• 한국시뮬레이션학회논문지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.21-29
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• 2007

본 연구에서는 경동맥 B-모드 초음파영상에서 내막-중막 두께(IMT : Intima-Media Thickness)의 자동측정을 위해 다이나믹 프로그래밍(dynamic programming)을 이용하여 내막과 중막의 경계선을 자동 추출하는 알고리즘을 제안하고 실험결과를 보여준다. 혈관 인터페이스의 픽셀 값과 기울기 등의 영상특징과 연속성의 기하학적 특징을 고려한 평가항(cost term)들을 포함하는 평가함수(cost function)를 계산하여 그 값이 최소가 되는 최적의 위치를 결정하기 위해 다이나믹 프로그래밍 방법을 적용하였다. 또한 스페클(speckle), 드랍아웃(dropout)과 같은 잡음과 약한 에지로 인한 거친 추출 결과에 대해 B-spline을 적용하여 더욱 부드러운 경계선을 유지하도록 함으로써 경계선의 연속성을 향상시켰다. 제안한 방법은 다중영상특징(multiple image features)을 고려함으로써 일반적인 에지 알고리즘보다 더욱 정확하고 재생산 가능한 경계선을 추출하였고 수동측정 시 발생하는 측정자 내, 측정자 간의 추출결과 변이성과 비효율성의 문제점을 해결하여 편리한 자동측정이 가능하게 한다.

• 여성건강간호학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.151-160
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a video education program in women receiving high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. The participants were 54 patients who had benign uterine tumors and adenomyosis. The data were collected from June to August 2018. A 10-minute video education program on HIFU and post-procedural care was developed based on the literature. The experimental group was provided the video education program with a question-and-answer session for 10 minutes after viewing the video. The control group received usual care (i.e., verbal instructions on post-procedural self-care). The questionnaire survey was conducted twice: before the educational program and before being discharged from the hospital. Differences in uncertainty, emotions, and self-efficacy among patients were analyzed. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test, Shapiro-Wilk test, paired t-test, and t-test with SPSS version 23.0. Results: The participants in the experimental group showed a decrease in uncertainty (t=4.33, p<.001), improvements in anxiety (t=-4.07, p<.001) and depression (t=-3.55, p<.001), and an enhancement of self-efficacy (t=-4.39, p<.001) compared to the control group. Conclusion: This nursing intervention was effective at reducing uncertainty, improving emotions, and enhancing self-efficacy. This intervention is feasible for use in nursing practice as an aid for patients when considering treatment methods.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.193-200
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• 2023

Purpose: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, idiopathic bowel disorder that can progress to partial or complete bowel obstruction. At present, there are no reliable diagnostic tests that can readily distinguish between acute inflammatory, purely fibrotic and mixed inflammatory and fibrotic. Our aim is to study the utility of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in combination with shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate fibrotic from inflammatory strictures in children with obstructive CD of the terminal ileum. Methods: Twenty-five (19 male) children between 2016-2021 with CD of the terminal ileum were recruited into the study. Among these patients, 22 had CEUS kinetic measurements of tissue perfusion, including wash-in slope (dB/sec), peak intensity (dB), time to peak intensity (sec), area under the curve (AUC) (dB sec), and SWE. In total, 11 patients required surgery due to bowel obstruction. Histopathologic analysis was performed by a pathologist who was blinded to the CEUS and SWE test results. Results: Patients that underwent surgical resection had significantly higher mean area under the curve on CEUS compared to patients responsive to medical therapy (p=0.03). The AUC also correlated with the degree of hypertrophy and the percent fibrosis of the muscularis propria, as determined by histopathologic grading (p<0.01). There was no difference in the mean elastography measurements between these two patient groups. Conclusion: CEUS is a useful radiological technique that can help identify pediatric patients with medically refractory obstructive fibrotic strictures of the terminal ileum that should be considered for early surgical resection.

• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.25-39
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• 2021

Brachytherapy, along with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), is an essential and effective radiation treatment process. In brachytherapy, in contrast to EBRT, the radiation source is radioisotopes. Because these isotopes can be positioned inside or near the tumor, it is possible to protect other organs around the tumor while delivering an extremely high-dose of treatment to the tumor. Brachytherapy has a long history of more than 100 years. In the early 1900s, the radioisotopes used for brachytherapy were only radium or radon isotopes extracted from nature. Over time, however, various radioisotopes have been artificially produced. As radioisotopes have high radioactivity and miniature size, the application of brachytherapy has expanded to high-dose-rate brachytherapy. Recently, advanced treatment techniques used in EBRT, such as image guidance and intensity modulation techniques, have been applied to brachytherapy. Three-dimensional images, such as ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography are used for accurate delineation of treatment targets and normal organs. Intensity-modulated brachytherapy is anticipated to be performed in the near future, and it is anticipated that the treatment outcomes of applicable cancers will be greatly improved by this treatment's excellent dose delivery characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.301-311
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• 2011

Introduction: This study examined the effect of the application of low intensity pulsed ultrasound on bone healing after an injection of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) during the implantation of a titanium implant in the tibia of diabetes-induced rats. Materials and Methods: Twelve Sprague-Dawely rats were used. After inducing diabetes, the ADSCs were injected into the hole for the implant. Customized screw type implants, 2.0 mm in diameter and 3.5 mm in length, were implanted in both the tibia of the diabetes-induced rats. After implantation, LIPUS was applied with parameters of 3 MHz, 40 mW/$cm^2$, and 10 minutes for 7 days to the left tibiae (experimental group) of the diabetesinduced rats. The right tibiae in each rat were used in the control group. At 1, 2 and 4 week rats were sacrificed, and the bone tissues of both tibia were harvested. The bone tissues of the three rats in each week were used for bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone area (BA) analyses and the bone tissues of one rat were used to make sagittal serial sections. Results: In histomorphometric analyses, the BIC in the experimental and control group were respectively, $39.00{\pm}18.17%$ and $42.87{\pm}9.27%$ at 1 week, $43.74{\pm}6.83%$ and $32.27{\pm}6.00%$ at 2 weeks, and $32.62{\pm}11.02%$ and $47.10{\pm}9.77%$ at 4 weeks. The BA in experimental and control group were respectively, $37.28{\pm}3.68%$ and $31.90{\pm}2.84%$ at 1 week, $20.62{\pm}2.47%$ and $15.64{\pm}2.69%$ at 2 weeks, and $11.37{\pm}4.54%$ and $17.69{\pm}8.77%$ at 4 weeks. In immunohistochemistry analyses, Osteoprotegerin expression was strong at 1 and 2 weeks in the experimental group than the control group. Receptor activator of nuclear factor kB ligand expression showed similar staining at each week in the experimental and control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the application of low intensity pulsed ultrasound after an injection of adipose tissue-derived stem cells during the implantation of titanium implants in the tibia of diabetes-induced rats provided some positive effect on bone regeneration at the early stage after implantation. On the other hand, this method is unable to increase the level of osseointegration and bone regeneration of the implant in an uncontrolled diabetic patient.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

The energy efficiency of a self-powered wireless sensing system for pressure monitoring in injection molding is analyzed using Bond graph models. The sensing system, located within the mold cavity, consists of an energy converter, an energy modulator, and a ultrasonic signal transmitter. Pressure variation in the mold cavity is extracted by the energy converter and transmitted through the mold steel to a signal receiver located outside of the mold, in the form of ultrasound pulse trains. Through Bond graph models, the energy efficiency of the sensing system is characterized as a function of the configuration of a piezoceramic stack within the energy converter, the pulsing cycle of the energy modulator, and the thicknesses of the various layers that make up the ultrasonic signal transmitter. The obtained energy models are subsequently utilized to identify the minimum level of signal intensity required to ensure successful detection of the ultrasound pulse trains by the signal receiver. The Bond graph models established have shown to be useful in optimizing the design of the various constituent components within the sensing system to achieve high energy conversion efficiency under a compact size, which are critical to successful embedment within the mold structure.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.39-45
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• 2013

Many researchers have studied the effectiveness of ultrasound in chemical and environmental engineering fields including material synthesis, pollutant removal, cleaning, extraction, and disinfection. Acoustic cavitation induced by ultrasound irradiation in aqueous phase can cause various sonophysical and sonochemical reactions without any chemicals. However most of the previous studies focused only on the relationships between ultrasonic conditions and the results of sonochemical reactions in lab-scale sonoreactors. As a results of this, only a few studies have been devoted to design and optimization of industrial scale sonoreactors. In this study, the effect of the distance between two opposite transducer modules on sonochemical reactions was investigated in single and dual irradiation systems (334 kHz) for four distances including 50, 100, 150, and 200 mm using KI dosimetry. It was found that the dual irradiation systems provided higher performance in terms of the zeroth reaction coefficient and the cavitation yield compared to the single irradiation systems. The sonochemiluminescence (SCL) images for the visualization of the cavitation field showed that cavitation active zone was larger and sonochemical reaction intensity was much higher in the dual irradiation system than in the single irradiation system.

• 정보처리학회논문지:소프트웨어 및 데이터공학
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.69-76
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• 2020

본 연구에서는 조영증강 초음파 영상에서 조영효과 확산 패턴과 동적 혈류 패턴을 가시화 하는 방법론을 제시한다. 세부적으로 조영증강 초음파 데이터에서 조영제의 전이시간, 최대 명도변화, 조영효과의 감쇄 시간 등과 같은 진단 파라미터를 영상으로 생성하는 기법을 제안한다. 간병변 진단과 같은 의료 진단에서 조영제의 전이와 확산 속도는 매우 중요한 요소가 된다. 이에 본 연구에서는 조영효과의 확산 패턴을 하나의 영상으로 표현하는 방법을 제시하였다. 이 과정에서 호흡에 의한 흔들림으로 인하여 영상의 정확도가 저하시키는 현상을 개선하기 위하여 호흡주기에 따른 동적 가중치와 모멘텀 요소를 사용하는 영상추적 기법을 제안하였다. 총 72개의 조영증강 데이터를 사용한 실험을 통하여, 제안된 기법이 초음파진단에서 육안 판별의 한계를 극복할 수 있게 하고, 호흡에 의한 흔들림을 보정함으로써 진단 파라미터의 신뢰도를 향상시킬 수 있음을 보인다.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제31권6호
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• pp.1589-1595
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• 2010

In order to effective degradation of organic dye both under visible light or ultrasonic irradiation, the MWCNTs (multiwalled carbon nanotube) deposited with Fe and $TiO_2$ were prepared by a modified sol-gel method. The Fe/$TiO_2$-MWCNT catalyst was characterized by surface area of BET, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The low intensity visible light and low power ultrasound was as an irradiation source and the methylene blue (MB) was choose as the model organic dye. Then degradation experiments were carried out in present of undoped $TiO_2$, Fe/$TiO_2$ and Fe/$TiO_2$-MWCNT catalysts. Through the degradation of MB solution, the results showed the feasible and potential use of Fe/$TiO_2$-MWCNT catalyst under visible light and ultrasonic irradiation due to the enhanced formation of reactive radicals as well as the possible visible light and the increase of ultrasound-induced active surface area of the catalyst. After addition of $H_2O_2$, the MB degradation rates have been accelerated, especially with Fe/$TiO_2$-MWCNT catalyst, in case of that the photo-Fenton reaction occurred. The sonophotocatalysis was always faster than the respective individual processes due to the more formation of reactive radicals as well as the increase of the active surface area of Fe/$TiO_2$-MWCNT catalyst.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제44권5호
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• pp.336-345
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• 2023

The present study was designed to evaluate changes in neuromuscular properties and the structural and qualitative characteristics of muscles during submaximal isometric contractions at low-to-relatively vigorous target forces and to determine their influence on force steadiness (FS). Thirteen young adult males performed submaximal isometric knee extensions at 10, 20, 50, and 70% of their maximal voluntary isometric contraction using their non-dominant legs. During submaximal contractions, we recorded force, EMG signals from vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL), and rectus femoris (RF), and ultrasound images from the distal RF (dRF). Force and EMG standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) values were used to measure FS and EMG steadiness, respectively. Muscle thickness (MT), pennation angle (PA), echo intensity (EI), and texture features were calculated from ultrasound images to assess the structural and qualitative characteristics of the muscle. FS, neuromuscular properties, and texture features showed significant differences across different force levels. Additionally, there were significant differences in EMG_CV among the quadriceps at the 50% and 70% force levels. The results of correlation analysis revealed that FS had a significant relationship with EMG_CV in VM, VL, and RF, as well as with the texture features of dRF. This study's findings demonstrate that EMG steadiness and texture features are influenced by the magnitude of the target force and are closely related to FS, indicating their potential contribution to force output control.