivity, and scatter were studied by imaging a line source at 5cm, 10cm, 15cm distance using a number of plexiglass sheets between source and collimator, petri dist two-dimensional Hoffman brain phantom, and Jaszczak phantom after filling with $^{123}I$ (FWHM, FWTM, Sensitivity) for low energy ultra high resolution parallel hole(LEUHRP) collimator and medium energy general purpose (MEGP) collimator were measured as (9.27mm, 61.27mm $129CPM/[\mu}$ Ci) and (10.53m 23.17mm $105CPM/{\mu}$ Ci), respectively. The image quality of two-dimensional Hoffman brain Phantom with LEUHRP looked better than the one with MEGP. However, the image quality of Jasgczak phantom with LEUHRP looked much worse than the one with MEGP, The results suggest that the MEGP is preferable to LEUHRP for SPECT studies of [I-123]MIBG or [I-123]IPT.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the effect of exposure parameters on image quality obtained using a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanner and the relationship between physical factors and clinical image quality depending on the diagnostic task. Materials and Methods: CBCT images of a SedentexCT IQ phantom and a real skull phantom were obtained under different combinations of tube voltage and tube current (Alphard 3030 CBCT scanner, 78-90 kVp and 2-8 mA). The images obtained using a SedentexCT IQ phantom were analyzed technically, and the physical factors of image noise, contrast resolution, spatial resolution, and metal artifacts were measured. The images obtained using a real skull phantom were evaluated for each diagnostic task by 6 oral and maxillofacial radiologists, and each setting was classified as acceptable or unacceptable based on those evaluations. A statistical analysis of the relationships of exposure parameters and physical factors with observer scores was conducted. Results: For periapical diagnosis and implant planning, the tube current of the acceptable images was significantly higher than that of the unacceptable images. Image noise, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), the line pair chart on the Z axis, and modulation transfer function (MTF) values showed statistically significant differences between the acceptable and unacceptable image groups. The cut-off values obtained using receiver operating characteristic curves for CNR and MTF 10 were useful for determining acceptability. Conclusion: Tube current had a major influence on clinical image quality. CNR and MTF 10 were useful physical factors that showed significantly associations with clinical image quality.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.535-542
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• 2023

This study aimed to implement a deep learning model that can perform quantitative quality control through ACTS software used for quantitative evaluation of ACR phantom in CT quality control and evaluate its usefulness. By changing the scanning conditions, images of three modules of the ACR phantom's slice thickness (ST), low contrast resolution (LC), and high contrast resolution (HC) were obtained and classified as ACTS software. The deep learning model used ResNet18, implementing three models in which ST, HC, and LC were learned with epoch 50 and an integrated model in which three modules were learned with Epoch 10, 30, and 50 at once. The performance of each model was evaluated through Accuracy and Loss. When comparing and evaluating the accuracy and loss function values of the deep learning models by ST, LC, and HC modules, the Accuracy and Loss of the HC model were the best with 100% and 0.0081, and in the integrated model according to the Epoch value, Accuracy and Loss with epoch 50 were the best with 96.29% and 0.1856. This paper showed that quantitative quality control is possible through a deep learning model, and it can be used as a basis and evidence for applying deep learning to the CT quality control.