• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.12-16
• /
• 2012

Purpose : In conventional PET image reconstruction, iterative reconstruction methods such as OSEM (Ordered Subsets Expectation Maximization) have now generally replaced traditional analytic methods such as filtered back-projection. This includes improvements in components of the system model geometry, fully 3D scatter and low noise randoms estimates. SharpIR algorithm is to improve PET image contrast to noise by incorporating information about the PET detector response into the 3D iterative reconstruction algorithm. The aim of this study is evaluation of SharpIR reconstruction method in PET/CT. Materials and Methods: For the measurement of detector response for the spatial resolution, a capillary tube was filled with FDG and scanned at varying distances from the iso-center (5, 10, 15, 20 cm). To measure image quality for contrast recovery, the NEMA IEC body phantom (Data Spectrum Corporation, Hillsborough, NC) with diameters of 1, 13, 17 and 22 for simulating hot and 28 and 37 mm for simulating cold lesions. A solution of 5.4 kBq/mL of $^{18}F$-FDG in water was used as a radioactive background obtaining a lesion of background ratio of 4.0. Images were reconstructed with VUE point HD and VUE point HD using SharpIR reconstruction algorithm. For the clinical evaluation, a whole body FDG scan acquired and to demonstrate contrast recovery, ROIs were drawn on a metabolic hot spot and also on a uniform region of the liver. Images were reconstructed with function of varying iteration number (1~10). Results: The result of increases axial distance from iso-center, full width at half maximum (FWHM) is also increasing in VUE point HD reconstruction image. Even showed an increasing distances constant FWHM. VUE point HD with SharpIR than VUE point HD showed improves contrast recovery in phantom and clinical study. Conclusion: By incorporating more information about the detector system response, the SharpIR algorithm improves the accuracy of underlying model used in VUE point HD. SharpIR algorithm improve spatial resolution for a line source in air, and improves contrast recovery at equivalent noise levels in phantoms and clinical studies. Therefore, SharpIR algorithm can be applied as through a longitudinal study will be useful in clinical.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to compare both 1.5T and 4.7T in Praietal White matter material Phantom using the same methodology at both field strengths. Data at both field strengths are compared in terms of $T_2$ relaxation times, line widths and SNRs MR imaging and $^1H$ MR spectroscopy were performed on GE 1.5T SIGNA system and Broker Biospec 4.7T/30 MRI/MRS system. After phantom axial scan $^1H$ MRS was obtained from T2 weighted image by 3-dimensional localization technique(PRESS : Point RE solved spectroscopy Sequence) this phantom is composed of an aqueous solution 36.7 mmol/L of NAA, 25.0 mmol/L of Cr, 6.3 mmol/L of choline chloride, 30.0 mmol/L or Glu, and 22.5 mmol/L of MI(adjusted to a pH of 7,15 in a phosphate buffet). Data processed using software developed inhouse. At 1.5T, T2 relaxation times for Cho, Cr, and NAA were $0.41{\pm}0.07,\;0.26{\pm}0.04,\;0.46{\pm}0.07$ while at 4.7T they were $0.17{\pm}0.03,\;0.14{\pm}0.05,\;0.20{\pm}0.03$ respectively. At 1.5T, line widths for water, Cho, Cr and NAA were $2.9{\pm}0.7,\;1.6{\pm}0.7,\;1.7{\pm}0.8,\;2.2{\pm}0.02Hz$ while at 4.7T they were $5.2{\pm}1.1,\;4.6{\pm}1.9,\;4.01{\pm}1.8,\;4.8{\pm}1.9Hz$ respectively. It can be seen that $T_2$ relaxation times were significantly shorter at 4.7 compared to 1.5T and that the line widths were also broader. The average SNRs for NAA for subjects at short and long TEs were $23.5{\pm}11.3$ at TE=20 msec ; $15.4{\pm}7.7$ at TE=272 msec at 1.5T and $40{\pm}8.3$ and $17{\pm}3.5$ respectively at 4.7T higher field strength is superior because of improved sensitivity and chemical shift dispersion. However these improvements are partially offset by increased line widths and decrease $T_2$ relaxation times, which act to reduce both sensitivity and resolution. In our experiments with the equipment available to us, 4.7T proton spectra at short TEs exhibit moderately improved sensitivity compared to 1.5T.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to fabricate a full scale road embankment using lightweight air foamed soil as a soil material on soft ground and to investigate its material characteristics and behavior in order to promote dredged soil utilization and minimize ground improvement. As a result of the laboratory test of the onsite mixed samples, the total unit weight of the specimens decreased almost linearly until curing 28 days. In particular, the total unit weight after 28 days of curing was reduced to about 81% of the slurry state before curing, which will be useful in the formulation of similar native soil materials in the future. The unconfined compressive strength began to decrease with the 14th day of curing as shown in the previous study. When the cement content is increased, the strength decreases sharply at a small strain change after the occurrence of the maximum compressive strength, and the maximum strength is exhibited in a range of a smaller axial strain than normal range. The settlement at the surface layer of the ground due to the lightweight embankment was about 1 / 2.75 of the soil embankment and was in agreement with the unit weight ratio (1 / 2.7) of the embankment materials. This indicates the cause and effect of the settlement due to the difference in self weight of the embankments. Also, the difference in settlement between soil and lightweight embankment increased with increasing depth. This shows that the difference in the point at which the settlement is terminated is clear. The ground horizontal displacement under the lightweight embankment was about 15~20% smaller than that of the soil embankment and the depth of occurrence was also 4.5~5.0m shallower in the lightweight embankment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.96 no.3
• /
• pp.307-316
• /
• 2007

Yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) has low germination rate relatively other species, so the seedling production of Yellow poplar is a hard task. Accordingly this study was conducted to determine the optimal germination conditions for healthy seedling production and to promote survival rate after afforestation. Gemination percentage was examined at different media and seed covering materials using planting flats in the greenhouse. The best germination percentage was observed in sand for media and compound soil for covering materials. But it was time to transplant, seedlings became a poor character (i.e. height, root length, number of root, dry weight) in sand for media. In order to produce healthy seedlings, each different medium was compounded with TKS-2 (this is a gardening bed soil.) in the ratio 1:1 (v/v.), and compared two conditions. Quality of seedling was better than not mixed TKS-2 into each medium. Transplanting seedlings from greenhouse to nursery grew up rapidly 2 months later (early in August~early in October). Growth amount during two months corresponded to 85.6% and 71.3% in total growth amount of height and diameter at root collar, respectively. In the case of the competition-density effect on yellow-poplar seedlings, direct seedling produced the maximum 35 standard seedlings above 8 mm of root collar diameter per $m^2$, while transplanting seedling produced the maximum 64 standard seedlings per $m^2$. And produced seedlings of two way were significantly different rootlet while axial root and lateral root was not significantly different.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.31-40
• /
• 1986

Cylindrical and conical types of grain-straw separation equipment which has a stationary crimped sieve drum with rotating inner rotor were constructed. The developed equipments were tested to investigate the characteristics of separating performance under various mechanical conditions and crop conditions. As increase of the inclination of equipment and decrease of pitch of cover vane, the grain recovery was increased while straw rejection was decreased. The grain recovery and overall efficiency were decreased as the rotor speed and feeding velocity were increased for both varieties of rice, moisture contents, and test equipments. Conical prototype equipment performed higher straw rejection, lower grain recovery, and lower power requirement. However, separation performance of conical type equipment was more widely varied with various test conditions compared to cylindrical one. The performance of both equipments showed relatively insensitive to crop feedrate and crop properties, such as variety, moisture content, and grain-to-straw ratio.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.81-87
• /
• 2009

Purpose : We sought to evaluate enhancement of plaque with gadolinium-based contrast agent by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison with histopathology, namely lipid-rich and macrophage-rich components that were two representative characteristics of plaque vulnerability using atherosclerotic rabbit aorta in order to determine which histopathologic component is relevant to the enhancement. Materials and Methods : New Zealand white rabbit (n=4, weight 3.0 to 3.5 kg, all male) was used for animal model of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic aortic lesions were induced by high-cholesterol diet and double balloon injury. T1-weight axial images were acquired before and after gadolinium-based contrast agent using a 3-T MRI. MR images and the matched histopathological sections (n=35) were divided into 4 quadrants or 3 (n=130). Enhancement ratio (ER, ER=SIpost/SIpre) on MRI was calculated for each quadrant and compared with histopathology in regard to lipid-rich and macrophage-rich areas. Results : Lipid-rich quadrants were 72 and fibrous quadrants were 58. The number of quadrants which had macrophage-rich areas was 105 and that of quadrants which did not have macrophage-rich areas was 25. ER was significantly higher in lipid-rich quadrants than in fibrous quadrants (mean ER 2.25c$\pm$0.41 vs. 2.72$\pm$0.65, p=0.013). ER poorly correlated with macrophage-rich areas when lipid-component was controlled (correlation coefficient -0.203, p=0.236). Conclusion : Lipid-rich plaques showed stronger enhancement than fibrous plaques using a standard gadolinium-based extracellular contrast agent. Macrophage infiltration did not correlate with degree of enhancement. Further study is warranted that account for optimal time of imaging after contrast injection using various plaque models from early to advanced stages and all possible parameters associated with contrast enhancement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.5-16
• /
• 2007

The simple linear elastic-perfectly plastic model with soil parameters $s_u,\;E_u$ and n of undrained condition is usually applied to predict the displacement of a constructed diaphragm wall(DW) on soft soils during excavation. However, the application of this soil model for finite element analysis could not interpret the continued increment of the lateral displacement of the DW for the large and deep excavation area both during the elapsed time without activity of excavation and after finishing excavation. To study the characteristic behaviors of soil behind the DW during the periods without excavation, a series of tests on soft Bangkok clay samples are simulated in the same manner as stress condition of soil elements happening behind diaphragm wall by triaxial tests. Three kinds of triaxial tests are carried out in this research: $K_0$ consolidated undrained compression($CK_0U_C$) and $K_0$ consolidated drained/undrained unloading compression with periodic decrement of horizontal pressure($CK_0DUC$ and $CK_0UUC$). The study shows that the shear strength of series $CK_0DUC$ tests is equal to the residual strength of $CK_0UC$ tests. The Young's modulus determined at each decrement step of the horizontal pressure of soil specimen on $CK_0DUC$ tests decreases with increase in the deviator stress. In addition, the slope of Critical State Line of both $CK_0UC$ and $CK_0DUC$ tests is equal. Moreover, the axial and radial strain rates of each decrement of horizontal pressure step of $CK_0DUC$ tests are established with the function of time, a slope of critical state line and a ratio of deviator and mean effective stress. This study shows that the results of the unloading compression triaxial tests can be used to predict the diaphragm wall deflection during excavation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.21-25
• /
• 2010

Purpose: For better PET imaging with accuracy the transmission scanning is inevitably required for attenuation correction. The attenuation is affected by condition of acquisition and patient position, consequently quantitative accuracy may be decreased in emission scan imaging. In this paper, the present study aims at providing the measurement for attenuation varying with the positions of the patient's arm in whole body PET/CT, further performing the comparative analysis over its SUV changes. Materials and Methods: NEMA 1994 PET phantom was filled with $^{18}F$-FDG and the concentration ratio of insert cylinder and background water fit to 4:1. Phantom images were acquired through emission scanning for 4min after conducting transmission scanning by using CT. In an attempt to acquire image at the state that the arm of the patient was positioned at the lower of ahead, image was acquired in away that two pieces of Teflon inserts were used additionally by fixing phantoms at both sides of phantom. The acquired imaged at a were reconstructed by applying the iterative reconstruction method (iteration: 2, subset: 28) as well as attenuation correction using the CT, and then VOI was drawn on each image plane so as to measure CT number and SUV and comparatively analyze axial uniformity (A.U=Standard deviation/Average SUV) of PET images. Results: It was found from the above phantom test that, when comparing two cases of whether Teflon insert was fixed or removed, the CT number of cylinder increased from -5.76 HU to 0 HU, while SUV decreased from 24.64 to 24.29 and A.U from 0.064 to 0.052. And the CT number of background water was identified to increase from -6.14 HU to -0.43 HU, whereas SUV decreased from 6.3 to 5.6 and A.U also decreased from 0.12 to 0.10. In addition, as for the patient image, CT number was verified to increase from 53.09 HU to 58.31 HU and SUV decreased from 24.96 to 21.81 when the patient's arm was positioned over the head rather than when it was lowered. Conclusion: When arms up protocol was applied, the SUV of phantom and patient image was decreased by 1.4% and 9.2% respectively. With the present study it was concluded that in case of PET/CT scanning against the whole body of a patient the position of patient's arm was not so much significant. Especially, the scanning under the condition that the arm is raised over to the head gives rise to more probability that the patient is likely to move due to long scanning time that causes the increase of uptake of $^{18}F$-FDG of brown fat at the shoulder part together with increased pain imposing to the shoulder and discomfort to a patient. As regarding consideration all of such factors, it could be rationally drawn that PET/CT scanning could be made with the arm of the subject lowered.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.79-92
• /
• 2007

[ $\underline{Purpose}$ ]: For the first time, a nationwide survey in the Republic of Korea was conducted to determine the basic parameters for the treatment of esophageal cancer and to offer a solid cooperative system for the Korean Pattern of Care Study database. $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: During $1998{\sim}1999$, biopsy-confirmed 246 esophageal cancer patients that received radiotherapy were enrolled from 23 different institutions in South Korea. Random sampling was based on power allocation method. Patient parameters and specific information regarding tumor characteristics and treatment methods were collected and registered through the web based PCS system. The data was analyzed by the use of the Chi-squared test. $\underline{Results}$: The median age of the collected patients was 62 years. The male to female ratio was about 91 to 9 with an absolute male predominance. The performance status ranged from ECOG 0 to 1 in 82.5% of the patients. Diagnostic procedures included an esophagogram (228 patients, 92.7%), endoscopy (226 patients, 91.9%), and a chest CT scan (238 patients, 96.7%). Squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed in 96.3% of the patients; mid-thoracic esophageal cancer was most prevalent (110 patients, 44.7%) and 135 patients presented with clinical stage III disease. Fifty seven patients received radiotherapy alone and 37 patients received surgery with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy. Half of the patients (123 patients) received chemotherapy together with RT and 70 patients (56.9%) received it as concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The most frequently used chemotherapeutic agent was a combination of cisplatin and 5-FU. Most patients received radiotherapy either with 6 MV (116 patients, 47.2%) or with 10 MV photons (87 patients, 35.4%). Radiotherapy was delivered through a conventional AP-PA field for 206 patients (83.7%) without using a CT plan and the median delivered dose was 3,600 cGy. The median total dose of postoperative radiotherapy was 5,040 cGy while for the non-operative patients the median total dose was 5,970 cGy. Thirty-four patients received intraluminal brachytherapy with high dose rate Iridium-192. Brachytherapy was delivered with a median dose of 300 cGy in each fraction and was typically delivered $3{\sim}4\;times$. The most frequently encountered complication during the radiotherapy treatment was esophagitis in 155 patients (63.0%). $\underline{Conclusion}$: For the evaluation and treatment of esophageal cancer patients at radiation facilities in Korea, this study will provide guidelines and benchmark data for the solid cooperative systems of the Korean PCS. Although some differences were noted between institutions, there was no major difference in the treatment modalities and RT techniques.