• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics C
• /
• v.36C no.12
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 1999

Fractal image compression algorithm has been studied mostly not in the view of hardware but software. However, a general processor by software can't decode fractal compressed images in real-time. Therefore, it is necessary that we develop a fast dedicated hardware. However, design examples of dedicated hardware are very rare. In this paper, we designed a quadtree fractal-based compressed image decoder which can decode $256{\times}256$ gray-scale images in real-time and used two power-down methods. The first is a hardware-optimized simple post-processing, whose role is to remove block effect appeared after reconstruction, and which is easier to be implemented in hardware than non-2' exponents weighted average method used in conventional software implementation, lessens costs, and accelerates post-processing speed by about 69%. Therefore, we can expect that the method dissipates low power and low energy. The second is to design a power dissipation in the multiplier can be reduced by about 28% with respect to a general array multiplier which is known efficient for low power design in the size of 8 bits or smaller. Using the above two power-down methods, we designed decoder's core block in 3.3V, 1 poly 3 metal, $0.6{\mu}m$ CMOS technology.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.121-129
• /
• 2014

Objectives : Patients with cervical ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) are susceptible to cord injury, which often develops into myelopathic symptoms. However, little is known regarding the prognostic factors that are involved in minor trauma. We evaluated the relationship between minor trauma and neurological outcome of OPLL and investigated the prognostic factors with a focus on compressive factors and intramedullary signal intensity (SI). Methods : A total of 74 patients with cervical myelopathy caused by OPLL at more than three-levels were treated with posterior decompression surgeries. We surveyed the space available for spinal cord (SAC), the severity of SI change on T2-weighted image, and diabetes mellitus (DM). The neurological outcome using Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scale was assessed at admission and at 12-month follow-up. Results : Among the variables tested, preoperative JOA score, severity of intramedullary SI, SAC, and DM were significantly related to neurological outcome. The mean preoperative JOA were $11.3{\pm}1.9$ for the 41 patients who did not have histories of trauma and $8.0{\pm}3.1$ for the 33 patients who had suffered minor traumas (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the recovery ratios between those two groups. Conclusions : Initial neurological status and high intramedullary SI in the preoperative phase were related to poorer postoperative outcomes. Moreover, the patients with no histories of DM and larger SACs exhibited better improvement than did the patients with DM and smaller SACs. Although the initial JOA scores were worse for the minor trauma patients than did those who had no trauma prior to surgery, minor trauma exerted no direct effects on the surgical outcomes.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.14-30
• /
• 1998

Manganese is an essential element in the body. It is mainly deposited in the liver and to a lesser degree in the basal ganglia of the brain and eliminated through the bile duct. Rapid turnover of managanese in the body makes it difficult to evaluate the manganese exposure in workers, esecially in those with irregular or intermittent exposure, like welders. Therefore, conventional biomarkers, including blood and urine manganese can provide only a limited information about the long-tern or cumulative exposure to manganese. Introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) made a progress in the assessment of manganese exposure in the medical conditions related to manganese accumulation, e. g. hepatic failure and long-term total parenteral nutrition. Manganese shortens spin-lattice(T1) relaxation time on MRI due to its paramagnetic property, resulting in high signal intensity (HSI) on T1-weighted image(T1W1) of MRI. Manganese deposition in the brain, therefore, can be visualizedas an HSI in the globus pallidus, the substantia nigra, the putamen and the pituitary. clinical and epidemiologic studies regarding the MRI findings in the cases of occupational and non-occupational manganese exposure were reviewed. relationships between HSI on T1W1 of MRI and age, gender, occupational manganese exposure, and neurological dysfunction were analysed. Relationships betwen biological exposure indices and HSI on MRE werealso reviewed. Literatures were reviewed to establish the relationships between HSI, Manganese deposition in the brain, pathologic findings, and neurological dysfunction. HSI on T1W1 of MRI reflects regional manganese deposition in the brain. This relationship enables an estimation of regional manganese deposition in the brain by analysing MR signal intensity. Manganese deposition in the brain can induce a neuronal loss in the basal ganglia but functional abnormality is supposed to be related to the cumulative exposure of manganese in the brain, use of brain MRI for the assessment of exposure in a group of workers seems to be hardly rationalized, while ti can be a useful adjunct for the evaluation of manganese exposure int he cases with suspected manganese-related health problems.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.268-271
• /
• 2004

A 43-year-old man was presented with persistent headache for two weeks. 72 weighted MR imaging showed high signal intensity with surrounding edema in the left frontal lobe. These findings were considered with intracranial tumor such as glioma or metastasis. Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT showed focal radiotracer accumulation in the left frontal lobe. The operative specimen contained cerebral infarction with organizing leptomeningeal hematoma by pathologist. Another 73-year-old man was hospitalized for chronic headache. Initial CT showed ill-defined hypodensity with mass effect in the right parietal lobe. Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT showed focal radiotracer uptake in the right parietal lobe. These findings were considered with low-grade glioma or infarction. Follow-up CT after 5 months showed slightly decreased in size of low density in the right parietal lobe, and cerebral infarction is more likely than others. Tc-99m tetrofosmin has been proposed as a cardiotracer of myocardial perfusion imaging and an oncotropic radiotracer. Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT image provides a better attractive alternative agent than T1-201 as a tumor-imaging agent, with characteristics such as high-energy flux, short half-life, favorable biodistribution, dosimetry and lower background radioactivity. We have keep in mind on the analysis of Tc-99m tetrofomin imaging when cerebral infarction is being differentiated from brain tumor.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.223-228
• /
• 2013

We evaluated the usefulness of $DTI_{6D}$ which was acquiring six direction diffusion data through compared to $DWI_{3D}$. Mean SNR and CNR were on $DWI_{3D}$ and $DTI_{6D}$ $44.01{\pm}13.36$, $37.15{\pm}11.44$ (p=0.029) and $18.47{\pm}9.66$, $19.88{\pm}9.20$(p=0.017). The number of lesions were $311{\pm}26.87$, $224.5{\pm}26.16$(p=0.041) on $DTI_{6D}$ and $DWI_{3D}$. Twenty patients were the more detected brain infarction lesion on $DTI_{6D}$. But there is no one the more detected on $DWI_{3D}$. And the more three direction diffusion data could get more information. However, we need to consider about the time consumption compared to DWI.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.490-494
• /
• 2009

A 2-year-old Maltese and a 5-month-old Yorkshire terrier were presented with ataxia. Tetraparesis was observed in a 9-year -old Yorkshire terrier. The localizations of the lesions suggested brain or cervical spinal cord by the neurological examination, and the following images was achieved: radiography, axial images of computed tomography (CT), reconstruction image of CT such as multi-planar reformation(MPR) and 3-dimensional(3D) reconstruction and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On radiography, the misalignment between atlas (C1) and axis (C2), absent dens of axis, and increased space between the dorsal arch of C1 and spinous process of C2 were found. The discontinuation between dens and body of C2 was identified through axial CT images, and the fragmentation of dens separated from axis was observed through MPR and 3D image in all case. The hyperintense lesions and the spinal cord compression on T2-weighted MR images were represented in a dog with tetraparesis, the others represented only spinal cord compression. Three dogs were diagnosed as atlantoaxial instability (AAI) by dens fracture of C2. The dog with tetraparesis was euthanized due to guarded prognosis. The others were recovered completely. It is difficult to differentiate dens fracture of C2 from abnormal dens such as agenesis and hypoplasia. We thought that CT is very useful to evaluate the dens of C2 and differentiate the causes of AAI, and the reconstruction images of CT such as MPR and 3D make the translation of the fragmented dens or axis of AAI more precisely evaluate.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.60-71
• /
• 2018

Objectives A growing body of evidence has suggested that morphologic changes in cerebellum may be implicated with pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of this study is to investigate a difference in the volume and cortical thickness of the specific region of cerebellum between patients with MDD and healthy controls (HC). Methods A total of 127 patients with MDD and 105 HC participated in this study and underwent T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging. We analyzed volume and cortical thickness of each twelve cerebellum regions divided by left and right and the volume and cortical thickness of the whole cerebellum from T1-weigted image of participants. One-way analysis of covariance was used to investigate the volume and cortical thickness difference of total and specific regions between two groups adjusting for age, gender, medication, and total intracranial cavity volume. Results We found that the patients with MDD had significantly greater volume in the left cerebellum lobule III region [false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected p = 0.034] compared to HC. Also, our findings indicate that cortical thickness of left lobule VIIB (FDR-corrected p = 0.032) and lobule VIIIB (FDR-corrected p = 0.032) are significantly thinner in the patients with MDD compared with the HC. No significant volume and cortical thickness differences were observed in other sub-regions of the cerebellum. The volumes and cortical thickness of whole cerebellum between patients with MDD and HC did not differ significantly. Conclusions We observed the region-specific volume and cortical thickness difference in cerebellum between the patients with MDD and HC. The results of our study implicate that the information about structural alterations in cerebellum with further replicative studies might provide a stepping stone toward a specific marker to diagnose MDD.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.268-278
• /
• 2003

Purpose：The aim of this study was to evaluate the striatal binding ratio, the anterior/posterior ratio and reproducibility using a template based registration method using the standard MR template as a replacement for each patients MR image. Materials and Methods：This study analyzed the 123I IPT SPECT images of 30 patients with IPD, who were subdivided into 17 patients (56.6$\pm$10.8 yr, M/F : 8/9.) with mild IPD, and 13 patients (56.4$\pm$11.1 yr, M/F : 8/5) with severe IPD. In addition, 11 normal controls (57.8$\pm$14.4 yr, M/F : 4/7) were also analyzed. The ROIs were positioned manually in the same slice showing the highest striatal activity using the traditional manual method, whereas those were positioned automatically in a mid striatal slice of the SPECT image coregistered to the standard T1 weighted MR template. Results : The specific binding ratio (SBR) obtained using the template based registration method strongly correlated with those using the manual method in all groups : normal controls (r=0.85, P<0.001), mild IPD (r=0.84, P<0.001) and severe IPD (r=0.7, P=0.01). The SBRs obtained using both methods were significantly different among the three groups (P=0.05) and the SBRs obtained by the template based registration method were higher than those by the manual method (P=0.05) in all three groups. The APRs obtained by the template based registration correlated with those using manual method in only mild IPD (r=0.72, P=0.0). The APRs obtained by the template based registration method were significantly different from the normal controls and those with mild or severe IPD (P<0.05), whereas those obtained using the manual method were not significantly different among the three groups (P＞0.1). The reproducibility (rmsCV) of the template based registration method was 7.2% (normal controls：5.2%, mild IPD：4.2%, severe IPD：10.8%), whereas the reproducibility of the manual method was 31% (normal controls：19.7%, mild IPD：21.7%, severe IPD：46.2%). Conclusion：These results show that the use of $^{123}$ I-IPT SPECT for assessing IPD is affected by the methods used to position the striatal ROI. The template based registration method using the standard MR template can be useful in diagnosing IPD and assessing the disease severity with a high reproducibility. Therefore, the template based registration method appears to be a good replacement for the manual method.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.20-26
• /
• 2002

Fibrous dysplasia is a benign pathologic condition in which the normal cancellous bone is replaced by the fibro-osseous tissue. It is found mostly in the femur, tibia, skull, rib, and humerus. Clinically it may develops pain, progressive deformity, and pathologic fracture. Curettage with bone graft has been the most popular treatment method thesedays. A 17-year-old female who had fibrous dysplasia of the humerus combined with multiple cystic lesion was treated by intralesional steroid injection into the lesion total 2 times. The follow-up plain X-ray which was taken 11 months after steroid injection reveals decrease in size and increase in bone density and cortex thickness. The follow-up MRI reveals significant decrease in size and signal intensity. The signal intensity was decreased to that of normal bone marrow in T2 weighted image. She complains no pain and lives symptom free in last follow-up at 2 years and 8 months after steroid injection.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2014

Purpose : To determine whether high-resolution contrast-enhanced three dimensional imaging with spoiled gradient-recalled sequence (HR-CE 3D-SPGR) plays a meaningful role in the assessment of intracranial vertebral artery (ICVA) and posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in lateral medullary infarction (LMI). Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients confirmed with LMI were retrospectively enrolled with approval by the IRB of our institute, and 3T MRI with HR-CE 3D-SPGR and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) were performed. Two radiologists who were blinded to clinical information and other brain MR images including diffusion weighted image independently evaluated arterial lesions in ICVA and PICA. The demographic characteristics, the area of LMI and cerebellar involvement were analyzed and compared between patients with arterial lesion in ICVA only and patients with arterial lesions in both ICVA and PICA on HR-CE 3D-SPGR. Results: Twenty-two of twenty-five LMI patients had arterial lesions in ICVA or PICA on HR-CE 3D SPGR. However twelve arterial lesions in PICA were not shown on CE-MRA. Concurrent cerebellar involvement appeared more in LMI patients with arterial lesion in ICVA and PICA than those with arterial lesion in ICVA alone (p = 0.069). Conclusion: HR-CE 3D-SPGR can help evaluate arterial lesions in ICVA and PICA for LMI patients.