• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.33-37
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the non-invasive diagnostic methods and rectal suction biopsy for the detection of Hirschsprung disease (HD). Methods: We reviewed diagnostic methods and results retrospectively in patients who underwent anorectal manometry, barium enema and rectal suction biopsy for the diagnosis of HD at Asan Medical Center from January 2000 to December 2012. Results: There were 97 patients (59 neonates and 38 infants) in the study period. The overall accuracy of anorectal manometry for the diagnosis of HD was 71.1% and its sensitivity was 51.4% (48.1% in neonate and 62.5% in infant, respectively) and its overall specificity was 82.3% (81.3% in neonate and 83.3% in infant, respectively). The Overall accuracy of barium enema was 66.0% (72.8% in neonate and 55.3% in infant, respectively) and specificity of barium enema was 53.2% (56.3% in neonate and 50.0% in infant, respectively). These results were lower than those of anorectal manometry. The overall sensitivity of barium enema was 88.6% (92.6% in neonate and 75.0% in infant, respectively) and it was higher than the sensitivity of anorectal manometry. Histological studies confirmed HD in 35 patients, in one of whom the suction biopsy showed negative finding. Conclusion: Accuracy of non-invasive methods for diagnosis of HD in our study is lower than those in previous study, so we need to improve the quality of diagnostic tools in our hospital. We conclude that the rectal suction biopsy is the most accurate test for diagnosing HD, so the biopsy to confirm the diagnosis of the HD is very important.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.177-186
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• 2015

With a view to supporting the provisions of the current Korean food code for the detection of Benzo[a]pyrene, various analytical methods of detection in foods were evaluated and established in terms of linearity, limits of detection/quantitation, efficiency, and accuracy, amongst others. It was observed that to improve the technologies involved in the application of these methods, complicated and combined preparation processes of foods, including extraction, separation and purification, have been the main focus of efforts at optimization. Recently, on-site quick reaction for the detection of hazardous substances in the environment and food materials aims at developing simplified examination processes, such as lable-free and non-invasive technological analysis, to reduce the costs and time involved in the examination. Herein, current benzo[a]pyrene detection methods are reviewed in addition to new Raman spectroscopy-based trials established to pursue improve the speed, simplicity and suitability of testing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.142.2-142.2
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• 2015

Plasma etch endpoint detection (EPD) of SiO2 and PR layer is demonstrated by plasma impedance monitoring in this work. Plasma etching process is the core process for making fine pattern devices in semiconductor fabrication, and the etching endpoint detection is one of the essential FDC (Fault Detection and Classification) for yield management and mass production. In general, Optical emission spectrocopy (OES) has been used to detect endpoint because OES can be a simple, non-invasive and real-time plasma monitoring tool. In OES, the trend of a few sensitive wavelengths is traced. However, in case of small-open area etch endpoint detection (ex. contact etch), it is at the boundary of the detection limit because of weak signal intensities of reaction reactants and products. Furthemore, the various materials covering the wafer such as photoresist (PR), dielectric materials, and metals make the analysis of OES signals complicated. In this study, full spectra of optical emission signals were collected and the data were analyzed by a data-mining approach, modified K-means cluster analysis. The K-means cluster analysis is modified suitably to analyze a thousand of wavelength variables from OES. This technique can improve the sensitivity of EPD for small area oxide layer etching processes: about 1.0 % oxide area. This technique is expected to be applied to various plasma monitoring applications including fault detections as well as EPD.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.89-95
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• 2008

A tongue shows physiological and clinicopathological changes of inner organs. Visual inspection of a tongue is not only convenient but also non-invasive. To develop an automat ic tongue diagnosis system for an objective and standardized diagnosis, the separation of the tongue are a from a facial image and the detection of coatings, spots and cracks are inevitable but difficult since the colors of a tongue, lips, and skin in a mouth as well as those of tongue furs and body are similar. The propose d method includes preprocessing with down-sampling and edge enhancement, over-segmentation, detecting positions with a local minimum over shading from the structure of a tongue, and correcting local minima or detecting edge with color difference. The proposed method produces the region of a segmented tongue, and then decomposes the color components of the region into hue, saturation and brightness, resulting in classifying the regions of tongue furs(coatings) into kinds of coatings and substance and segmenting them. Spots are detected by using local maxima and the variation of saturation, and cracks are searched by using local minima and the directivity of dark areas in brightness. The results illustrate the segmented region with effective information, excluding a non-tongue region and also give us accurate discrimination of coatings and the precise detection of spots and cracks. It can be used to make an objective and standardized diagnosis for an u-Healthcare system as well as a home care system.

• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2016

Candida spp. is an invasive infectious fungus, a major risk factor that can increase morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. In this study, 2,508 Candida spp. were isolated from various clinical specimens collected from university hospitals from July 2011 to October 2014. They were identified in order to determine isolation frequencies and characteristics by specimen, gender, age group, year, season, and month. The strain-specific isolation rate of Candida spp. is in the order of Candida albicans (1,218 strains, 48.56%), Candida glabrata (416 strains, 16.59%), Candida utilis (305 strains, 12.16%), Candida tropicalis (304 strains, 12.12%), and Candida parapsilosis (116 strains, 4.63%) and these five species accounted for more than 94% of the total strains. Of the specimens, Candida spp. were most frequently isolated from urine-catheter, followed by urinevoided, blood, sputum, other, open pus, vaginal discharge, Tip, ear discharge, bronchial aspiration and bile, in that order. Looking at the age distribution, the detection rate of patients in their 60s and older was significantly higher at 75.8% (1,900/2,508). The detection rate of patients in their 20s and younger was shown to be very low at 2.55% (64/2,508). By year, the detection rate of non-albicans Candida spp. showed a tendency to gradually increase each year compared with C. albicans. As isolation of Candida spp. from clinical samples at the specie level can vary depending on characteristics of the patient, sample, season, etc., continual studies are required.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.535-549
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• 2022

Damage to forests, such as broken or falling trees, has increased due to the increased intensity and frequency of abnormal climate events, such as strong winds and heavy rains. However, it is difficult to respond to them in advance based on prediction since structural defects such as cavities and bumps inside trees are difficult to identify with a visual inspection. Non-invasive sonic tomography (SoT) is a method of estimating internal defects while minimizing physical damage to trees. Although SoT is effective in diagnosing internal defects, its accuracy varies depending on the species. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the reliability of its measurement results before applying it in the field. In this study, we measured internal defects in wood by cross-applying destructive resistance micro drilling on old Pinus densifloraSiebold & Zucc. and Ginkgo bilobaL., which are representative tree species in Korea, to verify the reliability of SoT and compared the evaluation results. The t-test for the mean values of the defect measurement between the two groups showed no statistically significant difference in pine trees and some difference in ginkgo trees. Linear regression analysis results showed a positive correlation with an increase in defects in SoT images when the defects in the drill resistance graph increased in both species.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.711-716
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• 2001

Objectives : Three-dimensional computed tomographic angiography(3D-CTA) is recently developed diagnostic imaging modality. We have studied this noninvasive method for possible role in replacing conventional angiography( CA) in the detection of aneurysms of the circle of Willis in patients with subarachnoid hemorrahge(SAH). Methods : We studied retrospectively, the 100 patients with SAH or unruptured aneurysms admitted to our hospital from October 1997 to December 1998. Among there, 85 patients underwent CTA, 82 patients underwent CA and 67 patients underwent both of CTA and CA. 3D-CTA was obtained using maximum intensity projection(MIP) and shaded-surface display(SSD) reconstruction. Results : Total 107 aneurysms were detected in 92 patients, and 64 aneurysms were detected in 67 patients underwent both CTA and CA. In five cases of those 67 cases, aneurysms were detected by CA but not by 3D-CTA. The detection rate of aneurysms(91.8%) and the detection rate of parent artery in cases of anterior communicating artery aneurysms(86.9%) with total 3D-CTA were relatively compatible with that of CA. But 3D-CTA was not enough in detection of posterior communicating artery aneurysms, internal carotid artery aneurysms as well as small sized aneurysm(<3mm). Conclusion : We consider CTA is valuable in as a screening test for cerebral aneurysm and follow-up test. And it is also valuable in early surgery for patients with aneurysmal rebleeding because of simple, quick, non-invasive method.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7981-7984
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• 2014

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) has been associated with a reduction in CRC incidence and CRC-related mortality. However, a conventional FOBT requires stool collection and handling, which may be inconvenient for participants. The EZ-Detect$^{TM}$ (Siam Pharmaceutical Thailand) is a FDA-approved chromogen-substrate based FOBT which is basically a self-checked FOBT (no stool handling required). This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of EZ-Detect for CRC detection. Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand between November 2013 and May 2014. Some 96 patients with histologically-proven CRC and 101 patients with normal colonoscopic findings were invited to perform self-checked FOBT according to the manufacturer's instructions. Results were compared with endoscopic and pathologic findings. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for CRC detection were calculated. Results: The present study revealed the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of this self-checked FOBT for CRC detection to be 41% (95% CI: 31-51), 97% (95% CI: 92-99), 93% (95% CI: 81-98) and 63% (95% CI: 55-70), respectively. The overall accuracy of the self-checked FOBT for identifying CRC was 70%. The sensitivity for CRC detection based on 7th AJCC staging was 29% for stage I, 32% for stage II and 50% for stage III/IV (P=0.19). The sensitivity was 33% for proximal colon and 42% for distal colon and rectal cancer (P=0.76). Notably, none of nine infiltrative lesions gave a positive FOBT. Conclusions: The self-checked FOBT had an acceptable accuracy of CRC detection except for infiltrative tumors. This home-administrated or 'DIY' do-it-yourself FOBT could be considered as one non-invasive and convenient tool for CRC screening.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2008

PET allows non-invasive, quantitative and repetitive imaging of biological function in living animals. Small animal PET imaging with $[^{18}F]$FDG has been successfully applied to investigation of metabolism, receptor-ligand interactions, gene expression, adoptive cell therapy and somatic gene therapy. Experimental condition of animal handling impacts on the biodistribution of $[^{18}F]$FDG in small animal study. The small animal PET and CT images were registered using the hardware fiducial markers and small animal contour point. Tumor imaging in small animal with small animal $[^{18}F]$FDG PET should be considered fasting, warming, and isoflurane anesthesia level. Registered imaging with small animal PET and CT image could be useful for the detection of tumor. Small animal experimental condition of animal handling and registration method will be of most importance for small lesion detection of metastases tumor model.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.639-644
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• 2016

Discovery of non-invasive diagnostic and predictive biomarkers for acute rejection in liver transplant patients would help to ensure the preservation of liver function in the graft, eventually contributing to improved graft and patient survival. We evaluated selected cytokines and chemokines in the sera from liver transplant patients as potential biomarkers for acute rejection, and found that the combined detection of IL-10, IL-17, and CXCL10 at 1-2 weeks post-operation could predict acute rejection following adult liver transplantation with 97% specificity and 94% sensitivity.