• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.125-135
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate dynamic contrast-enhanced breast magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) variables, for axillary lymph node (ALN) metastasis in the early stage of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: January 2011-April 2015, 787 patients with early stage of breast cancer were retrospectively reviewed. Only cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, were included in the patient population. Among them, 240 patients who underwent 3.0-T DCE-MRI, including DWI with b value 0 and $800s/mm^2$ were enrolled. MRI variables (adjacent vessel sign, whole-breast vascularity, initial enhancement pattern, quantitative kinetic parameters, signal enhancement ratio (SER), tumor apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), peritumoral ADC, and peritumor-tumor ADC ratio) clinico-pathologic variables (age, T stage, multifocality, extensive intraductal carcinoma component (EIC), estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER-2 status, Ki-67, molecular subtype, histologic grade, and nuclear grade) were compared between patients with axillary lymph node metastasis and those with no lymph node metastasis. Multivariate regression analysis was performed, to determine independent variables associated with ALN metastasis, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), for predicting ALN metastasis was analyzed, for those variables. Results: On breast MRI, moderate or prominent ipsilateral whole-breast vascularity (moderate, odds ratio [OR] 3.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-9.51 vs. prominent, OR = 15.59, 95% CI 2.52-96.46), SER (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.09-2.59), and peritumor-tumor ADC ratio (OR = 6.77, 95% CI 2.41-18.99), were independently associated with ALN metastasis. Among clinico-pathologic variables, HER-2 positivity was independently associated, with ALN metastasis (OR = 23.71, 95% CI 10.50-53.54). The AUC for combining selected MRI variables and clinico-pathologic variables, was higher than that of clinico-pathologic variables (P < 0.05). Conclusion: SER, moderate or prominent increased whole breast vascularity, and peritumor-tumor ADC ratio on breast MRI, are valuable in predicting ALN metastasis, in patients with early stage of breast cancer.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.200-204
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• 2015

A 12-year-old neutered male Shih Tzu presented with constipation and dyschezia. Abdominal radiographs showed distension of the descending colon and dorsal compression of the colon by a soft tissue mass. The mass was well-marginated with homogeneous soft tissue attenuation and showed no evidence of metastasis on computed tomography (CT). The dynamic CT showed a consistently mild contrast enhancement. The perfusion and capillary permeability were lower than those of the gluteal muscle. The tentative imaging diagnosis was a benign intrapelvic tumor, which rarely shows angiogenesis. The mass was excised, and a leiomyoma was confirmed by histopathologic examination.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.137-145
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• 2015

Purpose: To investigate correlations of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) statuses with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and clinicohistological characteristics in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Materials and Methods: Data from 64 histologically confirmed ILCs were analyzed retrospectively. Preoperative breast MRI was reviewed for morphology and dynamic contrast-enhanced kinetics of the tumor. Pathologic reports were reviewed for ER, PR, and HER2 positivity, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and the number of metastatic lymph nodes. Furthermore, there was an investigation of the MRI features and clinicohistologic characteristics, according to the ER, PR, and HER2 statuses. Results: A significant difference in MRI features and clinicohistological tumor characteristics were observed only in relation to PR status. Of the 64 ILCs, 10 (15.6%) were PR negative. PR negative cancers, compared with PR positive cancers, were more likely to present as non-mass enhancement (P = 0.027); have a significantly larger mean tumor size ($5.00{\pm}1.05cm$ vs. $2.57{\pm}0.21cm$, P = 0.021); and have significantly more metastatic lymph nodes (P = 0.010). Conclusion: PR negative ILC presented more frequently as non-mass enhancement on MRI, with larger tumors and increased numbers of metastatic lymph nodes. Therefore, the PR status plays an important role in determining MRI features and clinicohistological characteristics of ILC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.407.1-407.1
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• 2016

Electrochromism is defined as a phenomenon which involves persistently repeated change of optical properties between bleached state and colored state by simultaneous injection of electrons and ions, sufficient to induce an electrochemical redox process. Due to this feature, considerable progress has been made in the synthesis of electrochromic (EC) materials, improvements of EC properties in EC devices such as light shutter, smart window and variable reflectance mirrors etc. Among the variable EC materials, solid-state inorganics in particular, metal oxide semiconducting materials such as nickel oxide (NiO) have been investigated extensively. The NiO that is an anodic EC material is of special interest because of high color contrast ratio, large dynamic range and low material cost. The high performance EC devices should present the use of standard industrial production techniques to produce films with high coloration efficiency, rapid switching speed and robust reversibility. Generally, the color contrast and the optical switching speed increase drastically if high surface area is used. The structure of porous thin film provides a specific surface area and can facilitate a very short response time of the reaction between the surface and ions. The large variety of methods has been used to prepare the porous NiO thin films such as sol-gel process, chemical bath deposition and sputtering. Few studies have been reported on NiO thin films made by using sol-gel method. However, compared with dry process, wet processes that have the questions of the durability and the vestige of bleached state color limit the thin films practical use, especially when prepared by sol-gel method. In this study, we synthesis the porous NiO thin films on the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by using sputtering and anodizing method. Also we compared electrical and optical properties of NiO thin films prepared by sol gel. The porous structure is promised to be helpful to the properties enhancement of the EC devices.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.351-360
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• 2019

Purpose: To investigate noninvasive biomarkers for predicting treatment response in patients with locally advanced HCC who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRTx). Materials and Methods: Thirty patients (55.5 ± 10.2 years old, M:F = 24:6) who underwent CCRTx due to advanced HCC were enrolled. Contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were obtained before and immediately after CCRTx. The third CEUS was obtained at one month after CCRTx was completed. Response was assessed at three months after CCRTx based on RECIST 1.1. Quantitative imaging biomarkers measured with CEUS and MRI were compared between groups. A cutoff value was calculated with ROC analysis. Overall survival (OS) was compared by the Breslow method. Results: Twenty-five patients were categorized into the non-progression group and five patients were categorized into the progression group. Peak enhancement of the first CEUS before CCRTx (PE1) was significantly lower in the non-progression group (median, 18.6%; IQR, 20.9%) than that in the progression group (median, 59.1%; IQR, 13.5%; P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in other quantitative biomarkers between the two groups. On ROC analysis, with a cutoff value of 42.6% in PE1, the non-progression group was diagnosed with a sensitivity of 90.9% and a specificity of 100%. OS was also significantly longer in patients with PE1 < 42.6% (P = 0.014). Conclusion: Early treatment response and OS could be predicted by PE on CEUS before CCRTx in patients with HCC.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.85-94
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• 2002

In this paper, we show that the 2nd-order iterative learning control algorithm with CITE is more effective and has better convergence performance than the algorithm without CITE in the case of the existence of initialization errors, for the trajectory-tracking control of dynamic systems with unidentified parameters. In contrast to other known methods, the proposed learning control scheme utilize more than one past error history contained in the trajectories generated at prior iterations, and a CITE term is added in the learning control scheme for the enhancement of convergence speed and robustness to disturbances and initialization errors. And the convergence proof of the proposed algorithm in the case of the existence of initialization error is given in detail, and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is shown by simulation results.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.58-67
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• 2020

Objective: Third-generation dual-source computed tomography (3rd-DSCT) allows dynamic myocardial CT perfusion imaging (dynamic CTP) with a 10.5-cm z-axis coverage. Although the increased radiation exposure associated with the 50% wider scan range compared to second-generation DSCT (2nd-DSCT) may be suppressed by using a tube voltage of 70 kV, it remains unclear whether image quality and the ability to quantify myocardial blood flow (MBF) can be maintained under these conditions. This study aimed to compare the image quality, estimated MBF, and radiation dose of dynamic CTP between 2ndDSCT and 3rd-DSCT and to evaluate whether a 10.5-cm coverage is suitable for dynamic CTP. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 107 patients who underwent dynamic CTP using 2nd-DSCT at 80 kV (n = 54) or 3rd-DSCT at 70 kV (n = 53). Image quality, estimated MBF, radiation dose, and coverage of left ventricular (LV) myocardium were compared. Results: No significant differences were observed between 3rd-DSCT and 2nd-DSCT in contrast-to-noise ratio (37.4 ± 11.4 vs. 35.5 ± 11.2, p = 0.396). Effective radiation dose was lower with 3rd-DSCT (3.97 ± 0.92 mSv with a conversion factor of 0.017 mSv/mGy∙cm) compared to 2nd-DSCT (5.49 ± 1.36 mSv, p < 0.001). Incomplete coverage was more frequent with 2nd-DSCT than with 3rd-DSCT (1.9% [1/53] vs. 56% [30/54], p < 0.001). In propensity score-matched cohorts, MBF was comparable between 3rd-DSCT and 2nd-DSCT in non-ischemic (146.2 ± 26.5 vs. 157.5 ± 34.9 mL/min/100 g, p = 0.137) as well as ischemic myocardium (92.7 ± 21.1 vs. 90.9 ± 29.7 mL/min/100 g, p = 0.876). Conclusion: The radiation increase inherent to the widened z-axis coverage in 3rd-DSCT can be balanced by using a tube voltage of 70 kV without compromising image quality or MBF quantification. In dynamic CTP, a z-axis coverage of 10.5 cm is sufficient to achieve complete coverage of the LV myocardium in most patients.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.33-39
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• 2003

Purpose : Be aware of clinical possibilities on image quality by comparison of contrast-enhanced dynamic CT and MR imaging applied of MIP technique after the experimentally induced clonorchasis infection in dogs. Materials and Method : Twenty mongrel dogs prepared in zoo-laboratory were followed up with serial CT scans and MR imaging for 13 weeks after the experimental infection in liver. Two-phase helical CT was acquired in the supine position with the following scanning parameters. After the injection of contrast material, the arterial phase was initiated using a bolus-racking method. The portal phase scan was started 15 seconds after the arterial phase scan. CT protocol was determined after single level dynamic scans. MR imaging used the CP body coil and images get a 2D image using HASTE, FLASH, TSE pulse sequence. Bile duct MR imaging were obtained in three plans. Then each image was post processed by using target MIP algorithm. Two experimentation above, as a method of evaluation, one pathologist, three radiologist and five radiological technologist were analyzed visually for evaluation of following findings, enhancement of the bile duct wall, dilatation of bile duct tip, liver parenchyma, background suppression. Results : Five dogs was died of a disease after the infection, the rest one else shows the chronic dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct with CT and MR imaging. Contrast administration of CT shows the contrast-enhanced of the bile duct walls with live parenchyma. MR imaging calculated of CNR and CR from pulse sequence for comparative evaluation and shows the pattern of the intrahepatic bile duct, dilatation of bile duct tip using MIP technique. CNR of the clonorchiasis, HASTE was $16{\pm}0.83$, TSE $7.06{\pm}3.0$, FLASH $1.19{\pm}0.2$ and CR, HASTE was 73.3%, TSE 62.3%, FLASH 6.4%. Conclusion : CT and MR imaging is very usefulness in diagnosis of dog clonorchiasis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.4068-4074
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of MR Breast perfusion image and time-signal intensity curve in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. We selected on 20 patients who were histologically diagnosed to have invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) from March 2009 to December 2010. First, the Breast perfusion mapping image was reconstructed after obtaining the dynamic contrast enhancement image. The reconstructed image measured the slope, maximal relative enhancement, and time to peak on the detail including the lesion region, normal region, back ground region after obtaining the time-signal intensity curve. The lesion region and normal and slope of the back ground part were measured with the quantitive analytical method about the research and the average was compared and was analyze. In the qualitative analysis, the signal strength of each pixel was analyze with the macroscopic and being high it was low, the medium (2) performed the division of (a) by the three-point standard and the average was measured. The findings from the quantitative image analysis are the following: In the lesion region, the slope and maximal relative enhancement were the highestest among and the time to peak was the highestest in the back ground region. In the qualitative analysis, the breast perfusion image showed a diagnostic efficiency.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.515-524
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• 2016

Infrared (IR) wavelength is out of visible range and thus usually cut by hot filters in general commercial cameras. However, some information from the near-IR (NIR) range is known to improve the overall visibility of scene in many cases. For example when there is fog or haze in the scene, NIR image has clearer visibility than visible image because of its stronger penetration property. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for fusing the RGB and NIR images to obtain the enhanced images of the outdoor scenes. First, we construct a weight map by comparing the contrast of the RGB and NIR images, and then fuse the two images based on the weight map. Experimental results show that the proposed method is effective in enhancing visible image and removing the haze.