• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.365-368
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• 2007

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the enhancement effect of low-frequency ultrasound on skin permeation. In vitro permeation experiments were performed using Franz modified diffusion cells with ketoprofen as model drug. The effect of various ultrasound factors-ultrasound application mode (continuous mode and discontinuous mode), ultrasound intensity (0.26 $W/cm^2$, and 0.29 $W/cm^2$) and duty cycle (3%, 16%, 50%, and 83%) were studied. The highest permeation was observed at 0.29 $W/cm^2$ intensity, 50% duty cycle, and discontinuous mode. The result suggested the feasibility of low frequency ultrasound application for the phonophoretic transdermal drug delivery system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.501-518
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• 2013

Apart from thinning of cortical layers, the local bone curvature, varying along bone periphery, modulates ultrasound waves as well, which is however often underestimated or overlooked in clinical quantitative ultrasound (QUS). A dedicated three-dimensional finite element modelling technique for cortical bones was established, for quantitatively exploring and calibrating the effect of local curvature of cortical bone on ultrasound. Using a correlation-based mode extraction technique, high-velocity group (HVG) and low-velocity group (LVG) wave modes in a human radius were examined. Experimental verification using acrylic cylinders and in vitro testing using a porcine femur were accomplished. Results coherently unravelled the cortical curvature exerts evident influence on bone-guided ultrasound when RoC/${\lambda}$ <1 for HVG mode and RoC/${\lambda}$ <2 for LVG mode (RoC/${\lambda}$: the ratio of local bone curvature radius to wavelength); the sensitivity of LVG mode to bone curvature is higher than HVG mode. It has also been demonstrated the local group velocity of an HVG or LVG mode at a particular skeletal site is equivalent to the velocity when propagating in a uniform cylinder having an outer radius identical to the radius of curvature at that site. This study provides a rule of thumb to compensate for the effect of bone curvature in QUS.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.150-154
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• 2015

Long time ultrasound scan can cause a temperature rise in human tissue and affect the physical body. This is closely connected with patients' safety. So many researchers have been studied on this matter with animals such as mammals and experimental rat, because diagnostic ultrasound has been used many types of human organ to find disease. Therefore, this study is tested on bean sprouts to search how far the tissue temperature changes because of the excessive scanning consequence from ultrasound diagnosis and frequent number of ultrasonic scanning and how much affect their growth. The United States and several European countries have restrictions for number of scanning, while South Korea does not have any limitation for using ultrasound diagnosis. Comparison was that how different condition affect its' growing. The testing group is like many pregnancy moms to have 50 minutes in B-mode and color doppler mode by linear, convex and sector probe every day for a week and the other is to scan only once during the testing period. As a result, it was confirmed that there was a significant growing difference on frequent ultrasonic scanning group compared to normal one. So the final conclusion is that there needs to have a significant limitation of ultrasound scan time and a number of inspection when having for diagnostic ultrasound and recommendation like USA and a few European countries.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02b
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• pp.169-179
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• 1994

B-mode ultrasound is being used to assess carotid atherosclerosis in epidemiological studies and clinical trials. Recently the interpretation of measurements made from ultrasound images has been questioned. This study examines the anatomical correlates of B-mode ultrasound of carotid arteries in vitro and in situ in cadavers. Twenty-seven segments of human carotid artery were collected at autopsy. pressure perfusion fixed in buffered 2.5% gluteraldehyde and 4% paraformaldehyde and imaged using an ATL UM-8 (10 MHz single crystal mechanical probe). Each artery was then frozen, sectioned and stained with van Gieson or elastin van Gieson. The thickness of the intima. media and adventitia were measured 'to an accuracy of 0.01 mm from histological sections using a calibrated eye graticule on a light microscope. Shrinkage artifact induced by histological preparation was determined to be 7.8%. Digitised ultra sound images of the artery wall were analysed off-line. The distance from the leading edge of the first interface ($LE_{1}$) to the leading edge of the second interface ($LE_2$) was measured using a dedicated programme. $LE_{1}$-$LE_{2}$ measurements were correlated against histological measurements corrected for shrinkage. Mean values for the far wall were: ultra sound $LE_{1}$-$LE_{2}$ (0.97 mm, S.D. 0.26), total wall thickness (1.05 mm, S.D. 0.37), adventitia (0.35 mm, S.D. 0.16), media (0.61 mm, S.D. 0.18). intima (0.09 mm, S.D. 0.13). Ultrasound measurements corresponded best with total wall thickness, rather than elastin or the intima-media complex. Excision of part of the intima plus media or removal of the adventitia resulted in a corresponding decrease in the $LE_{1}$-$LE_{2}$ distance of the B-mode image. Furthermore. increased wall thickness due to intimal atherosclerotic thickening correlated well with $LE_{1}$-$LE_{2}$ distance of the B-mode images. B-mode images obtained from the carotid arteries in situ in four cadavers also corresponded best with total wall thickness measured from histological sections and not with the thickness of the intima plus media. In conclusion, the $LE_{1}$-$LE_{2}$ distance measured on B-mode images of the carotid artery best represents total wall thickness of intima plus media plus adventitia and not intima plus media alone.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2020

In this paper, we deal with a liver fibrosis classification problem using ultrasound B-mode images. Commonly representative methods for classifying the stages of liver fibrosis include liver biopsy and diagnosis based on ultrasound images. The overall liver shape and the smoothness and roughness of speckle pattern represented in ultrasound images are used for determining the fibrosis stages. Although the ultrasound image based classification is used frequently as an alternative or complementary method of the invasive biopsy, it also has the limitations that liver fibrosis stage decision depends on the image quality and the doctor's experience. With the rapid development of deep learning algorithms, several studies using deep learning methods have been carried out for automated liver fibrosis classification and showed superior performance of high accuracy. The performance of those deep learning methods depends closely on the amount of datasets. We propose an enhanced U-net architecture to maximize the classification accuracy with limited small amount of image datasets. U-net is well known as a neural network for fast and precise segmentation of medical images. We design it newly for the purpose of classifying liver fibrosis stages. In order to assess the performance of the proposed architecture, numerical experiments are conducted on a total of 118 ultrasound B-mode images acquired from 78 patients with liver fibrosis symptoms of F0~F4 stages. The experimental results support that the performance of the proposed architecture is much better compared to the transfer learning using the pre-trained model of VGGNet.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.412-417
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• 2006

Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) is a corticosteroid that is used in the systemic and topical treatment of many inflammatory diseases. In this study, a phonophoretic drug delivery system was designed to enhance the TA permeability and the influence of ultrasound was examined. In order to establish the transdermal delivery system for TA, a hydrophilic carbopol gel containing TA was prepared after adopting phonophoresis. A permeation study through mouse skin was performed at $37^{\circ}C$ using a Franz diffusion cell, and the ultrasound treatment was carried out for 10 h. The level of TA permeation through the skin was evaluated under various ultrasound conditions including the frequency (1.0, 3.0 MHz), intensity (1.0, $2.5W/cm^2 $), and duty cycle (continuous, pulse mode) using a 0.5% TA gel. The highest permeation was observed under the ultrasound treatment conditions of low frequency, high intensity, and in continuous mode.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.1E
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• pp.1-10
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• 2010

The difference in echogenicity between cancerous and normal tissues is not quite distinguishable in ultrasound B-mode imaging. However, tumor or cancer in breast or prostate tends to be stiffer than the surrounding normal tissue. Thus, imaging the stiffness contrast between the two different tissue types is helpful for quantitative diagnosis, and such a method of imaging the elasticity of human tissue is collectively referred to as ultrasound elasticity imaging. Recently, elasticity imaging has established itself as an effective diagnostic modality in addition to ultrasound B-mode imaging. The purpose of this paper is to present various elasticity imaging methods that have been reported up to now and to describe their principles of operation and characteristics.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.14
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• 2020

Background: Physical exercise is known to cause significant joint changes. Thus, monitoring joint behavior of athletic horses is essential in early disorders recognition, allowing the proper management. Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the morphological patterns, physical examination characteristics and ultrasound findings of show jumping horses in training and to establish a score-based examination model for physical and ultrasound follow-ups of metacarpophalangeal joint changes in these animals. Methods: A total of 52 metacarpophalangeal joints from 26 horses who were initially in the taming stage were evaluated, and the horses' athletic progression was monitored. The horses were evaluated by a physical examination and by B-mode and Doppler-mode ultrasound examinations, starting at time zero (T0), which occurred concomitantly with the beginning of training, and every 3 months thereafter for a follow-up period of 18 months. Results: The standardized examination model revealed an increase in the maximum joint flexion angles and higher scores on the physical and ultrasound examinations after scoring was performed by predefined assessment tools, especially between 3 and 6 months of evaluation, which was immediately after the horses started more intense training. The lameness score and the ultrasound examination score were slightly higher at the end of the study. Conclusions: The observed results were probably caused by the implementation of a training regimen and joint adaptation to physical conditioning. The joints most likely undergo a pre-osteoarthritic period due to work overload, which can manifest in a consistent or adaptive manner, as observed during this study. Thus, continuous monitoring of young athlete horses by physical and ultrasound examinations that can be scored is essential.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.573-584
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• 2012

Breast and prostate tumors or cancers tend to be stiffer than the surrounding normal tissue. However, the difference in echogenicity between cancerous and normal tissues is not clearly distinguishable in ultrasound B-mode imaging. Thus, imaging the stiffness contrast between the two different tissue types helps to diagnose lesions quantitatively, and such a method of imaging the elasticity of human tissue is termed ultrasound elasticity imaging. Recently, elasticity imaging has become an effective complementary diagnostic modality along with ultrasound B-mode imaging. This paper presents various elasticity imaging methods that have been reported up to now and describes their characteristics and principles of operation.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2006

Purpose: This study conducted the following experiment to examine transdermal permeation effects or 500 KHz ultrasound with lidocaine HCl. Methods; First, to experiment skin permeation enhancement effects of 500 KHz ultrasound frequency, it produced apparatus and transducer of 500 KHz ultrasound and Franz diffusion cell for skim permenation experiment suitable to purposes of the experiment. Transdermal permeation experiment applied Lidocaine HCL gel to skin of hairless mouse depending on ultrasound frequency and duty cycle and analyzed permeation ratio with HPLC. Results: As a result of fixing lidocaine HCl gel at the same intensity with pulsed mode and continuous mode and comparing transdermal permeation ratio by frequency, transdermal permeation ratio was increased at 500 KHz ultrasound and remarkably increased at continuous ultrasound. It was found that 1 MHz and 500 KHz ultrasound in transdermal permeation experiment enhanced transdermal permeation of lidocaine HCl. In particular, transdermal permeation of 500 KHz using lidocaine HCl gel was highest. Conclusion: However, researches considering various frequencies, intensities and application hours in low frequency areas including 500 KHz ultrasound are needed to increase deep permeation or drugs.