• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.325-332
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• 2018

Carotid angiography covering the aortic arch includes contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEA), which is applied to a large region and usually employs contrast media. However, the use of contrast media can be dangerous in infants, pregnant women, and patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Follow-up patients informed of a lesion may also want to avoid constant exposure to contrast media. We aimed to apply time-of-flight (TOF) angiography to a large region and compare its usefulness with that of CEA. Ten patients (mean age, 58 years; range, 45~75 years) who visited our hospital for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) participated in this study. A 3.0 Tesla Achieva magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system (Philips, Netherland) and the SENSE NeuroVascular 16-channel coil were employed for both methods. Both methods were applied simultaneously to the same patient. Three TOF stacks were connected to cover the aortic arch through the circle of Willis, and CEA was applied in the same manner. For the quantitative assessment, the acquired images were used to set the regions of interest (ROIs) in the common carotid artery (CCA) bifurcation, internal carotid artery, external carotid artery, middle cerebral artery, and vertebral artery, and to obtain the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for the soft tissues. Three radiologists and one radiological resident performed the qualitative assessment on a 5-point scale - 1 point, "very bad"; 2 points, "bad"; 3 points, "average"; 4 points, "good"; and 5 points, "very good" - with regard to 4 items: (1) sharpness, (2) distortion, (3) vein contamination, and (4) expression of peripheral vessels. For the quantitative assessment, we estimated the mean SNR and CNR in each of the 5 ROIs. In general, the mean SNR was higher in TOF angiography (166.1, 205.2, 154.39, 172.23, and 161.95) than in CEA(92.05, 95.43, 84.76, 73.69, and 88.3). Both methods had a similar mean CNR: 67.62, 106.71, 55.9, 73.74, and 63.46 for TOF angiography, and 67.82, 71.19, 60.52, 49.45, and 64.07 for CEA. In all ROIs, the mean SNR was statistically significant (p<0.05), whereas the mean CNR was insignificant (p>0.05). The mean values of TOF angiography and CEA for each item in the qualitative assessment were 4.2 and 4.28, respectively for item 1; 2.93 and 4.55, respectively, for item 2; 4.6 and 3.13, respectively, for item 3; and 2.88 and 4.65, respectively, for item 4. Therefore, TOF angiography had a higher mean for item 3, and CEA had a higher mean for items 2 and 4; there was no significant difference between the two methods for item 1. The results for item 1 were statistically insignificant (p>0.05), whereas the results for items 2~4 were statistically significant (p<0.05). Both methods have advantages and disadvantages and they complement each other. However, CEA is usually applied to a large region covering the aortic arch. Time-of-flight angiography may be useful for people such as infants, pregnant women, CRF patients, and followup patients for whom the use of contrast media can be dangerous or unnecessary, depending on the circumstance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2023

This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of Deep Learning Image Reconstruction (TrueFidelity, TF), the image quality of existing Filtered Back Projection (FBP) and Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction-Veo (ASIR-V) were compared. Noise, CNR, and SSIM were measured by obtaining images with doses fixed at 17.29 mGy and altered to 10.37 mGy, 12.10 mGy, 13.83 mGy, and 15.56 mGy in reconstruction techniques of FBP, ASIR-V 50%, and TF-H. TF-H has superior image quality compared to FBP and ASIR-V when the reconstruction technique change is given at 17.29 mGy. When dose changes were made, Noise, CNR, and SSIM were significantly different when comparing 10.37 mGy TF-H and FBP (p<0.05), and no significant difference when comparing 10.37 mGy TF-H and ASIR-V 50% (p>0.05). TF-H has a dose-reduction effect of 30%, as the highest dose of 15.56 mGy ASIR-V has the same image quality as the lowest dose of 10.37 mGy TF-H. Thus, Deep Learning Reconstruction techniques (TF) were able to reduce dose compared to Iterative Reconstruction techniques (ASIR-V) and Filtered Back Projection (FBP). Therefore, it is considered to reduce the exposure dose of patients.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review clinical characteristics and working environments of sudden cardiac death (SCD) cases associated with a tire manufacturer in Korea, and review possible occupational risk factors for cardiovascular disease including nanoparticles (ultrafine particles, UFPs). Methods: We reviewed (i) the clinical course of SCD cases and (ii) occupational and non-occupational risk factors including chemicals, the physical work environment, and job characteristics. Results: Possible occupational factors were chemicals, UFPs of rubber fume, a hot environment, shift work, overworking, and noise exposure. The mean diameter of rubber fume (63-73 nm) was (larger than diesel exhaust [12 nm] and outdoor dust [50 nm]). The concentration of carbon disulfide, carbon monoxide and styrene were lower than the limit of detection. Five SCD cases were exposed to shift work and overworking. Most of the cases had several non-occupational factors such as hypertension, overweight and smoking. Conclusion: The diameter of rubber fume was larger than outdoor and the diesel exhaust, the most well known particulate having a causal relationship with cardiovascular disease. The possibility of a causal relation between UFPs of rubber fume and SCD was not supported in this study. However, it is necessary to continue studying the relationship between large sized UFPs and SCD.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 1999

The research and implementation was preformed on high-resolution CCTV camera with CCD exclusive DSP conventional analog signal processor CCTV camera has its limit on auto exposure(AE), auto white balance(AWB), back light compensation(BLC) processing, severe distortion and noise of image, manual control parameter setting, etc. In our study, to resolve the problems in conventional CCTV camera, we made it possible to control AE, AWB, BLC automatically by the use of the DSP, which are used exclusively in the CCD camera produced domestically, and the microcontroller. And we utilized the function of screen display of microcontroller for the user-friendly interface to control CCD camera. And the electronic variable resister(EVR) was used to avoid setting parameters manually in the level of manufacturing process. As the result, It became possible to control parameters of the camera by program. And the cost-down effect was accomplished by improving the reliability of parameter values and reducing the efforts in setting parameters.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.391-396
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the patient dose according to the distance between the X-ray tube focus and the image receptor, and to propose a new method for quantitatively evaluating the image quality. Using this quantitative evaluation method, the optimal distance for increasing x-ray image quality with low radiation dose was estimated between source and image receptor in Rib series radiography. Phantom images were obtained by changing the distance between focus and image receptor (100 cm and 180 cm). The patient radiation dose was estimated using entrance surface dose and dose area product. In order to evaluate image quality objectively, a non - reference image evaluation method was employed with paper and salt noise and Gaussian filter. As a result of this study, when the SID was changed from 100 cm to 180 cm, the entrance surface dose decreased by 4 ~ 5 times and the dose area product decreased by 3 times. In addition, there is no significant difference in image quality between of SID 180 cm and SID 100 cm. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that performing the rib series radiography at SID 180 cm is an optimal method to reduce the exposure dose and improve the image quality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

This study has focused on transparency recovering of the polycarbonate by polishing its surface for recycling. The polycarbonate has many properties such as excellent mechanical strength, electrical insulating, superior heat resistance to other plastic material and especially good transparency. It has been used as barrier for the traffic noise at the roadside and the greenhouse for the palm house. But the polycarbonate has changed slightly as time goes by 10 years because of exposure to the strong sunlight and oxidization in the atmosphere, as result has lost its transparency. Magnetic assisted polishing has been utilized as an effective polishing method to recover the transparency of polycarbonate. The polycarbonate which has been used for 10 years was adopted as the sample. The first surface roughness of the sample was 1$1.23{\mu}mRa$, $7.5{\mu}mRz(DIN)$ respectively. In the experimental results, it showed that the surface roughness of the polished sample improved $0.013{\mu}mRa$, $0.08{\mu}mRz(DIN)$ from the first surface roughness respectively. The surface roughness get almost back again by magnetic assisted polishing. These results also showed that the magnetic assisted polishing was efficient machining method to reuse the polycarbonate material.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1669-1680
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• 2006

This paper explains that the RF systems for hi-directional wireless capsule endoscopes were designed and implemented. The designed RF systems for a capsule endoscope can transmit the images of intestines from the inside to the outside of a body and the behavior of the capsules can be controlled by an external controller simultaneously. The hi-directional wireless capsule endoscope consists of a CMOS image sensor, FPGA, LED, battery, DC to DC Converter, transmitter, receiver, and antennas. The transmitter and receiver which were used in the hi-directional capsule endoscope, were designed and fabricated with $10mm(diameter){\times}3.2mm(thickness)$ dimensions taking into the MPE, power consumption, system size, signal to noise ratio and modulation method. The RF systems designed and implemented for the hi-directional wireless capsule endoscopes system were verified by in-vivo experiments. As a result, the RF systems for the hi-directional wireless capsule endoscopes satisfied the design specifications.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.175-179
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• 2006

Welders are exposed to a number of hazards including metal fumes, toxic gases, electricity, heat, noise, and radiation such as ultraviolet and infrared light. We encountered a patient who developed non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema within a day after cutting copper pipe with an oxyethylene torch. The patient was a 26-year-old welder. He complained of dyspnea, generalized myalgia, and febrile sensation the following morning. The patient's chest X-ray and chest CT scan showed extensively distributed and ill-defined centrilobular nodules. Both his symptoms and chest X-ray abnormalities improved spontaneously. We attributed the patient's symptoms to non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema due to nitrogen dioxide, reasoning that: 1) the pipe consisted only of copper, according to material safety data sheet (MSDS); 2) a previous report in the literature demonstrated increased nitrogen dioxide levels under similar conditions; 3) the patient's clinical course and radiologic findings were very reminiscent of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema following accidental exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2008

Understanding of the basic characteristics of an astronomical instrument is a prerequisite to obtaining reliable data from the instrument. We have analyzed more than 1,000 calibration images from the Fairchild 486 CCD (hereafter the Maidanak 4k CCD system) attached to the AZT-22 1.5m telescope at Maidanak Astronomical Observatory in Uzbekistan. The Maidanak 4k CCD system supports three readout modes through 1, 2, or 4 amplifiers. In most cases observers use 4-amplifier readout mode to save time. We have tested the stability and seasonal variation of zero levels and confirm that two quadrants of the images (Amp 1 & 2) show no appreciable seasonal variation. but the other two quadrants (Amp 3 & Amp 4) show an evident seasonal variation in the bias level. The Cryo Tiger, the cooling system used at the Maidanak 4k CCD system, maintains the CCD temperature at -108'E, and effectively suppresses the dark electrons. The mean value versus the variance plot of the flat images does not show the expected relation for an ideal Poisson noise distribution and this is attributed to the large variation in quantum efficiency between different pixels. In addition, we confirm that there is no appreciable difference in gain between readout amplifiers, but there is a large variation in quantum efficiency across CCD chip especially in U. Due to the finite length of shutter opening and closing time, the effective exposure time varies across the science images. We introduce two parameters to quantify the effect of this uneven illumination and present a method to remove these effects. We also present a method to remove the interference patterns appearing in the images obtained with longer wavelength filters and investigate the spatial variation of the point spread function.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.385-388
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• 2002

We measured and evaluated digital, pre-sampling and overall imaging properties (characteristic curves, Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Wiener spectra (WS), Noise Equivalent Quanta (NEQ) and Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE)) for the direct type and indirect type of Flat-Panel Detector (FPD). First, the digital and overall characteristic curves of the both types of FPD had more wide dynamic range than that of the S/F system. Second, the pre-sampling and overall MTF of the direct-type FPD were superior to those of the indirect-type FPD. Third, for identical exposures, the digital and overall WS of the direct-type FPD were similar or worse than those of the indirect-type FPD, and for larger exposure, the digital WS of the both types of FPD were smaller, but overall WS of the both types of FPD were larger. Fourth, the digital and overall NEQ and DQE of the direct-type FPD were worse than both NEQ and DQE of the indirect-type FPD at lower spatial frequencies, but were better at higher spatial frequencies.