• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2008

Retinal prosthesis is regarded as the most feasible method for the blind caused by retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) or age related macular degeneration (AMD). Recently Korean consortium launched for developing retinal prosthesis. One of the prerequisites for the success of retinal prosthesis is the optimization of the electrical stimuli applied through the prosthesis. Since electrical characteristics of degenerate retina are expected to differ from those of normal retina, we performed voltage stimulation experiment both in normal and degenerate retina to provide a guideline for the optimization of electrical stimulation for the upcoming prosthesis. After isolation of retina, retinal patch was attached with the ganglion cell side facing the surface of microelectrode arrays (MEA). $8{\times}8$ grid layout MEA (electrode diameter: $30{\mu}m$, electrode spacing: $200{\mu}m$, and impedance: $50k{\Omega}$ at 1 kHz) was used to record in-vitro retinal ganglion cell activity. Mono-polar electrical stimulation was applied through one of the 60 MEA channel, and the remaining channels were used for recording. The electrical stimulus was a constant voltage, charge-balanced biphasic, anodic-first square wave pulse without interphase delay, and 50 trains of pulse was applied with a period of 2 sec. Different electrical stimuli were applied. First, pulse amplitude was varied (voltage: $0.5{\sim}3.0V$). Second, pulse duration was varied $(100{\sim}1,200{\mu}s)$. Evoked responses were analyzed by PSTH from averaged data with 50 trials. Charge density was calculated with Ohm's and Coulomb's law. In normal retina, by varying the pulse amplitude from 0.5 to 3V with fixed duration of $500{\mu}s$, the threshold level for reliable ganglion cell response was found at 1.5V. The calculated threshold of charge density was $2.123mC/cm^2$. By varying the pulse duration from 100 to $1,200{\mu}s$ with fixed amplitude of 2V, the threshold level was found at $300{\mu}s$. The calculated threhold of charge density was $1.698mC/cm^2$. Even after the block of ON-pathway with L-(1)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB), electrical stimulus evoked ganglion cell activities. In this APB-induced degenerate retina, by varying the pulse duration from 100 to $1200{\mu}s$ with fixed voltage of 2 V, the threshold level was found at $300{\mu}s$, which is the same with normal retina. More experiment with APB-induced degenerate retina is needed to make a clear comparison of threshold of charge density between normal and degenerate retina.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.465-473
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the desensitizing effects of a Nd:YAG laser (Sunlase, SUNRISE Technologies, Inc., USA) irradiation on cervically exposed hypersensitive dentine. 45 patients was irradiated with pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1.5 W, 20 Hz, 75 mJ/pulse, 4 minutes) as the experimental group, 27 patients was mock irradiated as the control group. The degree of sensitivity to the thermal and tactile stimuli were determined qualitatively with an evaporative stimulus defined as two times air blast at a distance of 3 mm from each site to be tested and with a mechanical stimulus as a slightly scratching the cervical site with a dental explorer. A qualitative registration of the degree of discomfort was determined according to a numerical pain scale(NPS) in an 11-point scale in which 0= "no pain" and 10="most excruciating pain imaginable". Recordings were assessed before treatment, immediately after, 1 and 2 weeks after treatment. Pain tolerance threshold and pulp vitality were evaluated with electric pulp tester before and immediately after treatment. 1. Desensitizing of hypersensitive dentine with Nd:YAG laser irradiation was more effective than that with mock irradiation. 2. The placebo effect of mock irradiation was recognized for severe sensitive teeth($NPS\;{\geqq}\;6$), but not for moderate sensitive teeth(NPS < 6). 3. Laser irradiation did not affect the pain tolerance threshold and pulp vitality of the hypersensitive teeth. 4. Desensitizing effect of laser irradiation for the hypersensitive teeth had been continuing at least 2 weeks. It was concluded that desensitizing of hypersensitive dentine with a Nd:YAG laser is effective and the maintenance of the positive result was more prolonged than the placebo effect.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.17-25
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• 1997

The evoked potentials for concentrations of solutions of the four qualities of tastes(i.e., sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes) were measured. The solution was applied to the chorda tympani nerve located on the left side of the tongue at 20mm from the tip and 15mm left from the center line. The evoked potentials were detected from Cz referred to A1(left lobe) with the ground at the Fpz position. The Maximum potential level and its latency were evaluated. The individual threshold level of concentration of the solutions of four tastes were measured. Artificial saliva was used as a control solution. The evoked positive potentials for four qualities of tastes (i.e., gustatory evokde potentials) were found to be around 150ms by averaging eight responses. The arbitrary concentration of the solutions were presented by the relative concentration, which was the ratio of the arbitrary concentration to the individual threshold level. The characteristic relations between the latency and the relative concentration ;and those between the potential level and the relative concentration were evaluated. These evalutions showed that (1) the latencies for salty and bitter tastes denoted the minimum values due to for the change of relative concentration, and that (2) the latency for sour taste decreased as the relative concentrations increased, while the latency for sweet taste denoted the inverse tendency, Sinificant differences between any two maximum potential levels were not recognized. A response latencies to sucrose were abolished after treatment of tongue by a sweet-suppressing agent.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.888-891
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• 2005

In this paper, the prototype of a walking guide robot with tactile display is introduced, and the psychophysical experiment of the tactile recognition for a tactile display is carried out and analyzed. The objective of this research is the development of a walking guide robot for the blind to walk safely. A walking guide robot consists of a guide vehicle and a tactile display device. A guide vehicle, located in the front of the walking blind, detects the obstacle using ultrasonic sensors and offers the information of position and walking direction acquired from GPS module to the walking blind by voice. The tactile display device, located in the handle which is connected with the guide vehicle by cane, offers the processed obstacle information such as position, size, moving, shape of obstacle and safe path, etc. The psychophysical experiments for the threshold of perception and recognition ability of tactile stimulation are carried out by the estimation of the subject group. As a result the appropriate tactile stimulus intensity and frequency to recognize tactile stimulation effectively are discussed and derived.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.112-121
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• 2013

The last years have seen a rise of interest in using electroencephalography-based brain computer interfacing methodology for investigating non-medical questions, beyond the purpose of communication and control. One of these novel applications is to examine how signal quality is being processed neurally, which is of particular interest for industry, besides providing neuroscientific insights. As for most behavioral experiments in the neurosciences, the assessment of a given stimulus by a subject is required. Based on an EEG study on speech quality of phonemes, we will first discuss the information contained in the neural correlate of this judgement. Typically, this is done by analyzing the data along behavioral responses/labels. However, participants in such complex experiments often guess at the threshold of perception. This leads to labels that are only partly correct, and oftentimes random, which is a problematic scenario for using supervised learning. Therefore, we propose a novel supervised-unsupervised learning scheme, which aims to differentiate true labels from random ones in a data-driven way. We show that this approach provides a more crisp view of the brain states that experimenters are looking for, besides discovering additional brain states to which the classical analysis is blind.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2001

Background: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used widely, but its effects are controversial. This is probably due to the varying intensity and type of pain. We designed a study to assess the effects of the TENS on the RIII nociceptive flexion reflex as the resting pain level and the temporal summation as a repeated, movement related pain in 7 normal volunteer subjects. Methods: High frequency (80 Hz), non-noxious TENS was applied over the left popliteal fossa for 20 minutes. Ipsilateral RIII reflexes induced by single electrical stimulus and temporal summation of pain responses to repeated stimuli (five stimuli at 2 Hz) were recorded before, during (just before stopping), and subsequently at 20 minutes after TENS. Results: R (III) nociceptive flexion reflex activity during and after TENS was more significantly decreased than before treatment. However, the temporal summation threshold was not changed. Conclusions: We conclude that high frequency, non-noxious TENS could be effective on resting pain relief in the same segment but not on the movement related pain.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

Objective : The aims of this study were to observe how body weight and gastric morphology were changed and whether gastric emptying was impaired in rats with partial pyloric obstruction. and to evaluate whether electroacupuncture was able to restore delayed gastric emptying. Methods : Partial pyloric obstruction was induced by wrapping a nonabsorbable rubber ring around the 1st portion of the duodenum for 2 weeks. Body gain and morphologic changes of stomach were investigated and compared with normal intact rats. Gastric emptying was measured by numbering expelled glass of beads in rats. Rats were divided into 4 groups(non-acupuncture, manual acupuncture. 3Hz-electroacupuncture. 60Hz-electroacupuncture). Stimulus intensity in two electroacupuncture groups was 1.2 times of pain threshold. Results : Partial pyloric obstruction produced a significant loss of body weight and induced a significant increase of gastric surface area. The 60Hz electroacupuncture-stimulated group significantly restored the delayed gastric emptying compared to the other groups of rats with partial pyloric obstruction. Conclusion : 60Hz electroacupuncture stimulation on Zusanli(ST36) showed significant restoration of delayed gastric emptying in rats with partial pyloric obstruction.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.423-429
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• 2013

The present study aimed to find the most sensitive placement of the skull to perceive speech through the bone vibrator in various protection methods while being exposed to noise. Twenty young normal-hearing adults (10 male and 10 female) participated in the study. As stimulus, Korean spondee words were presented via one of five skull locations (i.e., jaw angle, condyle, temple, mastoid, and vertex), while the participants wore one of four protection methods (i.e., ear form, ear plug, ear muff, and ear form and muff together) against white noise in one of four noise directions (i.e., 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees). The results showed: 1) there was a significant difference among the five skull locations with condyle being the most sensitive placement; 2) there was a significant difference among the four protection methods, with the ear form plus ear muff condition (or dual protection) providing the lowest threshold; 3) when exposed to noise from 90 degrees, the significantly lowest threshold was found; 4) there was no significant difference in results by gender. The pattern of results suggests that the communicative condition via the condyle bone conduction and the dual protection of the air conduction under any noise direction might be ideal for preventing noise-induced hearing loss, although further studies should be undertaken in this area.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2014

Binaural interaction can recognize the same intensity sound by stimulating two ears alternatively, and it can be record auditory brainstem responses (ABR). However, We needs to be researched about binaural interaction in asymmetric binaural acoustic stimulation. 17 normal young hearing university students were participated. Clicks were presented at the intensity of 90 dB nHL to one ear and the click intensity was increased from 0 to 90 dB nHL with a separation of 10 dB to another ear, simultaneous. BI waveform was obtained by subtracting the sum of the asymmetrically evoked potentials from the binaurally evoked potentials; i.e. BI = B - (L + R). Latency and amplitude was measured 'peak to following trough' of IV-V complex of BI waveform. Threshold of BIC (t-BIC) was obtained using amplitude depend on stimulus intensities (paired sample t-test). Latency shifted in 4.65, 4.63, 4.57, 4.58, 4.62, 4.6, 4.48, 4.36, 4.23 ms for peak, 5.57, 5.51, 5.51, 5.59, 5.61, 5.55, 5.44, 5.28, 5.19 ms for trough, and amplitude shifted in .0.32, -0.3, -0.34, -0.32, -0.42, -0.53, -0.54, -0.61, $-0.67{\mu}V$ from 0 to 90 dB nHL in every 10 dB, respectively. t-BIC was observed 40 dB nHL(p=.001).

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.409-420
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• 1989

Extracellular recordings were made from the spinal neurons in the lumbar enlargement of 16 cats before and during electrical stimulation of the radial nerve ipsilaterally and contralaterally. Only neurons activated by remote nerve stimulation (RNS) were included in sample. All the cell classes of spinal neurons which received afferents message from the skin and/or muscles were activated by RNS except LT cells. Approximately three quaters of cells activated by RNS had an inhibitory receptive field (RF) on the ipsilateral hindlimb and two thirds of RNS-activated neurons showed spontaneous activity. The most of these RNS-activated cells seemed to be in deep dorsal horn and in ventral horn as well. Stimulation of contralateral radial nerve produced activation of spinal neurons almost same degree as by ipsilateral nerve stimulation. The optimal stimulation parameters of radial nerve for activation of spinal cells were 5Hz-0.5 msec-2V while threshold stimulus for activation was approximately 0.18 V. Following close intra-arterial injection of $K^+$ ion excitability of RNS-activated neuron was increased in 4 of 8 cells whereas it was decreased in 2 of 8 cells. The results indicate that there are some spinal neurons in the lumbar enlargement of cats that can be activated by forelimb afferent $(A{\beta}\;&\;A{\delta})$ inputs.