• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.51-62
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• 2008

• 대한방사성의약품학회지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.93-98
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• 2021

meta-iodobenzylguanidine is one of the norepinephrine analogs and reuptakes together with norepinephrine with norepinephrine transporter. The radioiodinated ligand, ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine, is the most widely used for single photon emission computed tomography imaging to diagnose functional abnormalities and tumors of the sympathetic nervous system. In this study, we performed cellular uptake studies of ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine in positive- and negative-norepinephrine transporter cells in vitro to verify the uptake activity for norepinephrine transporter. After ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine was injected via a tail vein into normal mice, Single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography images were acquired at 1 h, 4 h, and 24 h post-injection, and quantified the distribution in each organ including the adrenal medulla as a norepinephrine transporter expressing organ. In vitro cell study showed that ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine specifically uptaked via norepinephrine transporter, and significant uptake of ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine in the adrenal medulla in vivo single photon emission computed tomography images. These results demonstrated that single photon emission computed tomography imaging with ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine were able to quantify the biodistribution in vivo in the adrenal medulla in normal mice.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.1982-1990
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to verify the possibility of fuel rod pattern analysis in a fresh fuel assembly using the Yonsei single-photon emission computed tomography (YSECT) system. The YSECT system consisted of three main parts: four trapezoidal-shaped bismuth germanate scintillator-based 64-channel detectors, a semiconductor-based multi-channel data acquisition system, and a rotary stage. In order to assess the performance of the prototype YSECT, tomographic images were obtained for three representative fuel rod patterns in the 6 × 6 array using two representative image-reconstruction algorithms. The fuel-rod patterns were then assessed using an in-house fuel rod pattern analysis algorithm. In the experimental results, the single-directional projection images for those three fuel-rod patterns well discriminated each fuel-rod location, showing a Gaussian-peak-shaped projection for a single 10 mm-diameter fuel rod with 12.1 mm full-width at half maximum. Finally, we successfully verified the possibility of the fuel rod pattern analysis for all three patterns of fresh fuel rods with the tomographic images obtained by the rotational YSECT system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권7호
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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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권12호
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• pp.4591-4596
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• 2023

Single-photon emission computed tomography SPECT image reconstruction methods have a significant influence on image quality, with filtered back projection (FBP) and ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) being the most commonly used methods. In this study, we proposed newly-designed adaptive non-blind deconvolution with a structural similarity (SSIM) index that can take advantage of the FBP and OSEM image reconstruction methods. After acquiring brain SPECT images, the proposed image was obtained using an algorithm that applied the SSIM metric, defined by predicting the distribution and amount of blurring. As a result of the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and coefficient of variation evaluation (COV), the resulting image of the proposed algorithm showed a similar trend in spatial resolution to that of FBP, while obtaining values similar to those of OSEM. In addition, we confirmed that the CNR and COV values of the proposed algorithm improved by approximately 1.69 and 1.59 times, respectively, compared with those of the algorithm involving an inappropriate deblurring process. To summarize, we proposed a new type of algorithm that combines the advantages of SPECT image reconstruction techniques and is expected to be applicable in various fields.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

The evolution of X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been based on the discovery of X-rays, the inception of the Radon transform, and the development of X-ray digital data acquisition systems and computer technology. Unlike conventional X-ray imaging (general radiography), CT reconstructs cross-sectional anatomical images of the internal structures according to X-ray attenuation coefficients (approximate tissue density) for almost every region in the body. This article reviews the essential physical principles and technical aspects of the CT scanner, including several notable evolutions in CT technology that resulted in the emergence of helical, multidetector, cone beam, portable, dual-energy, and phase-contrast CT, in integrated imaging modalities, such as positron-emission-tomography-CT and single-photon-emission-computed-tomography-CT, and in clinical applications, including image acquisition parameters, CT angiography, image adjustment, versatile image visualizations, volumetric/surface rendering on a computer workstation, radiation treatment planning, and target localization in radiotherapy. The understanding of CT characteristics will provide more effective and accurate patient care in the fields of diagnostics and radiotherapy, and can lead to the improvement of image quality and the optimization of exposure doses.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.363-375
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• 2023

Stem cells are the foundational cells for every organ and tissue in our body. Cell-based therapeutics using stem cells in regenerative medicine have received attracting attention as a possible treatment for various diseases caused by congenital defects. Stem cells such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as well as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and neuroprogenitors stem cells (NSCs) have recently been studied in various ways as a cell-based therapeutic agent. When various stem cells are transplanted into a living body, they can differentiate and perform complex functions. For stem cell transplantation, it is essential to determine the suitability of the stem cell-based treatment by evaluating the origin of stem, the route of administration, in vivo bio-distribution, transplanted cell survival, function, and mobility. Currently, these various stem cells are being imaged in vivo through various molecular imaging methods. Various imaging modalities such as optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have been introduced for the application of various stem cell imaging. In this review, we discuss the principles and recent advances of in vivo molecular imaging for application of stem cell research.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.29-39
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• 2024

Background: The gamma emission tomography (GET) device has been reported a reliable technique to inspect partial defects within spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of pin-by-pin level. However, the existing GET devices have low accuracy owing to the high attenuation and scatter probability for SNF inspection condition. The purpose of this study is to design and optimize a Yonsei single-photon emission computed tomography version 2 (YSECT.v.2) for fast inspection of SNF in water storage by acquisition of high-quality tomographic images. Materials and Methods: Using Geant4 (Geant4 Collaboration) and DETECT-2000 (Glenn F. Knoll et al.) Monte Carlo simulation, the geometrical structure of the proposed device was determined and its performance was evaluated for the ¹³⁷Cs source in water. In a Geant4-based assessment, proposed device was compared with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-authenticated device for the quality of tomographic images obtained for 12 fuel sources in a 14 × 14 Westinghouse-type fuel assembly. Results and Discussion: According to the results, the length, slit width, and septal width of the collimator were determined to be 65, 2.1, and 1.5 mm, respectively, and the material and length of the trapezoidal-shaped scintillator were determined to be gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet and 45 mm, respectively. Based on the results of performance comparison between the YSECT.v.2 and IAEA's device, the proposed device showed 200 times higher performance in gamma-detection sensitivity and similar source discrimination probability. Conclusion: In this study, we optimally designed the GET device for improving the SNF inspection accuracy and evaluated its performance. Our results show that the YSECT.v.2 device could be employed for SNF inspection.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.43-48
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• 1991

As the computerized methods and equipments In nuclear medicine imaging increases, quantitative information is needed on the single photon emission computed tomographic Images as well as on the conventional nuclear medicine images. In this paper, the authors investigated the effect of several clinician - friendly reconstrution filters on the resultant transverse slices of backprojected Profiles of radioisotope distribution from the Quantitative point of view, and reduced the filter parameters such as cutoff frequency and order of filter which are neces mary to minimize the quantification error using computer-generated phantoms.

• 대한정형외과학회지
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.509-518
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• 2019

목적: 악성 종양 환자에서 림프절 전이를 발견하는 것은 초기에 정확한 병기 및 예후와 관련된 정보를 알 수 있고 수술 후 보조치료(adjuvant therapy)의 필요성을 평가해서 조기에 치료를 할 수 있도록 해주기 때문에 중요하다. 본 연구를 통해 정형외과 영역의 악성 종양 환자를 평가함에 있어 양전자 방출 컴퓨터 단층 촬영기(positron emission tomography/computed tomography, PET/CT)가 sentinel lymph node biopsy와 비교하여 유용한지를 알아보고자 한다. 대상 및 방법: 2008년부터 2018년까지 악성 근골격계 종양으로 진단받고 PET/CT를 촬영한 환자 251명 중 72명의 환자를 선별하여 후향적 분석을 시행하였다. 림프절 전이가 의심되는 환자군은 조직검사를 시행하였다. 분석은 의무기록, 임상정보, PET/CT 영상 및 판독 소견, 병리 결과를 통해 시행하였으며, 임상경과 및 병리검사 결과를 PET/CT 결과와 비교하여 PET/CT의 정확도를 평가하였다. 결과: 환자의 나이는 14세에서 88세까지 분포하였고, 평균 추시 기간은 2.4년이었으며, 22명에서 림프절의 전이가 확인되었다. 육종 및 비육종 종양에서 PET/CT 영상의 민감도, 특이도, 양성예측도, 음성예측도는 전문가의 소견을 함께 고려할 경우 상당히 상승하는 것을 확인하였다. 결론: 본 연구를 통하여 전문가의 소견을 함께 고려한다면, 림프절의 전이를 발견하는 데 PET/CT의 유용성은 증가할 것으로 생각된다.