• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.74-84
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• 2004

Purpose: Since I-125 emits low energy (27-35 keV) radiation, thinner crystal and collimator could be employed and, hence, it is favorable to obtain high quality images. The purpose of this study was to derive the optimized parameters of I-125 SPECT using a new simulation tool, GATE (Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission). Materials and Methods: To validate the simulation method, gamma camera developed by Weisenberger et al. was modeled. Nal(T1) plate crystal was used and its thickness was determined by calculating detection efficiency. Spatial resolution and sensitivity curves were estimated by changing variable parameters for parallel-hole and pinhole collimator. Peformances of I-125 SPECT equipped with the optimal collimator were also estimated. Results: in the validation study, simulations were found to agree well with experimental measurements in spatial resolution (4%) and sensitivity (3%). In order to acquire 98% gamma ray detection efficiency, Nal(T1) thickness was determined to be 1 mm. Hole diameter (mm), length (mm) and shape were chosen to be 0.2:5:square and 0.5:10:hexagonal for high resolution (HR) and general purpose (GP) parallel-hole collimator, respectively. Hole diameter, channel height and acceptance angle of pinhole (PH) collimator were determined to be 0.25 mm, 0.1 mm and 90 degree. The spatial resolutions of reconstructed image of the I-125 SPECT employing HR:GP:PH were 1.2:1.7:0.8 mm. The sensitivities of HR:GP:PH were 39.7:71.9:5.5 cps/MBq. Conclusion: The optimal crystal and collimator parameters for I-125 Imaging were derived by simulation using GATE. The results indicate that excellent resolution and sensitivity imaging is feasible using I-125 SPECT.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2004

Purpose: The aims of this study were to find brain regions in which gray matter volume was reduced and to show the capability of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for lateralizing epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). The findings were compared with fluorodeoxyglucose positron omission tomography (FDG PET). Materials and Methods: MR T1-weighted images of 12 left mTLE and 11 right mTLE patients were compared with those of 37 normal controls. Images were transformed to standard MNI space and averaged in order to create study-specific brain template. Each image was normalized to this local template and brain tissues were segmented. Modulation VBM analysis was performed in order to observe gray matter volume change. Gray matter was smoothed with a Gaussian kernel. After these preprocessing, statistical analysis was peformed using statistical parametric mapping software (SPM99). FDG PET images were compared with those of 22 normal controls using SPM. Results: Gray matter volume was significantly reduced in the left amygdala and hippocampus in left mTLE. In addition, volume of cerebellum, anterior cingulate, and fusiform gyrus in both sides and left insula was reduced. In right mTLE, volume was reduced significantly in right hippocampus. In contrast, FDG uptake was decreased in broad areas of left or right temporal lobes in left TLE and right TLE, respectively. Conclusions: Gray matter loss was found in the ipsilateral hippocampus by modulation VBM analysis in medial temporal lobe epilepsy. This VBM analysis might be useful in lateralizing the epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy, while SPM analysis of FDG PET disclosed hypometabolic epileptogenic zones.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.401-409
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• 2008

Purpose: Recently multi-modal imaging system has become widely adopted in molecular imaging. We tried to fabricate animal-specific positioning molds for PET/MR fusion imaging using easily available molding clay and rapid foam. The animal-specific positioning molds provide immobilization and reproducible positioning of small animal. Herein, we have compared fiber-based molding clay with rapid foam in fabricating the molds of experimental animal. Materials and Methods: The round bottomed-acrylic frame, which fitted into microPET gantry, was prepared at first. The experimental mice was anesthetized and placed on the mold for positioning. Rapid foam and fiber-based clay were used to fabricate the mold. In case of both rapid foam and the clay, the experimental animal needs to be pushed down smoothly into the mold for positioning. However, after the mouse was removed, the fabricated clay needed to be dried completely at $60^{\circ}C$ in oven overnight for hardening. Four sealed pipet tips containing $[^{18}F]FDG$ solution were used as fiduciary markers. After injection of $[^{18}F]FDG$ via tail vein, microPET scanning was performed. Successively, MRI scanning was followed in the same animal. Results: Animal-specific positioning molds were fabricated using rapid foam and fiber-based molding clay for multimodality imaging. Functional and anatomical images were obtained with microPET and MRI, respectively. The fused PET/MR images were obtained using freely available AMIDE program. Conclusion: Animal-specific molds were successfully prepared using easily available rapid foam, molding clay and disposable pipet tips. Thanks to animal-specific molds, fusion images of PET and MR were co-registered with negligible misalignment.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.65-69
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• 2011

Purpose: Normal pancreas has low uptake rate in $^{18}F$-FDG PET scan. However, it is possible to diagnose malignancy of pancreatic cancer which has high uptake rate. Many studies approve a high prevalence of diabetes in pancreatic cancer and if the blood glucose level (BGL) is over the normal range, FDG uptake will be decreased and there will be inconvenience for patients from the delay time to reduce the high BGL or could cause difficulty to arrange the schedule. Therefore, we studied the relation of BGL and image quality in pancreatic cancer on PET. Materials and Methods: A hundred patients had PET scan. The prevalence of pancreatic cancer and diabetes were evaluated using SPSS ver. 17. The fasting BGL of patients were examined and sorted as diabetes mellitus (DM) group and Non-DM group. For the evaluation, patients were divided into 3 groups (Non-DM, DM; BGL${\geq}7.0mmol/L$, and DM; BGL<7.0 mmol/L). The ROI was drown on Liver and Lung for the PET imaging analysis. Results: Fifty three male and forty seven female were in the patients. The average age was $60.1{\pm}13.5$. There were 36 patients (male: 22, female: 14, 36%) who had pancreatic cancer with DM. There were 15 patients who showed over 7.0 mmol/L in their fasting BGL and 85 patients who showed under 7.0 mmol/L in their fasting BGL. Among the Non-DM, DM; BGL${\geq}7.0mmol/L$, and DM; BGL<7.0 mmol/L, there was not a statistical significance (p>0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of pancreatic cancer was comparatively high in this study. If the fasting BGL was slightly over the normal BGL, we believe it will not give a severe disturbance when the patients have PET scan. Furthermore, the examination schedule doesn't need to change and the inconvenience from the delay of patients preparation will be reduced.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2011

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify clinical usefulness of Wide Beam Reconstruction (WBR) which is called Xpress.cardiac$^{TM}$ to confirm the agreement between segmental perfusion and regional wall motion in myocardium compared to conventional OSEM method. Materials and Methods: Subjects were separated two groups. First group was composed of 20 normal control group. Second group was composed of 10 patients (abnormal group) who had coronary artery disease. Subjects underwent myocardial perfusion SPECT ($^{201}Tl$ rest and $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI stress). Image acquisition and reconstruction were that rest stage was each step per 30, 15 seconds and stress stage was each step per 25, 13 seconds, OSEM and WBR methods were applied. Segmental perfusion and regional wall motion were applied 20-segment model of QPS, QGS algorithm in AutoQuant. Status of perfusion was composed of 5 point scoring system (0=normal, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe hypokinesia, 4=dyskinesia). Status of regional wall motion was also composed of 5 point scoring (0=normal, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe hypokinesia, 4=dyskinesia). We evaluated the agreement between conventional OSEM and WBR through automatic quantification value. Results: The agreement of rest segmental perfusion between conventional OSEM and WBR in normal patients was 99% (396/400, k=0.662, p<0.0001) and one of rest regional wall motion was 83.8% (335/400, k=0.283), the agreement of stress segmental perfusion was 95.8%(383/400, k=0.656), one of stress regional wall motion was 87.3% (349/400, k=0.390). The match rate of rest segmental perfusion in abnormal patients was 83% (166/200, k=0.605, p<0.0001) and one of rest regional wall motion was 55.5% (111/200, k=0.385), the agreement of stress segmental perfusion was 79.5% (159/200, k=0.682), one of stress regional wall motion was 63.5% (127/200, k=0.486). Conclusion: Compared to conventional OSEM, WBR method had a good agreement of segmental perfusion in myocardium in normal and abnormal groups. However regional wall motion showed meaningful low agreement. Although WBR offers high resolution and contrast ratio, it is not useful method for gated myocardial perfusion SPECT.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2008

Purpose: There are various methods to diagnose hemangioma, such as ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine. However, by development of SPECT imaging, the blood-pool scan using $^{99m}Tc$-labeled red blood cell has been used, because it was non-invasive and the most economical method. Therefore, in this study, we proposed that the usefulness of $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT of the head and neck to diagnose unlocated hemangiomas. Materials and Methods: $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT was performed on 6 patients with doubtful hemangioma (4 person, head; 1 person, neck; 1 person, another). We labeled radiopharmaceutical using modified in vivo method and then, centrifuged it to remove plasma. After a bolus injection of tracer, dynamic perfusion flow images were acquired. Then, anterior, posterior, both lateral static blood-pool images were obtained as early and 4 hours delayed. SPECT was progressed 64 projections per 30 seconds. Each image was interpreted by physicians, Nuclear medicine specialist, and technologist blinded to patient's data. Results: In 5 patients of all the radioactivity of doubtful site didn't change in flow images, but, in blood-pool, delayed and SPECT images, it was increased. So, it was a typical hemangioma finding. The size of lesion was over 2 cm, and it could discriminate as comparing to the delayed and SPECT imaging. On the other hand, in 1 patient, the radioactivity was increased in blood-pool images, but, not in delayed and SPECT images, so, it was proved no hemangioma. Conclusion: Using $^{99m}Tc$-RBC Scan and SPECT, we could diagnose the hemangiomas in head and neck, as well as, liver, more non-invasive, economical, and easy. Therefore, it considered that $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT would offer more useful information for diagnosis of hemangioma, rather than otherimaging such as US, CT, MRI.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.11-16
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• 2004

Classification of esophageal motility disorders not yet finalized and is still ongoing as the new disorders are reported, and the existing classification is changed or removed. In terms of radiology, the primary peristalsis does not exist, and the lower end of the esophagus show the smooth, tapered, beak-like appearance. The esophageal motility disorder, which mostly occurs in the smooth muscle area, show the symptoms of reduction or loss (hypomotility) or abnormal increase (hypermotility) of peristalsis of the esophagus. It is important to understand the anatomy and physiology of the esophagus for the appropriate radiological method and diagnosis. Furthermore, the symptom of the patient and the manometry finding must be closely referred for the radiological diagnosis. The lower esophageal sphincter can be normally functioning and open completely as the food moves lower. Sperandio M et al. argues that the name diffuse esophageal spasm must be changed to distal esophageal spasm (DES) as most of the spasm occurs in the distal esophagus, composed of the smooth muscle. According to Ott et al., usefulness of barium method for diagnosing the esophageal motility disorder is Achalasia 95%, DES 71% and NEMD 46%, with the overall sensitivity of 56%. However, excluding the nutcracker esophagus or nonspecific disorder which cannot be diagnosed with the radiological methods, the sensitivity increases to 89%. Using videofluoroscopy and 5 time swallows, the average sensitivity was over 90%. In conclusion, the barium method is a simple primary testing method for esophageal motility test. Using not only the image but also the videofluoroscopy with good knowledge of the anatomy and physiology, it is believed that the method will yield the accurate diagnosis.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.403-410
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problems of a signal to noise ratio measurement using a two region measurement method that is conventionally used when using a multi-channel coil and a parallel imaging technique. As a research method, after calculating the standard SNR using a single channel head coil of which coil satisfies three preconditions when using a two region measurement method, we made comparisons and evaluations after calculating an SNR by using a two region measurement method of which method is problematic because it is used without considering the methods recommended by reputable organizations and the preconditions at the time of using a multi-channel coil and a parallel imaging technique. We found that a two region measurement method using a multi-channel coil and a parallel imaging technique shows the highest relative standard deviation, and thus shows a low degree of precision. In addition, we found out that the difference of SNR according to ROI location was very high, and thus a spatial noise distribution was not uniform. Also, 95% confidence interval through Blend-Altman plot is the widest, and thus the conformity degree with a two region measurement method using the standard single channel head coil is low. By directly comparing an AAPM method, which serves as a standard of a performance evaluation test of a magnetic resonance imaging device under the same image acquisition conditions, an NEMA method which can accurately determine the noise level in a signal region and the methods recommended by manufacturers of a magnetic resonance imaging device, there is a significance in that we quantitatively verified the inaccurate problems of a signal to noise ratio using a two region measurement method when using a multi-channel coil and a parallel imaging technique of which method does not satisfy the preconditions that researchers could overlook.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.451-461
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• 2015

In megavoltage (MV) radiotherapy, delivering the dose to the target volume is important while protecting the surrounding normal tissue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) using an edge block in megavoltage X-ray imaging (MVI). We used an edge block, which consists of tungsten with dimensions of 19 (thickness) ${\times}$ 10 (length) ${\times}$ 1 (width) $cm^3$ and measured the pre-sampling MTF at 6 MV energy. Various radiation therapy (RT) devices such as TrueBeam$^{TM}$ (Varian), BEAMVIEW$^{PLUS}$ (Siemens), iViewGT (Elekta) and Clinac$^{(R)}$iX (Varian) were used. As for MTF results, TrueBeam$^{TM}$(Varian) flattening filter free(FFF) showed the highest values of $0.46mm^{-1}$ and $1.40mm^{-1}$ for MTF 0.5 and 0.1. In NPS, iViewGT (Elekta) showed the lowest noise distribution. In DQE, iViewGT (Elekta) showed the best efficiency at a peak DQE and $1mm^{-1}DQE$ of 0.0026 and 0.00014, respectively. This study could be used not only for traditional QA imaging but also for quantitative MTF, NPS, and DQE measurement for development of an electronic portal imaging device (EPID).

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.449-459
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• 2015

The conventional National Forest Inventory(NFI)-based forest carbon stock estimation method is suitable for national-scale estimation, but is not for regional-scale estimation due to the lack of NFI plots. In this study, for the purpose of regional-scale carbon stock estimation, we created grid-based forest carbon stock maps using spatial ancillary data and two types of up-scaling methods. Chungnam province was chosen to represent the study area and for which the $5^{th}$ NFI (2006~2009) data was collected. The first method (method 1) selects forest type map as ancillary data and uses regression model for forest carbon stock estimation, whereas the second method (method 2) uses satellite imagery and k-Nearest Neighbor(k-NN) algorithm. Additionally, in order to consider uncertainty effects, the final AGB carbon stock maps were generated by performing 200 iterative processes with Monte Carlo simulation. As a result, compared to the NFI-based estimation(21,136,911 tonC), the total carbon stock was over-estimated by method 1(22,948,151 tonC), but was under-estimated by method 2(19,750,315 tonC). In the paired T-test with 186 independent data, the average carbon stock estimation by the NFI-based method was statistically different from method2(p<0.01), but was not different from method1(p>0.01). In particular, by means of Monte Carlo simulation, it was found that the smoothing effect of k-NN algorithm and mis-registration error between NFI plots and satellite image can lead to large uncertainty in carbon stock estimation. Although method 1 was found suitable for carbon stock estimation of forest stands that feature heterogeneous trees in Korea, satellite-based method is still in demand to provide periodic estimates of un-investigated, large forest area. In these respects, future work will focus on spatial and temporal extent of study area and robust carbon stock estimation with various satellite images and estimation methods.