• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of clinical image quality of panoramic radiographs and to analyze the parameters that influence the overall image quality. Materials and Methods: Korean dental clinics were asked to provide three randomly selected panoramic radiographs. An oral and maxillofacial radiology specialist evaluated those images using our self-developed Clinical Image Quality Evaluation Chart. Three evaluators classified the overall image quality of the panoramic radiographs and evaluated the causes of imaging errors. Results: A total of 297 panoramic radiographs were collected from 99 dental hospitals and clinics. The mean of the scores according to the Clinical Image Quality Evaluation Chart was 79.9. In the classification of the overall image quality, 17 images were deemed 'optimal for obtaining diagnostic information,' 153 were 'adequate for diagnosis,' 109 were 'poor but diagnosable,' and nine were 'unrecognizable and too poor for diagnosis'. The results of the analysis of the causes of the errors in all the images are as follows: 139 errors in the positioning, 135 in the processing, 50 from the radiographic unit, and 13 due to anatomic abnormality. Conclusion: Panoramic radiographs taken at local dental clinics generally have a normal or higher-level image quality. Principal factors affecting image quality were positioning of the patient and image density, sharpness, and contrast. Therefore, when images are taken, the patient position should be adjusted with great care. Also, standardizing objective criteria of image density, sharpness, and contrast is required to evaluate image quality effectively.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1006-1016
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• 2023

Objective: Computed tomography (CT) is an established method for the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of multiple myeloma. Here, we investigated the potential of photon-counting detector computed tomography (PCD-CT) in terms of image quality, diagnostic confidence, and radiation dose compared with energy-integrating detector CT (EID-CT). Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, patients with known multiple myeloma underwent clinically indicated whole-body PCD-CT. The image quality of PCD-CT was assessed qualitatively by three independent radiologists for overall image quality, edge sharpness, image noise, lesion conspicuity, and diagnostic confidence using a 5-point Likert scale (5 = excellent), and quantitatively for signal homogeneity using the coefficient of variation (CV) of Hounsfield Units (HU) values and modulation transfer function (MTF) via the full width at half maximum (FWHM) in the frequency space. The results were compared with those of the current clinical standard EID-CT protocols as controls. Additionally, the radiation dose (CTDIvol) was determined. Results: We enrolled 35 patients with multiple myeloma (mean age 69.8 ± 9.1 years; 18 [51%] males). Qualitative image analysis revealed superior scores (median [interquartile range]) for PCD-CT regarding overall image quality (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), edge sharpness (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), image noise (4.0 [4.0-4.0] vs. 3.0 [3.0-4.0]), lesion conspicuity (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), and diagnostic confidence (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]) compared with EID-CT (P ≤ 0.004). In quantitative image analyses, PCD-CT compared with EID-CT revealed a substantially lower FWHM (2.89 vs. 25.68 cy/pixel) and a significantly more homogeneous signal (mean CV ± standard deviation [SD], 0.99 ± 0.65 vs. 1.66 ± 0.5; P < 0.001) at a significantly lower radiation dose (mean CTDIvol ± SD, 3.33 ± 0.82 vs. 7.19 ± 3.57 mGy; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Whole-body PCD-CT provides significantly higher subjective and objective image quality at significantly reduced radiation doses than the current clinical standard EID-CT protocols, along with readily available multi-spectral data, facilitating the potential for further advanced post-processing.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.216-222
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• 2011

Lab effectively supplemented the effects of outside radiation on image plates in the process of image acquisition of CR (computed radiography) systems and conducted for effective utilization in the case of clinical application. For this, Lab classified the storage places and time periods of image plates and compared and analyzed the differences between small dark spots. Lab also assessed the concentration distribution within the boundaries of images. Lab compared and measured the number of dark spots in a light room and a dark room depending on the storage places of image plates and found that dark spots slightly increased in an image plate when stored in a light room on the first and second days. Dark spots increased in proportion to the length of time stored. In the case of the image plate stored in a dark room, the number of dark spots remarkably decreased. With regard to picture quality as related to the location of image plates, the damage to picture quality could be reduced by locating regions of interest in the center. With regard to differences in sharpness following changes in the thickness of subjects, fewer scatter rays occurred and sharpness improved by reducing the thickness of subjects as much as possible. To get medical images of excellent quality, image plates should be managed effectively and it is desirable to keep images plates in dark iron plate boxes and not to expose them to outside radiation for a long time.

• Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.719-734
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• 2018

An image restoration problem with Poisson noise arises in many applications of medical imaging, astronomy, and microscopy. To overcome ill-posedness, Total Variation (TV) model is commonly used owing to edge preserving property. Since staircase artifacts are observed in restored smooth regions, higher-order TV regularization is introduced. However, sharpness of edges in the image is also attenuated. To compromise benefits of TV and higher-order TV, the weighted sum of the non-convex TV and non-convex higher order TV is used as a regularizer in the proposed variational model. The proposed model is non-convex and non-smooth, and so it is very challenging to solve the model. We propose an iterative reweighted algorithm with the proximal linearized alternating direction method of multipliers to solve the proposed model and study convergence properties of the algorithm.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-52
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• 2017

Ganglion cysts are benign soft tissues usually encountered in the wrist. In this paper, we propose a method to extract a ganglion cyst region from ultrasonography images by using image segmentation. The proposed method using the possibilistic c-means (PCM) clustering method is applicable to ganglion cyst extraction. The methods considered in this thesis are fuzzy stretching, median filter, PCM clustering, and connected component labeling. Fuzzy stretching performs well on ultrasonography images and improves the original image. Median filter reduces the speckle noise without decreasing the image sharpness. PCM clustering is used for categorizing pixels into the given cluster centers. Connected component labeling is used for labeling the objects in an image and extracting the cyst region. Further, PCM clustering is more robust in the case of noisy data, and the proposed method can extract a ganglion cyst area with an accuracy of 80% (16 out of 20 images).

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.1224-1227
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• 2009

When evaluating the quality of images and displays, it is important to combine the characteristics as perceived by the human visual system and measured by equipment using subjective and objective methods, respectively. In the case of objective methods, the quality of a display is measured using colorimetric or radiometric devices according to existing standards covering the color temperature, gamut size, gamma characteristic, and device characterization. Meanwhile, subjective methods assess the quality of an image using the human visual system based on a comparison with a reference or counterpart using such metrics as the sharpness, noise, contrast, saturation, and color accuracy. Objective and subjective methods are usually used together in comparison, as ultimately it is observers watching images on a display. In addition to existing objective methods, a new image quality metric is also introduced as regards the JPEG compression ratio that is reflected in the relationship between the gamut size and the color fidelity in CIELAB color space.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.1228-1231
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• 2009

This paper presented an automatic system for display quality measurement by image processing. The goal is to replace human eyes for display quality evaluation by computer vision and get the objective quality review for consumer to make purchase of monitor or TV. Color, contrast, brightness, sharpness and motion blur are the main five factors to affect display quality that could be measured by supplying patterns and analyzing the corresponding images captured from webcam. The scores are calculated by image processing techniques. Linear regression model is then adopted to find the relation between human score and the measured display performance.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.11
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• pp.225-230
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• 2009

Filtering has been used to improve the image quality not only in MRI but in most image processing fields. In this paper, modified Fermi-Direc filter was transformed in various shapes, and then the optimum shape was designed. In addition, Newly made filter was applied in real clinic, which showed the obvious improvement in image quality. In conclusion, filtered image was superior to original image in contrast and sharpness. Then, this was proved by the histogram of R, G, B channel used for the quantitative analysis.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.321-326
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• 2013

The modulation transfer function (MTF) is a widely used indicator in assessments of remote-sensing image quality. This MTF method is also used to restore information to a standard value to compensate for image degradation caused by atmospheric or satellite jitter effects. In this study, we evaluated MTF values as an image quality indicator for the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI). GOCI was launched in 2010 to monitor the ocean and coastal areas of the Korean peninsula. We evaluated in-orbit MTF value based on the GOCI image having a 500-m spatial resolution in the first time. The pulse method was selected to estimate a point spread function (PSF) with an optimal natural target such as a Seamangeum Seawall. Finally, image restoration was performed with a Wiener filter (WF) to calculate the PSF value required for the optimal regularization parameter. After application of the WF to the target image, MTF value is improved 35.06%, and the compensated image shows more sharpness comparing with the original image.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.240-252
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• 2023

Purpose To assess the effect of deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) for head CT in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods We collected 126 pediatric head CT images, which were reconstructed using filtered back projection, iterative reconstruction using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR)-V, and all three levels of DLIR (TrueFidelity; GE Healthcare). Each image set group was divided into four subgroups according to the patients' ages. Clinical and dose-related data were reviewed. Quantitative parameters, including the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and qualitative parameters, including noise, gray matter-white matter (GM-WM) differentiation, sharpness, artifact, acceptability, and unfamiliar texture change were evaluated and compared. Results The SNR and CNR of each level in each age group increased among strength levels of DLIR. High-level DLIR showed a significantly improved SNR and CNR (p < 0.05). Sequential reduction of noise, improvement of GM-WM differentiation, and improvement of sharpness was noted among strength levels of DLIR. Those of high-level DLIR showed a similar value as that with ASiR-V. Artifact and acceptability did not show a significant difference among the adapted levels of DLIR. Conclusion Adaptation of high-level DLIR for the pediatric head CT can significantly reduce image noise. Modification is needed while processing artifacts.