• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.281-290
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• 2010

Cone-beam digital tomosynthesis (CBDT) has greatly been paid attention in the image-guided radiation therapy because of its attractive advantages such as low patient dose and less motion artifact. Image quality of tomograms is, however, dependent on the imaging conditions such as the scan angle (${\beta}_{scan}$) and the number of projection views. In this paper, we describe the principle of CBDT based on filtered-backprojection technique and investigate the optimization of imaging conditions. As a system performance, we have defined the figure-of-merit with a combination of signal difference-to-noise ratio, artifact spread function and floating-point operations which determine the computational load of image reconstruction procedures. From the measurements of disc phantom, which mimics an impulse signal and thus their analyses, it is concluded that the image quality of tomograms obtained from CBDT is improved as the scan angle is wider than 60 degrees with a larger step scan angle (${\Delta}{\beta}$). As a rule of thumb, the system performance is dependent on $\sqrt{{\Delta}{\beta}}{\times}{\beta}^{2.5}_{scan}$. If the exact weighting factors could be assigned to each image-quality metric, we would find the better quantitative imaging conditions.

• Archives of design research
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• v.19 no.1 s.63
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• pp.293-302
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• 2006

clay cups with handles made in studios in Korea and the United States were selected and analyzed. The shape of cup were fixed to ensure proper comparison between handle size of the cup and position. The variable factors were the thickness of the handle, the number of fingers required to hold the cup, the relationship between the handle's shape and the position of its attachment to the cup, the effect of the handle's setter, the change in shape of the handle's thickness, and the relationship between the cup's weight center and handle. Preference test were designed and tested to the users, and the results were analyzed. The results showed that to make a comfortable handle, it is important to incorporate the shape of the resting hand in the design of the handle. Specifically, the design should be such that the cup can be held comfortably. This is possible if the weight of the cup is spread evenly when several fingers are inside the handle's curve and if such factors as the hand size, the curve of the fingers, and the position that best controls the cup's weight center are carefully considered. At this time, if there is a setter for the thumb, a cup of the same weight can be lifted more lightly. In the design of such a cup, the oval line is drawn by extending the cup's handle toward the direction of the cup's body. If the cup's weight center is located on the oval line, the cup's handle may be said to be effective. In such a case, the nearer the handle is to the cup's body weight center, the less power is needed to lift the cup efficiently. Our test results can be applied as a powerful tools in design and manufacturing cups with handle in terms of artistry and functionality.