• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.255-258
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• 2008

For rapidly increasing amount of medical images, it is difficult for radiologist to interpretate the medical images fastly and for sufficient time. We investigated whether liver CT image has good features to be analyzed by computer algorithm, We examed the CT images of liver tumors (Hepetocellular carcinomas; HCCs) and searched any potential morphologic characteristics to be analyzed by computer algorithms. On unenhanced CT, HCCs appeared hypodense After enhancement, most HCCs were hyperdense, and then. as a consequence of rapid washout, HCCS became hypodense compared with the liver parenchyma. Most CT images of HCCs showed synchronous phase-specific.morphologic features. We applied various edge detection filters to these images and some filters showed favorable performance in the detection of tile edge of liver and HCC. Therefore, theses features seems to be analyzed by computer algorithms effectively.Further studies may be warranted.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.605-610
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• 2007

Purpose: Facial trauma is increasing along with increasing popularity in sports, and increasing exposure to crimes or traffic accidents. Compared to the 3D CT of 1990s, the latest CT has made significant improvement thus resulting in higher accuracy of diagnosis. The objective of this study is to compare 64 channel 3 dimensional volume CT(3D VCT) with conventional 3D CT in the diagnosis and treatment of facial bone fractures. Methods: 45 patients with facial trauma were examined by 3D VCT from Jan. 2006 to Feb. 2007. 64 channel 3D VCT which consists of 64 detectors produce axial images of 0.625 mm slice and it scans 175 mm per second. These images are transformed into 3 dimensional image using software Rapidia 2.8. The axial image is reconstructed into 3 dimensional image by volume rendering method. The image is also reconstructed into coronal or sagittal image by multiplanar reformatting method. Results: Contrasting to the previous 3D CT which formulates 3D images by taking axial images of 1-2 mm, 64 channel 3D VCT takes 0.625 mm thin axial images to obtain full images without definite step ladder appearance. 64 channel 3D VCT is effective in diagnosis of thin linear bone fracture, depth and degree of fracture deviation. Conclusion: In its expense and speed, 3D VCT is superior to conventional 3D CT. Owing to its ability to reconstruct full images regardless of the direction using 2 times higher resolution power and 4 times higher speed of the previous 3D CT, 3D VCT allows for accurate evaluation of the exact site and deviation of fine fractures.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2008

Purpose: The evaluation of SUV (Standardized Uptake Values) for quantitative analysis in PET exam is the most significant. In PET exam, we make attenuation correction images by using $^{68}Ge$, $^{137}Cs$ or CT data. At this time, a distorted attenuation map affects quantitative analysis. After the exam using barium-sulfate and high density of barium contrast make attenuation map distorted. And then it brings bed influences on SUV. The aim of this study is to verify the relationship between high density barium-sulfate and SUV in PET exam. Materials and Methods By using $^{18}F$-FDG, we made barium-sulfate powder, density of 0, 1.5, 3, 5, 10 and 15% respectively and acquired PET and PET/CT images per each density. And we examined SUV variations from PET and PET/CT images according to differences of barium's density. Moreover, we finally calculated SUV causing variations in HU (Hounsfield Units) values to justify whether the differences of barium density bring any changes in PET/CT exam. Results: From PET images acquired from transmission scan with $^{68}Ge$, we got SUV figures from 6.46 to 6.8 in barium density between 0 to 15 percent. On the other hand, In PET images acquired from Tx scan that using CT, SUV was 6.77 to 23.73, derived from the same barium density. And CT HU values range from 29 to 2004. Conclusion: PET images from Tx data using $^{68}Ge$ weren't affected by barium density and had no differences in SUV. But in the PET/CT images using CT Tx data, there's considerable variations in HU and SUV values according to a difference of barium density in HU values. To perform a precise examination, barium sulfate should be removed from a human body before performing a PET exam.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.471-474
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• 2006

Objective : Neuroimaging data are of paramount importance in making correct diagnosis. We herein evaluate the clinical usefulness of image transfer using cellular phones to facilitate neurological diagnosis and decision-making. Methods : Selected images from CT, MRI scans, and plain films obtained from 50 neurosurgical patients were transferred by cellular phones. A cellular phone with a built-in 1,300,000-pixel digital camera was used to capture and send the images. A cellular phone with a 262,000 color thin-film transistor liquid crystal display was used to receive the images. Communication between both cellular phones was operated by the same wireless protocol and the same wireless internet service. We compared the concordance of diagnoses and treatment plans between a house staff who could review full-scale original films and a consultant who could only review transferred images. These finding were later analyzed by a third observer. Results : The mean time of complete transfer was $2{\sim}3\;minutes$. The quality of all images received was good enough to make precise diagnosis and to select treatment options. Transferred images were helpful in making correct diagnosis and decision making in 49/50 [98%] cases. Discordant result was caused in one patient by improper selection of images by the house staff. Conclusion : The cellular phone system was useful for image transfer and delivery patient's information, leading to earlier diagnosis and initiation of treatment. This usefulness was due to sufficient resolution of the built-in camera and the TFT-LCD, the user-friendly features of the devices, and their low cost.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.51
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• pp.6.1-6.9
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• 2021

Histopathology is a well-established standard diagnosis employed for the majority of malignancies, including breast cancer. Nevertheless, despite training and standardization, it is considered operator-dependent and errors are still a concern. Fractal dimension analysis is a computational image processing technique that allows assessing the degree of complexity in patterns. We aimed here at providing a robust and easily attainable method for introducing computer-assisted techniques to histopathology laboratories. Slides from two databases were used: A) Breast Cancer Histopathological; and B) Grand Challenge on Breast Cancer Histology. Set A contained 2480 images from 24 patients with benign alterations, and 5429 images from 58 patients with breast cancer. Set B comprised 100 images of each type: normal tissue, benign alterations, in situ carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma. All images were analyzed with the FracLac algorithm in the ImageJ computational environment to yield the box count fractal dimension (Db) results. Images on set A on 40x magnification were statistically different (p = 0.0003), whereas images on 400x did not present differences in their means. On set B, the mean Db values presented promising statistical differences when comparing. Normal and/or benign images to in situ and/or invasive carcinoma (all p < 0.0001). Interestingly, there was no difference when comparing normal tissue to benign alterations. These data corroborate with previous work in which fractal analysis allowed differentiating malignancies. Computer-aided diagnosis algorithms may beneficiate from using Db data; specific Db cut-off values may yield ~ 99% specificity in diagnosing breast cancer. Furthermore, the fact that it allows assessing tissue complexity, this tool may be used to understand the progression of the histological alterations in cancer.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to evaluate image blurring according to variation of the ETL and propose the clinically appropriate ETL range. SIEMENS MAGNETOM Skyra 3.0T and 20 channel head coil were used for the study. MRI phantom was kept the lines horizontally to three direction(X,Y,Z) of the coil and T1, T2 weighted images that used the fast spin echo technique acquired. The ETL with increase of 10 was applied from 10 to 80. In addition, the ETL with increase of 1 was applied in the interval statistically significant differences occurred. And T1, T2 weighted images that used the conventional spin echo technique acquired to compare image blurring of the images that used the fast spin echo technique. The slope of lattice in the images was measured using Image J 1.47v program to evaluate image blurring. And image blurring was determined by the degree of the slope. The statistical significance of both techniques was evaluated by the Kruskal-Wallis test of the SPSS 17.0v. And the correlation of the ETL and image blurring was evaluated quantitatively by regression analysis. The slope of the T1, T2 weighted images that used fast spin echo technique decreased as contrasted with conventional spin echo technique. In the result of the Kruskal-Wallis test, the T1, T2 weighted images that used fast spin echo technique made a significant difference with conventional spin echo technique. Particularly, in the Tomhane' T2 test, the T1, T2 weighted images made a significant difference from ETL 22 and 31 respectively. In the result of the regression analysis, the R-squared of the T1, T2 weighted images are 0.762 and 0.793. It is difficult to apply the long ETL in the T1 weighted image caused by the short TR and multi-slices study. Therefore, clinical impact according to variation of the ETL is very slight in the T1 weighted images. But the application of the proper ETL is demanded in T2 weighted images using the fast spin echo technique in order to prevent image blurring.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.619-626
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• 1998

This paper presents the features for quantitative evaluation of medical images based on the technique of image processing. In consideration of advice from medical doctor, 1 derive three features seemed to be strongly correlated with the degree of disease's advance. From comparison between each feature and evaluation value by medical doctor, our research shows that three features can be a useful aids in quantitative evaluation of lung's disease on chest X-ray images.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1990 no.11
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• pp.29-32
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• 1990

The method for enhancing the edges from medical images is described. The various methods are tested for the medical Images contaminated by noises, such as weighted averaging based on local probabilities, unsharp masking techniques, and proposed combined techniques. As a result, the combined technique using the median filtering and edge masks in six directions is well suited to remove the noises as to as to preserve the edges. Experimental results and computational procedures are presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2010

This paper presents a histogram equalization based on the nonlinear transformation function for enhancing the quality of medical images. The nonlinear transformation function is applied to adaptively equalize the brightness of the image according to its intensity level frequency. The logistic function is used as a nonlinear transformation function, which is calculated by only using the intensity level with maximum frequency and the maximum intensity level in an histogram, and the total number of pixels. The proposed method has been applied for equalizing 8 medical images with a different resolution and histogram distribution. The experimental results show that the proposed method has the superior enhancement performances compared with the conventional histogram equalization. And the proposed histogram equalization can be used in various multimedia systems in real-time.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2004

We designed and implemented a medical image query system, including a relational database and DBMS (database management system), which can visualize image data and can achieve spatial, attribute, and mixed queries. Image data used in querying can be visualized in slice, MPR(multi-planner reformat), volume rendering, and overlapping on the query system. To reduce spatial cost and processing time in the system. brain images are spatially clustered, by an adaptive Hilbert curve filling, encoded, and stored to its database without loss for spatial query. Because the query is often applied to small image regions of interest(ROI's), the technique provides higher compression rate and less processing time in the cases.