• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-127
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• 2023

Purpose: Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) is increasingly used in nuclear medicine imaging for various conditions such as lymphoma and neuroendocrine tumors by labeling tracers like Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and DOTA-TOC. However, compared to Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F) used in conventional nuclear medicine imaging, ⁶⁸Ga has lower spatial resolution and relatively higher Signal to Background Ratio (SBR). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the optimized parameters and reconstruction methods for PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer through model-based image evaluation. Materials and Methods: Based on clinical images of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET/CT, a NEMA/IEC 2008 PET phantom model was prepared with a Hot vs Background (H/B) ratio of 10:1. Images were acquired for 9 minutes in list mode using DMIDR (GE, Milwaukee WI, USA). Subsequently, reconstructions were performed for 1 to 8 minutes using OS-EM (Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization) + TOF (Time of Flight) + Sharp IR (VPFX-S), and BSREM (Block Sequential Regularized Expectation Maximization) + TOF + Sharp IR (QCFX-S-400), followed by comparative evaluation. Based on the previous experimental results, images were reconstructed for BSREM + TOF + Sharp IR / 2 minutes (QCFX-S-2min) with varying β-strength values from 100 to 700. The image quality was evaluated using AMIDE (freeware, Ver.1.0.1) and Advanced Workstation (GE, USA). Results: Images reconstructed with QCFX-S-400 showed relatively higher values for SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), CNR (Contrast to Noise Ratio), count, RC (Recovery Coefficient), and SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) compared to VPFX-S. SNR, CNR, and SUV exhibited the highest values at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. RC showed the highest values for a 10 mm sphere at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. For small spheres of 10 mm and 13 mm, an inverse relationship between β-strength increase and count was observed. SNR and CNR peaked at β-strength 400 and then decreased, while SUV and RC exhibited a normal distribution based on sphere size for β-strength values of 400 and above. Conclusion: Based on the experiments, PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer yielded the most favorable quantitative and qualitative results with a 2 minutes/bed acquisition time and BSREM reconstruction, particularly when applying β-strength 400. The application of BSREM can enhance accurate quantification and image quality in ⁶⁸Ga PET/CT imaging, and an optimization process tailored to each institution's imaging objectives appears necessary.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2000

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of diffusion weighted MR imaging(DWI) in the differential diagnosis of brain tumors. Materials and methods: DWI and conventional MR images of nineteen patients with brain tumors(10 metastatic tumors, 4 high grade gliomas, 4 low grade astrocytomas, one oligodendroglioma)were obtained on 1.5T unit. DWI was obtained using single shot spin echo planar imaging with b-value near 1000. We analyzed the signal intensities of lesions including solid portion, necrotic or cystic portion and peritumoral edema of brain tumors (classified five grades comparison with the signal intensities of brain parenchyma and CSF)and calculate the SIR(signal intensity ratio)of lesions to the contralateral normal brain parenchyma. We analyzed statistically the signal intensities and SIR of tumors using independence T test. Results: In solid portions of tumors, all the metastatic tumors and high grade gliomas showed high signal intensities, but low grade astrocytomas and oligodendroglioma showed iso or slight high signal intensities to the normal brain parenchyma. The SIR of solid portion has positive correlation with malignant pot ential(metastatic tumors 1.52, high grade gliomas 1.38, low grade astrocytomas 1.16, oligodendroglioma 1.31)(p < 0.05). In peritumoral edema where seen in 14 tumors, seven of 10 metastatic tumors and two of 4 high grade gliomas showed iso signal intensities, whereas edemas in other 5 brain tumors showed hyperintense to the normal brain parenchyma. The SIRs of peritumoral edemas in metastatic tumors (1.14) was lower than high grade gliomas(1.31),but statistically insignificant. The SIR of cystic or necrotic portion of brain tumors was 0.63. In non enhancing solid portions, three of six cases showed hyperintense to the adjacent peritumoral edema. Conclusion: On DWI, the signal intensities of solid portion has positive correlation with malignant potential, and perilesional edema of brain tumors appear various signal intensities owing to "T2 shine through effect" and the extensiveness of vasogenic edema. Another merit using DWI on the evaluation of brain tumors is to improved better delineation of tumor margins from the adjacent edemas, especially at the non enhancing solid portion of the tumors.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.300-308
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• 2014

Photoacoustic imaging is a useful tool for the diagnosis of atherosclerosis because it is capable of providing anatomical and pathological information at the same time. A photoacoustic signal detector is a pivotal element to achieve high spatial resolution, so that it should have broadband spectrum with a high center frequency. Since a photoacoustic imaging probe is directly inserted into blood vessel to diagnose atherosclerosis, the total size of the photoacoustic signal detector should be less than 1 mm. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that PVDF can be used as an active material for the photoacoustic signal detector with a high frequency and broadband characteristic. The photoacoustic signal detector developed in this study was a single element ultrasound transducer with an aperture of $0.5{\times}0.5mm$ and the total size of 1 mm. In the design stage, the natural focal depth was adjusted for an effective focal area to cover the region of interest, i.e., 1~5 mm in depth. This was because geometrical focusing could not be used due to the small aperture. Through a pulse-echo test, it was ascertained that the developed photoacoustic signal detector has the -6 dB bandwidth ranging between 40.1 and 112.8 MHz and the center frequency of 76.83 MHz.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.917-924
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• 2015

In this study, we study that the video attributes captured by built-in camera in smart-phone can effect on the quality of PPG signal. The conditions of video attributes were composed of the bitrate, the resolution, the flash. As each condition, we measured a change in the red value of the video image and calculated a PPI(Pulse to Pulse Interval) for extracting the pulse wave signal. 20 subjects participated in the experiment and this experiment was carried out 18 tasks. The PPG signal was measured simultaneously for two minutes with the PPG sensor in the middle finger and Smart-phone in the forefinger of the right hand. By proceeding the correlation analysis, we obtained the highest correlation condition(83%, p=0.01), which the resolution was $640{\times}480$, bitrate was 5000kbps, flash was on. As a result, this study will be a useful guide for quality of signals in the pulse signal measurement system using built-in camera in smart-phone.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.81-89
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• 1996

It is very important for ultrasonic test method to evaluate the integrity of the class I components in nuclear power plants. However, as the rltrasonic test is affected by internal structures and configurations of test materials, backscattering, that is, time invariant noise is generated in large grain size materials. Due to the above reason, the received signal results in low signal to noise(S/N) ratio. Split spectrum processing(SSP) technique is effective to suppress the grain noise. The conventional SSP technique. however, has been applied to unique algorithm. This paper shows that MPO(minimization and polarity threshold) algorithm which two algorithms are applied simulatancously, was utilized, the signal processing time was shorten by using the new constant-Q SSP with the FIR filter which frequency to bandwidth ratio is constant and the optimum parameters were analysed for the signal processing to longitudinal wave and shear wave with the same requirements of inspection on nuclear power plant site. Moreover, the new ultrasonic test instrument, the reference block of the same product form and material specification, stainless stell test specimens and copper test specimens block of the same fabricated for the application of new SSP technique. As the result of experimental test with new ultrasonic test instrument and test specimens, the signal to noise ratio was improved by appying the new SSP technique.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.328-328
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• 2007

Large area matrix-addressed image detectors are a recent technology for x-ray imaging with medical diagnostic and other applications. The imaging properties of x-ray pixel detectors depend on the quantum efficiency of x-rays, the generated signal of each x-ray photon and the distribution of the generated signal between pixels. In a phosphor coated detector the light signal is generated by electrons captured in the phosphor screen. In our study we simulated the lateral spread distributions for phosphor coupled detector by Monte Carlo simulations. Most simulations of such detectors simplify the setup by only taking the conversion layer into account neglecting behind. The Monte Carlo code MCNPX has been used to simulate the complete interaction and subsequent charge transport of x-ray radiation. This has allowed the analysis of charge sharing between pixel elements as an important limited factor of digital x-ray imaging system. The parameters are determined by lateral distribution of x-ray photons and x-ray induced electrons. The primary purpose of this study was to develop a design tool for the evaluation of geometry factor in the phosphor coupled optical imaging detector. In order to evaluate the spatial resolution for different phosphor material, phosphor geometry we have developed a simulation code. The developed code calculates the energy absorption and spatial distribution based on both the signal from the scintillating layer and the signal from direct detection of x-ray in the detector. We show that internal scattering contributes to the so-called spatial resolution drop of the image detector. Results from the simulation of spatial distribution in a phosphor pixel detector are presented. The spatial resolution can be increased by optimizing pixel size and phosphor thickness.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.191-202
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• 2021

Purpose: A near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging is a promising tool for cancer-specific image guided surgery. Human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the candidate markers for gastric cancer. In this study, we aimed to synthesize HER2-specific NIR fluorescence probes and evaluate their applicability in cancer-specific image-guided surgeries using an animal model. Materials and Methods: An NIR dye emitting light at 800 nm (IRDye800CW; Li-COR) was conjugated to trastuzumab and an HER2-specific affibody using a click mechanism. HER2 affinity was assessed using surface plasmon resonance. Gastric cancer cell lines (NCI-N87 and SNU-601) were subcutaneously implanted into female BALB/c nu (6-8 weeks old) mice. After intravenous injection of the probes, biodistribution and fluorescence signal intensity were measured using Lumina II (Perkin Elmer) and a laparoscopic NIR camera (InTheSmart). Results: Trastuzumab-IRDye800CW exhibited high affinity for HER2 (K_D=2.093(3) pM). Fluorescence signals in the liver and spleen were the highest at 24 hours post injection, while the signal in HER2-positive tumor cells increased until 72 hours, as assessed using the Lumina II system. The signal corresponding to the tumor was visually identified and clearly differentiated from the liver after 72 hours using a laparoscopic NIR camera. Affibody-IRDye800CW also exhibited high affinity for HER2 (K_D=4.71 nM); however, the signal was not identified in the tumor, probably owing to rapid renal clearance. Conclusions: Trastuzumab-IRDye800CW may be used as a potential NIR probe that can be injected 2-3 days before surgery to obtain high HER2-specific signal and contrast. Affibody-based NIR probes may require modifications to enhance mobilization to the tumor site.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2021

Sonobuoy is widely used as a very important sensor in combat management system using P-3 patrol aircraft due to its advantages of rapid searching into wide exploration range. It is necessary to verify the performance of developed sonobuoy system using various maritime test data in order to be successfully applied in combat management system. But it is difficult to acquire various real maritime data because it needs much time and effort. Therefore we have developed in this paper a synthetic signal generator and a simulator that they can verify the performance of sonobuoy system and evaluate its operational effectiveness without conducting maritime test. We have synthesized target signals based on the characteristics of underwater sound sources, and then developed the synthesized signal generator which consider to sound propagation etc. like as underwater environment. And in the simulator development we use a HMI technique to enhance the convenience of operator, and design to verify the performance of sonobuoy system. The developed signal generator and simulator can be used as useful tools to evaluate the operational effectiveness such as optimal deployment of sonobuoy in combat management system using P-3 patrol aircraft.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.13-20
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• 2022

IEEE 802.11ay Wi-Fi is the next generation wireless technology and operates in mmWave band. It supports the MU-MIMO (Multiple User Multiple Input Multiple Output) transmission in which an AP (Access Point) can transmit multiple data streams simultaneously to multiple STAs (Stations). To this end, the AP should perform MU-MIMO beamforming training with the STAs. For efficient MU-MIMO beamforming training, it is important for the AP to estimate signal strength measured at each STA at which multiple beams are used simultaneously. Therefore, in the paper, we propose a deep learning-based link quality estimation scheme. Our proposed scheme estimates the signal strength with high accuracy by utilizing a deep learning model pre-trained for a certain indoor or outdoor propagation scenario. Specifically, to estimate the signal strength of the multiple concurrent beams, our scheme uses the signal strengths of the respective single beams, which can be obtained without additional signaling overhead, as the input of the deep learning model. For performance evaluation, we utilized a Q-D (Quasi-Deterministic) Channel Realization open source software and extensive channel measurement campaigns were conducted with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) to implement the millimeter wave (mmWave) channel. Our simulation results demonstrate that our proposed scheme outperforms comparison schemes in terms of the accuracy of the signal strength estimation.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.325-332
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• 2014

High cognitive workload decreases a driver's ability of judgement and response in traffic situation and could result in a traffic accident. Electrocardiography (ECG) has been used for evaluation of drivers' cognitive workload; however, individual differences in ECG response corresponding to cognitive workload have not been fully considered. The present study developed an evaluation method of individual driver's cognitive workload based on ECG data, and evaluated its usefulness through an experiment in a driving simulator. The evaluation method developed by the present study determined the optimal ECG evaluation condition for individual participant by analysis of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for various conditions (total number of conditions = 144) in terms of four aspects (ECG measure, window span, update rate, and workload level). AUC analysis on the various conditions showed that the optimal ECG evaluation condition for each participant was significantly different. In addition, the optimal ECG evaluation condition could accurately detect changes in cognitive workload for 47% of the total participants (n = 15). The evaluation method proposed in the present study can be utilized in the evaluation of individual driver's cognitive workload for an intelligent vehicle.