• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2021

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and it results in a high rate of death worldwide, with an increased prevalence with age despite advances in lifestyle management and drug therapy. Atherosclerosis is a chronic progressive inflammatory process, and it mainly presents with lipid accumulation, foam cell proliferation, inflammatory response, atherosclerotic plaque formation and rupture, thrombosis, and vascular calcification. Therefore, there is a great need for reliable therapeutic drugs or remedies to cure or alleviate atherosclerosis and reduce the societal burden. Ginsenosides are natural steroid glycosides and triterpene saponins obtained mainly from the plant ginseng. Several recent studies have reported that ginsenosides have a variety of pharmacological activities against several diseases including inflammation, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This review focuses on describing the different pharmacological functions and underlying mechanisms of various active ginsenosides (Rb1,-Rd, -F, -Rg1, -Rg2, and -Rg3, and compound K) for atherosclerosis, which could provide useful insights for developing novel and effective anti-cardiovascular drugs.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 2003

Ultrasonic pulsed Doppler velocimetry has become a standard international method of classifying carotid disease. Because the measured angle adjusted velocity increases as the Doppler angle increases, examinations should be performed at a convenient standard Doppler examination angle. An angle of 60 degrees is achievable throughout most examinations. Multiple Doppler viewing angles allow the acquisition of velocity vectors during the cardiac cycle, revealing the complex velocity patterns. Ultrasonic velocimetry (whether Doppler or time domain) is based on changes in the phase of the ultrasound echo. Other examinations can be done based on the echo phase. Slow motions of organs such as the brain can be used to monitor changes in edema. Measurements of tissue strain due to the pulsatile filling of the arterioles. This plethysmographic imaging method can display differences in tissue perfusion because of different tissue types and changes in autonomic activity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4545-4548
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• 2014

Objective: To investigate the changes of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) contents in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before and after percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) and determine their clinical significance. Materials and Methods: Fasting venous blood (3 mL) from 81 patients with primary HCC diagnosed by pathology was collected in the mornings 1 day before PMCT, and 1 day, 7 days and 1 month after PMCT, and then the serum was separated and stored in $-70^{\circ}C$. The contents of VEGF, SIL-2R and HGF were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The serum VEGF, SIL-2R and HGF contents in 81 patients with primary HCC had obviously dynamic changes before and after PMCT. By comparison to 1 day after PMCT with pre-operation, there was no statistical significance regarding VEGF and SIL-2R contents (P>0.05), but HGF content showed significant difference (P<0.01). Compared with pre-operation, VEGF, SIL-2R and HGF contents 7 days and 1 month after PMCT all manifested significant differences (P<0.01). By comparison to 7 days with 1 month after PMCT, there was no statistical significance regarding the VEGF content (P>0.05), whereas SIL-2R and HGF contents showed significant change (P<0.01). Conclusions: The contents of serum VEGF, SIL-2R and HGF have obviously dynamic changes in primary HCC before and after PMCT, and their joint detection is expected to be an effective hematologic evaluation index of PMCT for primary HCC.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 2024

Several types of soft tissue masses occur in the lower extremities. A mass associated with blood vessels is often difficult to diagnose. A 15-year-old male patient visited the author's hospital with discomfort and edema in his right calf that had persisted for six months. A physical examination showed no palpable mass other than mild edema. Three masses were found during the ultrasound scan along the small saphenous vein. The masses had a cyst-like appearance and were filled with thrombus. In duplex ultrasound, vascular reflux was represented inside the masses. During surgery, it was suspected that vascular deformation occurred in the small saphenous vein, and simple ligation and resection treatments were performed. The patient was finally diagnosed with venous aneurysms accompanied by thrombosis based on the histology tests. The symptoms disappeared after surgery, and there were no recurrences or unusual findings at the follow-up one year later. Venous aneurysms occurring in the superficial veins of the lower extremities are rarely reported, but treatment and diagnosis are important. This paper reports a case of an aneurysm on the small saphenous vein.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.313-320
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• 1998

Tri-phasic pulsatile flow is the general flow pattern of human circulary system. In emulating the various situation of cardiovascular system, it is essential to make tri-phasic source flow. To emulate tri-phasic pulsatile flow, we used electro-hydronic style LVAD(Left Ventricular Assist Device) with glass phantom and rubber tube. We have selected control parameters and examined the changing effect of each parameter by using Doppler ultrasound. In this experiment, it was shown that the distal compliance and the break time were the major factors to form tri-phasic flow. The results make it possible to emulate and explain the various situation of human vascular system. In this point, this results will be an useful method in the clinic application.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.589-599
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• 2021

Purpose To analyze the success and complication rates and factors associated with technical failure of the ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous thrombin injection of femoral artery pseudoaneurysms caused by vascular access. Materials and Methods Records of 30 patients with post-catheterization femoral artery pseudoaneurysms who had been treated with US-guided percutaneous thrombin injections in the department of radiology between March 2009 and June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The lesion was diagnosed based on US or contrast-enhanced CT. The characteristics of the patients and their lesions were analyzed. Results The mean patient age was 67.8 years. The mean diameter of the pseudoaneurysmal sac was 20.88 mm (5-40 mm). Twenty patients (66.6%) obtained complete thrombosis after the primary injection, while 10 patients (33.3%) obtained partial thrombosis. The number of patients with a low platelet count (< 130 k/µL) was significantly higher in the partial thrombosis group than in the complete thrombosis group (p = 0.02). No substantial procedure-related complications were found in any patient. Conclusion The US-guided percutaneous thrombin injection is considered an initial treatment option for pseudoaneurysms caused by vascular access because of its safety and efficacy.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.25-30
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• 2006

We intended to measure the IT, MT, and the IMT of carotid artery separately and tried to analyze the clinical significance. Two hundred and fifty consecutive patients (125 males, 125 females) underwent carotid artery scanning using high-resolution ultrasound. The images were off-line analyzed using B-mode ultrasound image processing, devised in our research. We measured the IT, MT, and IMT semi-automatically at the far wall of designated 1cm length of the right common carotid and calculated the average values over the 200 points. The IT (p < 0.05), MT (p < 0.05) as well as IMT (p < 0.01) of patients with atherosclerotic disease were significantly thicker than that of the patients without atherosclerotic disease. Patients with hypertension showed significantly thicker IT (p < 0.05), MT (p < 0.01), and IMT (p < 0.01) than that of the patients without hypertension. However, only IT was thicker in patients with smoking (p < 0.05) than that of the patients without smoking. Smoking was associated only with intima while hypertension was associated with the all three layer's thickness. This result suggests the atherosclerotic process can be different by cardiovascular risk factors.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2020

In this paper, we introduce a method to visualize the contrast diffusion patterns and the dynamic vascular patterns in a contrast-enhanced ultrasound image sequence. We present an imaging technique to visualize parameters such as contrast arrival time, peak intensity time, and contrast decay time in contrast-enhanced ultrasound data. The contrast flow pattern and its velocity are important for characterizing focal liver lesions. We propose a method for representing the contrast diffusion patterns as an image. In the methods, respiratory motion may degrade the accuracy of the parametric images. Therefore, we present a respiratory motion tracking technique that uses dynamic weights and a momentum factor with respect to the respiration cycle. Through the experiment using 72 CEUS data sets, we show that the proposed method makes it possible to overcome the limitation of analysis by the naked eye and improves the reliability of the parametric images by compensating for respiratory motion in contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2020

The ability to directly harvest thin and superthin perforator flaps without jeopardizing their vascularity depends on knowledge of the microsurgical vascular anatomy of each perforator within the subcutaneous tissue up to the dermis. In this paper, we report our experience with ultrahigh-frequency ultrasound (UHF-US) in the preoperative planning of thin and superthin flaps. Between May 2017 and September 2018, perforators of seven patients were preoperatively evaluated by both ultrasound (using an 18-MHz linear probe) and UHF-US (using 48- and 70-MHz linear probes). Thin flaps (two cases) and superthin flaps (five cases) were elevated for the reconstruction of head and neck oncologic defects and lower limb traumatic defects. The mean flap size was 6.5×15 cm (range, 5×8 to 7.5×23 cm). No complications occurred, and all flaps survived completely. In all cases, we found 100% agreement between the preoperative UHF-US results and the intraoperative findings. The final reconstructive outcomes were considered satisfactory by both the surgeon and the patients. In conclusion, UHF-US was found to be very useful in the preoperative planning of thin and superthin free flaps, as it allows precise anticipation of very superficial microvascular anatomy. UHF-US may represent the next frontier in thin, superthin, and pure skin perforator flap design.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to determine the doppler fluid effects of carbonated water (CBW) in a bi-directional flow phantom model. A bi-directional flow phantom model was chosen to realize arterial and venous flow, and the structure of the inner and outer tanks allowed for fluid circulation and also made the size of the phantom small. Carbonated water (CBW), salt fluid (SAF), sugar fluid (SUF), and distilled water (DW) were used as fluids, and ultrasound scans were performed at depths of 1.5 cm and 3.0 cm from the surface of the tank, using B-mode and color Doppler effects. All fluids tested showed color Doppler effects, but CBW had the highest doppler shift and the least variation with depth. In conclusion, we determined that CBW was the most suitable fluid to be used as a doppler fluid and confirmed that the bubbles dissolved in CBW act as doppler scatterers, just like red blood cells inside human blood. Therefore, it is possible that CBW can be used as a blood-mimicking fluid in doppler ultrasound phantoms through further research, and this study will provide basic data.