• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.298-304
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This preliminary rabbit study was conducted to evaluate the effect of recombinant human transforming growth factor-${\beta}2$ (rhTGF-${\beta}2$)/poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) coating on osseointegration of the titanium (Ti) implant. Materials and methods: Eight Ti implants were anodized with 300 voltages for three minutes. Four of those were coated with rhTGF-${\beta}2$/PLGA by an electrospray method as the experimental group. The implants were placed into tibiae of four New Zealand rabbits, two implants per a tibia, one implant per each group. After 3 and 6 weeks, every two rabbits were sacrificed and micro-computed tomography (microCT) was taken for histomorphometric analysis. Results: In scanning electron microscope (SEM) image, the surface of rhTGF-${\beta}2$/PLGA coated Ti implant showed well distributed particles. Although statistically insignificant, microCT analysis showed that experimental group has higher bone volume / total volume (BV/TV) and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) values relatively. Cross sectional view also showed more newly formed bone in the experimental group. Conclusion: In the limitation of this study, rhTGF-${\beta}2$/PLGA particles coating on the Ti implant show the possibility of more favorable quantity of newly formed bone after implant installation.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.342-352
• /
• 2014

This paper proposes an automatic segmentation method of cortical bone and trabecular bone and describes an implementation of structural analysis method of trabecular bone in micro-CT images. The proposed segmentation method extract bone region with binarization using a threshold value. Next, it finds adjacent contour lines from outer boundary line into inward direction and sets candidate regions of cortical bone. Next it remove cortical bone region by finding the candidate cortical region of which the average pixel value is maximum. We implemented the method which computes four structural indicators BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.Sp, Tb.N by using VTK(Visualization ToolKit) and sphere fitting algorithm. We applied the implemented method to twenty proximal femur of mouses and compared with the manual segmentation method. Experimental result shows that the average error rates between the proposed segmentation method and the manual segmentation method are less than 3% for the four structural indicatiors. This result means that the proposed method can be used instead of the combersome and time consuming manual segmentation method.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.9
• /
• pp.642-648
• /
• 2019

In this study, Image-based computational analysis using the developed models was performed to predict the degradation of effective properties by ablation. The ablation tests of carbon/phenolic composites were performed using a 0.4 MW arc-heated wind tunnel. The carbon/phenolic composite samples were scanned using the micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) to analyze the ablation characteristics according to a duration time of the ablation test. By calibrating the scanned images, computational models were developed that reflect the actual microstructure of the ablation composites. Also, nine computational models that reflect the actual pore shape were developed using the created cross-sectional images. Image-based computational analysis using the developed models was performed to predict the degradation of effective properties by ablation and the decrease of effective properties was confirmed with increase of porosity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2003.06a
• /
• pp.1320-1323
• /
• 2003

In this study, the micro-FE analyses were carried out for the plastic behaviour of vertebral trabecular bones. Many researchers have investigated the elastic behaviour of trabecular bones by using the micro-finite element models based on the micro-CT images. However, there was no micro-FE model to account for the plastic behaviour of trabecular bones. Ulrich et at. reported that best results at coarser model were obtained when using 'compensated hexahedron models' with the same relative density. This study indicates that, for the elastic and plastic analysis, 'the compensated hexahedron FE model' is likely to be limited to about 63$\mu\textrm{m}$ image resolution in the vertebra trabecular bones.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.53-61
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted for the purpose of evaluating the stainless steel crowns on extracted primary molars and thus identifying frequent errors and defects. Visual assessment and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) image analysis were performed on 97 primary molars for evaluation of the state of marginal adaptation, cement loss, secondary caries, ledge formation, attritive perforation and marginal polishing defect. The results were as follows: In the examination of object teeth by evaluation criteria, cement loss was found most frequently (98%), followed by secondary caries (42.3%), marginal polishing defect (41.2%), ledge formation (29.9%) and attritive perforation (17.5%), in this order. The cement loss at the margins showed a significant relationship with marginal gap and secondary caries: the larger the marginal gap is, the more frequent is the cement loss (p < 0.05). The average marginal gap was $0.31{\pm}0.26mm$ and showed the highest value in the maxillary 2nd primary molars. The location of the crown margin above the cementoenamel junction was found most frequently and it was found that the higher the crown margin is located, the less the marginal gap becomes (p < 0.05). In conclusion, it is thought very desirable to pay closer attention to crown margins and shapes for stainless steel crown restoration in order to minimize the marginal gaps and consequent cement loss.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.151-159
• /
• 2014

Computed tomography (CT) is one of the most widely used medical imaging modality. However, substantial x-ray dose exposed to the human subject during the CT scan is a great concern. Region-of-interest (ROI) CT is considered to be a possible solution for its potential to reduce the x-ray dose to the human subject. In most of ROI-CT scans, the ROI is set to a circular shape whose diameter is often considerably smaller than the full field-of-view (FOV). However, an arbitrarily shaped ROI is very desirable to reduce the x-ray dose more than the circularly shaped ROI can do. We propose a new method to make a non-circular convex-shaped ROI along with the image reconstruction method. To make a ROI with an arbitrary convex shape, dynamic collimations are necessary to minimize the x-ray dose at each angle of view. In addition to the dynamic collimation, we get the ROI projection data with slightly lower sampling rate in the view direction to further reduce the x-ray dose. We reconstruct images from the ROI projection data in the compressed sensing (CS) framework assisted by the exterior projection data acquired from the pilot scan to set the ROI. To validate the proposed method, we used the experimental micro-CT projection data after truncating them to simulate the dynamic collimation. The reconstructed ROI images showed little errors as compared to the images reconstructed from the full-FOV scan data as well as little artifacts inside the ROI. We expect the proposed method can significantly reduce the x-ray dose in CT scans if the dynamic collimation is realized in real CT machines.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.153-159
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted evaluate the influence of reconstruction parameters of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images on bone mineral density (BMD) analyses. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of micro-CT images of the maxillae of 5 Wistar rats, acquired using a SkyScan 1174 unit (Bruker, Kontich, Belgium). Each acquisition was reconstructed following the manufacturer's recommendations(standard protocol; SP) for the application of artifact correction tools(beam hardening correction [BHC], 45%; smoothing filter, degree 2; and ring artifact correction [RAC], level 5). Additionally, images were reconstructed with 36 protocols combining different settings of artifact correction tools (P0 to P35). BMD analysis was performed for each reconstructed image. The BMD values obtained for each protocol were compared to those obtained using the SP through repeated-measures analysis of variance with the Dunnett post hoc test(α=0.05). Results: The BMD values obtained from all protocols that used a BHC of 45% did not significantly differ from those obtained using the SP (P>0.05). The other protocols all yielded significantly different BMD values from the SP(P<0.05). The smoothing and RAC tools did not affect BMD values. Conclusion: BMD values measured on micro-CT images were influenced by the BHC level. Higher levels of BHC induced higher values of BMD.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.134-141
• /
• 2010

This study analyzed the regional morphological and mechanical characteristics of vertebrae by using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and micro finite element analysis (FEA). For the present study, the $12^{th}$ human thoracic vertebral bones (an 85-years female and a 48-years male) were used. These were scanned by using micro-CT. Structural parameters were evaluated from the acquired 20 image data for fifteen $4{\times}4mm^2$ regions (five regions in respective layers of superior, middle and inferior part) in the thoracic vertebral trabecular bones. $4{\times}4{\times}4mm^3$ cubic finite element models of each regions were created at $70{\mu}m$ voxel resolution to investigate effective modulus ($E^+$). The present study indicated that there were significant differences in morphological and elastic mechanical characteristics of each region. There are close relationship between effective modulus and structural model index (SMI) in the bone of the 48-years male and between effective modulus and bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the bone of the 85-years female. In addition, the effective modulus of central regions is about 80% stiffer than that of lateral regions at transverse plane. These findings may be likely to explain the previous result that a change of loading distribution of the vertebral trabecular bones is caused by spinal curvature and nucleus pulpous degeneration of the intervertebral disc.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.325-333
• /
• 2023

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the accuracy and image quality of root surface area (RSA) measurements obtained with various cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) protocols, relative to the gold standard of micro-computed tomography (CT), in an in vitro setting. Materials and Methods: Four dry human skulls were scanned using 8 different protocols, with voxel sizes of 0.15 mm, 0.3 mm, and 0.4 mm. Three-dimensional models of the selected teeth were constructed using CBCT and microCT protocols, and the RSA was automatically measured by the image-processing software. The absolute difference in the percentage of the RSA(%ΔRSA) was calculated and compared across the 8 CBCT protocols using repeatedmeasures analysis of variance. Finally, image quality scores of the RSA measurements were computed and reported in terms of percent distribution. Results: No significant differences were observed in the %ΔRSA across the 8 protocols (P>0.05). The deviation in %ΔRSA ranged from 1.51% to 4.30%, with an increase corresponding to voxel size. As the voxel size increased, the image quality deteriorated. This decline in quality was particularly noticeable at the apical level of the root, where the distribution of poorer scores was most concentrated. Conclusion: Relative to CBCT protocols with voxel sizes of 0.15mm and 0.3mm, the protocols with a voxel size of 0.4 mm demonstrated inferior image quality at the apical levels. In spite of this, no significant discrepancies were observed in RSA measurements across the different CBCT protocols.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.184-196
• /
• 2019

This study aims to extract a 3D image of micro-cracks generated by hydraulic fracturing tests, using the deep learning method and X-ray computed tomography images. The pixel-level cracks are difficult to be detected via conventional image processing methods, such as global thresholding, canny edge detection, and the region growing method. Thus, the convolutional neural network-based encoder-decoder network is adapted to extract and analyze the micro-crack quantitatively. The number of training data can be acquired by dividing, rotating, and flipping images and the optimum combination for the image augmentation method is verified. Application of the optimal image augmentation method shows enhanced performance for not only the validation dataset but also the test dataset. In addition, the influence of the original number of training data to the performance of the deep learning-based neural network is confirmed, and it leads to succeed the pixel-level crack detection.