• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2004

We developed an x-ray cone-beam micro computed tomography (micro-CT) system for small-animal imaging. The micro-CT system consists of a 2-D flat-panel x-ray detector with a field-of-view (FOV) of 120${\times}$120 mm2, a micro-focus x-ray source, a scan controller and a parallel image reconstruction system. Imaging performances of the micro-CT system have been evaluated in terms of contrast and spatial resolution. The minimum resolvable contrast has been found to be less than 36 CT numbers at the dose of 95 mGy and the spatial resolution about 14 lp/mm. As small animal imaging results, we present high resolution 3-D images of rat organs including a femur, a heart and vessels. We expected that the developed micro-CT system can be greatly used in biomedical studies using small animals.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2007

The global environment is deteriorating at an alarming rate, despite of enhanced international environmental regulation. Many studies have been performed to reduce toxic pollutants. Recently, plant-based phytoremediation technology for moving toxic contaminants from soil and water has been receiving large attention. Arsenic-contaminated soil is one of the major pollutant sources for drinking water. Pteris erotica has been known as a hyper-accumulator of arsenic from soils. In this study, we investigated the effect of arsenic absorption on sap flow inside xylem vessels of Pteris. The synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique was employed to monitor the refilling process of water containing arsenic inside the xylem vessels of Pteris's leaves and stems non-invasively. The captured phase-contrast X-ray images show both anatomy of internal structure and transport of water inside Pteris. The exposure of Pteris to arsenic solution was found to increase largely the water raise speed in xylem vessels. The present results would provide important information needed for understanding the mechanisms of accumulation and transportation of toxic materials in plants.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.12a
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• pp.92-95
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• 2006

The global environment is deteriorating at an alarming rate despite of enhanced international environmental regulation. Many studies have been performed to reduce pollutants. Recently, phytoremediation, plant-based technology for the removal of toxic contaminants from soil, water, and air, has been receiving large attention. Arsenic-contaminated soil is one of the major pollutant sources fur drinking water. The fern brake (Pteris erotica) has been reported as a hyper-accumulate arsenic from soils. In this study, we investigated the arsenic absorption effect on sap flow inside xylem vessels of a fern brake. The synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique was employed to monitor flow inside the plant non-invasively. The captured phase-contrast X-ray images show both anatomy and transport of water inside the fern brake. The refilling process of water containing arsenic inside the xylem vessels of fern brake's leaves and stems was clearly observed. These results would provide important information needed fur understanding the mechanisms of accumulation, translocation, and transformation of toxic materials in plants.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.114-115
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• 2007

As a carrier of malaria and sneak of blood, mosquitoes are regarded as an unpleasant insect. However, there are novel phenomena that happen inside a mosquito. Among them, we focused on the blood sucking function of a female mosquito. The main objective of this study was to investigate the mosquito's pumping mechanism in order to resolve the problem encountered when we inject or transport biologic fluids into a micro-chip. To analyze the pumping mechanism, we visualized the blood sucking process inside a female mosquito. Flow characteristics of blood flow in a proboscis were investigated experimentally using a micro-PIV velocity field measurement technique. The anatomical variation of head, thorax, abdomen which work as pumps and valves, was visualized using the syncrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.03b
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• pp.105-106
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• 2008

As a carrier of malaria and sneak of blood, mosquitoes are an unpleasant insect. However, there are several unknown natural secretes related with mosquitoes. Among them, we focused on the blood sucking process of a female mosquito. The main objective of this study is to understand the mosquito's blood sucking mechanism that can be used to resolve the problem encountered in the injection or transport of infinitesimal biological fluids in a micro-chip. At first, the velocity fields of blood-sucking flow in a proboscis were measured using a micro-particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The velocity signals of flow in the proboscis show periodic variation. This seems to be resulted from the beating of the pharyngeal pump which works as driving power. To analyze the pumping mechanism, the temporal variation of the pharyngeal pump was visualized using the synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique. The volume variation was estimated by the help of digital image processing techniques. Once the main mechanism of blood sucking process was found, a effective micro-pumping system with high efficiency would be developed in near future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2005

An x-ray PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique was developed fur measuring quantitative information on flows inside opaque conduits and/or opaque-fluid flows. To check the performance of the x-ray PIV technique developed, it was applied to a liquid flow in an opaque Teflon tube. To acquire x-ray images suitable for PIV velocity field measurements, the refraction-based edge enhancement mechanism was employed with seeding detectable tracer particles. The amassed velocity field data obtained were in a reasonable agreement with the theoretical prediction. The x-ray PIV technique was also applied to get velocity fields of blood flow and to measure size and velocity of micro-bubbles simultaneously, and to visualize the water refilling process in bamboo leaves. The x-ray PIV was found to be a powerful transmission-type flow imaging technique fur measuring quantitative information of flows inside opaque objects and various opaque-fluid flows.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 2010

The objective of this study is to elucidate the feasibility of synchrotron X-ray micro CT as a non-destructive imaging method to visualize the three-dimensional morphological structures of biological and non-biological samples. The experiments were conducted in 7B2 X-ray micro CT beamline in Pohang Accelerate Laboratory (PAL). A rotational 3-axis stage was specially designed for $0^{\circ}-180^{\circ}$ scanning of test samples. Preliminary tests were performed for opaque samples including a mosquito head, a plant seed and gas diffusion layer (GDL) of polymer electrolyte fuel cell to verify the feasibility of the X-ray micro CT. It visualized clearly the internal structure of all the test samples, supporting its usefulness.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.155-158
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• 2007

Water management for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC) has been receiving large attention as an important issue in practical applications. Proper water management is vital to achieve high performance and durability of PEFC. In this study, an X-ray imaging technique was employed to visualize the water distribution in a PEFC quantitatively. X-ray images of the PEFC components with and without water are distinguished clearly. From the visualized X-ray images, we could confirm the water distribution in the region between separator and gas diffusion layer (GDL). In addition, the contact angle of water in the micro-channels was also clearly visualized..

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.93-101
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• 2011

High quality X-ray computed microtomography (micro-CT) imaging of internal microstructures and pore space in geomaterials is often hampered by some inherent noises embedded in the images. In this paper, we introduce image calibration techniques for removing the most common noises in X-ray micro-CT, cupping (brightness difference between the periphery and central regions) and ring artifacts (consecutive concentric circles emanating from the origin). The artifacts removal sequentially applies coordinate transformation, normalization, and low-pass filtering in 2D Fourier spectrum to raw CT-images. The applicability and performance of the techniques are showcased by describing extraction of 3D pore structures from micro-CT images of porous basalt using artifacts reductions, binarization, and volume stacking. Comparisions between calibrated and raw images indicate that the artifacts removal allows us to avoid the overestimation of porosity of imaged materials, and proper calibration of the artifacts plays a crucial role in using X-ray CT for geomaterials.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.33-38
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• 2007

Water management in polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) has been receiving large attention as an important issue in practical applications. Proper water management is vital to achieve high performance and durability of PEFC. In this study, an X-ray imaging technique was employed to visualize the water distribution in a PEFC quantitatively. X-ray images of the PEFC components with and without water were distinguished clearly. From the visualized X-ray images, we could evaluate the water distribution in the region between separator and gas diffusion layer (GDL) quantitatively. In addition, the contact angle of water in the micro-channels was also clearly visualized.