• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1841-1849
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• 2021

Objective: To prospectively investigate the feasibility of shear wave elastography (SWE) as a new quantitative and objective method for evaluating the stiffness of the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) muscle during passive stretching in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials and Methods: SWE of the GM muscle was performed in 28 patients with PD [13 female and 15 male; mean age ± standard deviation (SD): 63.0 ± 8.5 years] and 12 healthy controls (5 female and 7 male; mean age ± SD: 59.3 ± 6.4 years) during passive ankle rotation. A Young's modulus-ankle angle curve was constructed. The GM slack angle and baseline Young's modulus (E₀) were compared between the markedly symptomatic and mildly symptomatic sides of patients with PD, and healthy controls. Additionally, the correlation between the GM slack angle and the severity of rigidity, and the observer reproducibility of SWE in determining the GM slack angle were evaluated. Results: The GM slack angle was smaller on both the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD than in healthy controls (mean ± SD of -29.13° ± 3.79° and -25.65° ± 3.39°, respectively, vs. -21.22° ± 3.52°; p < 0.001 and p = 0.006, respectively). Additionally, in patients with PD, the GM slack angle on the markedly symptomatic side was smaller than that on the mildly symptomatic side (p = 0.003). The E0 value was lower on both the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD than in healthy controls (mean ± SD of 10.11 ± 2.85 kPa and 10.08 ± 1.88 kPa, respectively, vs. 12.23 ± 1.02 kPa; p = 0.012 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, no significant difference was found between the markedly and mildly symptomatic sides in patients with PD (p = 0.634). A negative linear relationship was observed between the GM slack angle and lower limb rigidity score on the markedly symptomatic side in patients with PD (r = -0.719; p < 0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficients for observer reproducibility of SWE ranged from 0.880 to 0.951. Conclusion: The slack angle determined by SWE may be a useful quantitative and reproducible method for evaluating muscle stiffness in patients with PD.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.127-132
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• 2017

In this paper, the effect of the irradiation of the median-frequency of ultrasonic wave on the aqueous solution have been investigated. In addition, the decomposition ability of radical species was observed using phytoncide oil of 0.1 wt %. By observing the degree of decomposition while maintaining magnetic stirring, the unirradiated aqueous solution maintained turbid condition and the particle size of the oil was the same as the initial size. On the other hand, the irradiated aqueous solution presented that the transparency degree became good after 3 days and became to the same as the original purified water after one week. The particle size of the after 3 days was about 0.1 to $0.5{\mu}m$. From these results it could be demonstrated that when a medium frequency (about 400 kHz) is applied to the aqueous solution, decomposition ability of radical species are formed and the medium frequency irradiation system can be possible to purify the turbid aqueous solution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.252-258
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• 2012

A study of terahertz waves was made for the nondestructive evaluation of FRP (Fiber reinforced plastics) composite materials. The terahertz systems were consisted of time domain spectroscopy (TDS) and continuous wave (CW). The composite materials investigated include both non-conducting polymeric composites and conducting carbon fiber composites. Terahertz signals in the TDS mode resembles that of ultrasound; however, unlike ultrasound, a terahertz pulse was not able to detect a material with conductivity. The CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced plastics) laminates were utilized for confirming the experimentation in the terahertz NDE. In carbon composites the penetration of terahertz waves is quite limited and the detection of flaws is strongly affected by the angle between the electric field direction of the terahertz waves and the intervening fiber directions. A refractive index (n) was defined as one of mechanical properties; so a method was obtained in order solve the "n" in the material with non-conductivity. The usefulness and limitations of terahertz radiation are investigated for the NDE of FRP composites.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.353-359
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• 2002

High intensity ultrasound has been applied to a series of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/water systems having different molecular weights of PEO. Major interest was focused on the effect of ultrasonic wane on the melt viscosity chemical structure and thermal properties of PEO. The expected role of ultrasound used in this study was to generate macroradicals of PEO chains by the formation and subsequent collapse of bubbles. It was found that the melt viscosity and chemical structure of PEO change significantly depending on the sonication time. For the prolonged sonication, PEO chains were significantly degraded and new end groups were formed by the interplay of various radical species. When the molecular weight of PEO was relatively higher, the crystallization rate was decreased and the intensity of the melting peak was reduced.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.223-230
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• 2018

This study examines a non-contact laser scanning-based ultrasound system, called an angular scan pulse-echo ultrasonic propagation imager (A-PE-UPI), that uses coincided laser beams for ultrasonic sensing and generation. A laser Doppler vibrometer is used for sensing, while a diode pumped solid state (DPSS) Q-switched laser is used for generation of thermoelastic waves. A high-speed raster scanning of up to 10-kHz is achieved using a galvano-motorized mirror scanner that allows for coincided sensing and for the generation beam to perform two-dimensional scanning without causing any harm to the surface under inspection. This process allows for the visualization of longitudinal wave propagation through-the-thickness. A pulse-echo ultrasonic wave propagation imaging algorithm (PE-UWPI) is used for on-the-fly damage visualization of the structure. The presented system is very effective for high-speed, localized, non-contact, and non-destructive inspection of aerospace structures. The system is tested on an aluminum honeycomb sandwich with disbonds and a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) honeycomb sandwich with a layer overlap. Inspection is performed at a 10-kHz scanning speed that takes 16 seconds to scan a $100{\times}100mm^2$ area with a scan interval of 0.25 mm. Finally, a comparison is presented between angular-scanning and a linear-scanning-based pulse-echo UPI system. The results show that the proposed system can successfully visualize defects in the inspected specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.402-411
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• 2000

This study investigates the method to measure the viscoelastic properties of asphalt cement, one of the viscoelastic materials, using the ultrasound. The wave speed and attenuation were measured from $-20^{\circ}C$ to $60^{\circ}C$ at the frequency of 2.25MHz. Then, the storage and loss longitudinal moduli, loss tangent storage and loss longitudinal compliances were found depending on the temperatures based on the linear viscoelastic theory. Stress relaxation, creep, and viscosity were predicted using Maxwell and Voigt-Kelvin viscoelastic models. The validity of superposition principle and shift factor were verified by comparing the present results to the data reported in the literatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.102-108
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• 2012

A study of terahertz waves (T-ray) was made for the nondestructive evaluation of FRP (Fiber reinforced plastics) composite materials. The to-be-used systems were time domain spectroscopy (TDS) and continuous wave (CW). The composite materials investigated include both turbine blades of wind energy (non-conducting polymeric composites) and conducting carbon fiber composites. Terahertz signals in the TDS mode resembles that of ultrasound; however, unlike ultrasound, a terahertz pulse was not able to detect a material with conductivity. This was demonstrated in CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced plastics) laminates. Refractive index (n) was defined as one of mechanical properties; so a method was solved in order solve the "n" in the material with the cut parts of the turbine blades of wind energy. The defects and anomalies investigated by terahertz radiation were foreign material inclusions and simulated disband. Especially, it is found that the T-ray went through the turbine blade with greater thickness (about 90mm).

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.151-161
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• 2021

Purpose : This study was to investigate the effectiveness of ESWT and plantar fascia-specific stretching exercise vs ESWT and high-load strengthening exercise in patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. Methods : The subjects were randomized to extracorporeal shock wave therapy ( ESWT, for 3 weeks) and daily plantar-specific stretching (Group I: Stretch group) or ESWT and high-load progressive strength (Group II: Strength group) performed every second day. The main outcome measures were ultrasound, visual analogue scale (VAS), and Korean Foot Function Index (KFFI). The ultrasound (plantar fascia thickness), pain intensity I, II (the most painful of the day?, the pain when you first step in the morning?) and KFFI (functional performance) were compared between the groups. Results : No significant difference was observed between the groups in the plantar fascia thickness but pain intensity I, II was significantly lower in Group 2 than in Group 1 at only 12weeks and functional performance was also significantly increased in Group 2 compared to Group 1 at only 12 weeks. Conclusion : The high-load strengthening exercise consisting of the progressive exercise protocol, resulted in superior after 12 weeks compared with plantar-specific stretching. High-load strength exercise may aid in a quicker reduction in pain and improvements in functional performance.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.798-802
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• 2007

The synthetic focusing in the ultrasonic imaging systems has been formed in the way that one element transmits a circular wave and receives an echo signal. The amplitude of the signal transmitted from one element is too small to propagate a long distance so that the SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) is very low in an image obtained by the synthetic focusing. To solve this problem, a defocusing method which uses several elements has been proposed. In this method, the SNR is improved due to using several elements to transmit the circular wave. But if the number of transmitting elements increases, the phase distortion is severe in the defocusing method. In this paper, we propose a new method that can generate a circular wave using a lot of elements without phase distortion. At first, we generate limited plane waves with different propagation angles and then superpose them to make a circular wave. We show that the circular wave can be used to improve SNR in the real-time 3D ultrasonic imaging as well as the synthetic focusing through computer simulation and experiments.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.151-160
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• 2012

In medical ultrasound imaging, elasticity imaging helps to diagnose tumors such as cancer. This paper is concerned with the application of acoustic radiation force to soft tissue of interest to implement elasticity imaging. In order to reduce the data acquisition time, instead of relying on transmit focusing, a plane wave of burst type is transmitted to apply the acoustic radiation force simultaneously to an entire imaging region to be observed. A homogeneous phantom experiment confirms that increasing the transmit excitation duration instead of employing transmit focusing generates a high enough acoustic radiation force to obtain elasticity images. It is found, however, that a different displacement versus time characteristic is observed unlike the case of using a conventional focused acoustic radiation force. Experimental results obtained through the use of an ultrasound phantom and a bovine liver show that lesions can be correctly differentiated.