• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2015

Recently, noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) has been adopted as a primary screening tool for fetal chromosomal aneuploidy. The principle of NIPT lies in isolating the fetal fraction of cell-free DNA in maternal plasma and analyzing it with bioinformatic tools to measure the amount of gene from the target chromosome, such as chromosomes 21, 18, and 13. NIPT will contribute to decreasing the need for unnecessary invasive procedures, including amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling, for confirming fetal aneuploidy because of its higher positive predictive value than that of the conventional prenatal screening method. However, its greater cost than that of the current antenatal screening protocol may be an obstacle to the adoption of this innovative technique in clinical practice. Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is a novel approach for detecting and quantifying nucleic acid. dPCR provides real-time diagnostic advantages with higher sensitivity, accuracy, and absolute quantification than conventional quantitative PCR. Since the groundbreaking discovery that fetal cell-free nucleic acid exists in maternal plasma was reported, dPCR has been used for the quantification of fetal DNA and for screening for fetal aneuploidy. It has been suggested that dPCR will decrease the cost by targeting specific sequences in the target chromosome, and dPCR-based noninvasive testing will facilitate progress toward the implementation of a noninvasive approach for screening for trisomy 21, 18, and 13. In this review, we highlight the principle of dPCR and discuss its future implications in clinical practice.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.98-101
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• 2013

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a debilitating complication of herpes zoster, especially in elderly and comorbid patients. Unfortunately, the currently available treatments have shown limited efficacy and some adverse events that are poorly tolerated in elderly patients. Scrambler Therapy, proposed as an alternative treatment for chronic neuropathic pain recently, is a noninvasive approach to relieve pain by changing pain perception at the brain level. Here, we report our clinical experiences on the effect of Scrambler Therapy for three patients with PHN refractory to conventional treatment.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.77-78
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• 2005

A specific FUS-MRI platform was designed for breast cancer treatment. phased array technologies, sideways FUS transmission, and spatio-temporal temperature control in the complete region of interest, were combined for a novel therapy approach with enhanced safety and afficacy. A phase I clinical trial will start soon.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.264-269
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• 2008

This study was intended to test the feasibility of genetic analysis of wintering population of geese using their feces samples. This noninvasive approach is quite significant and effective because we do not need to capture or harm geese to obtain the samples. We collected the feces from two different populations of wintering geese in Korea in 2007. Finally thirty two feces were analyzed through a molecular genetic method. As a result, 14 haplotypes were identified and classified into two groups, white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) and bean geese (Anser fabalis). We established the method to make molecular genetic experiment more efficient using the feces. This study has a significance as the first genetic result on wintering population of geese in Korea using noninvasive sampling method.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2017

Noninvasive, cuffless, and continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring is essential to prevent and control hypertension. A well-known existing method for this measurement is pulse transit time (PTT), which has been investigated by many researchers as a promising approach. However, the fundamental principle of the PTT method is based on the time interval taken by a pulse wave to propagate between the proximal and distal arterial sites. Consequently, this method needs an independent system with two devices placed at two different sites, which is a problem. Even though some studies attempted to synchronize the system, it is bulky and inconvenient by contemporary standards. To find a more sensitive method to be used in a BP measurement device, this study used radial electrical bioimpedance (REB) as a potential indicator for BP determination. Only one impedance plethysmography channel at the wrist is performed for demonstrating a ubiquitous BP wearable device. The experiment was evaluated on eight healthy subjects with the ambulatory BP monitor on the upper arm as a reference. The results demonstrated the potential of the proposed method by the correlation of estimated systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP against the reference at $0.84{\pm}0.05$ and $0.83{\pm}0.05$, respectively. REB also tracked the DBP well with a root-mean-squared-error of $7.5{\pm}1.35mmHg$.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2023

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Based on the current screening guidelines by the American Cancer Society and Korean multi-society expert committee, CRC screening is recommended in asymptomatic adults starting at the age of 45 years. Fecal immunochemical test-based screening programs reduce the development of CRC and related mortality in the general population. However, this most popular CRC screening strategy demonstrates a crucial limitation due to modest diagnostic accuracy. Colonoscopy may be considered as an alternative primary method for CRC screening; however, its implementation can still be challenging due to concerns regarding invasiveness, low adherence, cost-effectiveness, and quality assurance. To overcome the limitations of current screening tests, innovative noninvasive tests for CRC screening have been developed with advances in molecular biology, genetics, epigenetics, and microbiomics for detecting CRC, which may enhance the approach to CRC screening and diagnosis in clinical practice in the near future. This review explores the emerging screening methods and discusses their potential for integration into current practice.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.827-836
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• 1999

Numerous persons complained dyspepsia even though no specific objective findings are revealed by imaging study, laboratory examinations and other clinical research. To find out of so many symptoms what they are, I would to approach by two ways. One way is oriental medical literatural study and the other is Helicobacter pylori infection that is accepted as one of most important causal factors of many gastric diseases. Background/Aims: Recently, the role of Helicobacter pylori as a causal factor in the etiology of gastric cancer, peptic ulcer, gastritis and low-grade gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue(MALT) lymphoma is well known. Using endoscopy, biopsy urease testing and histology are recommanded as the tests of choice. Serological test is not recommanded at the moment because of its low sensitivity and espicially low specificity. The urea breath test is more sensitive and specific noninvasive test than serologic test, but it is not widely available yet. Methods/Results: We studied 90 cases by diagnostic endoscopy as a screening test for the persons complaining gastrointestinal symptoms. As a result eighteen persons are revealed to be Helicoacter pylori infected histologicaly. Conclusion: More specific literatural studies are requied.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.198-204
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• 2004

Tumor cell proliferation is considered to be a useful prognostic indicator of tumor aggressiveness and tumor response to therapy but in vitro measurement of individual proliferation is complex and tedious work. PET imaging provides a noninvasive approach to measure tumor growth rate in situ. Early approaches have used $^{18}F$-FDG or methionine to monitor proliferation status. These 2 tracers detect changes in glucose and amino acid metabolism, respectively, and therefore provide only an indirect measure of proliferation status. More recent studies have focused on DNA synthesis itself as a marker of cell proliferation. Cell lines and tissues with a high proliferation rate require high rates of DNA synthesis. $[^{11}C]Thymidine$ was the first radiotracer for noninvasive imaging of tumor proliferation. The short half-life of $^{11}C$ and rapid metabolism of $[^{11}C]Thymidine$ in vivo make the radiotracer less suitable for routing use. Halogenated thymidine analogs such as 5-iodo-2-deoxyuridine (IUdR) can be successfully used as cell proliferation markers for in vitro studies because these compounds are rapidly incorporated into newly synthesized DNA. IUdR has been evaluated as a potential in vivo tracer in nuclear medicing but the image qualify and the calculation of proliferation rates are impaired by its rapid in vivo degradation. Hence, the thymidine analog $3'-deoxy-3'-^{18}F-fluorothymidine$ (FLT) was recently introduced as a stable proliferation marker with a suitable nuclide half-life and stable in vivo. $[^{18}F]FLT$ is phosphorylated to 3-fluorothymidine monophosphate by thymidine kinase 1 and reflects thymidine kinase 1 activity in proliferating cell. $[^{18}F]FLT$ PET is feasible in clincal use and well correlates with cellular proliferation. Choline is a precursor for the biosynthesis of phospholipids (in particular, phosphatidylcholine), which is the essential component of all eukaryotic cell membranes and $[^{11}C]choline$, which is a new marker for cellular proliferation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.329-336
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• 2008

Recently, causality analysis of source time series extracted from EEG or MEG signals is becoming of great importance in human brain mapping studies and noninvasive diagnosis of various brain diseases. Two approaches have been widely used for the analyses: one is independent component analysis (ICA), and the other is multiple signal classification (MUSIC). To the best of our knowledge, however, any comparison studies to reveal the difference of the two approaches have not been reported. In the present study, we compared the performance of the two different techniques, ICA and MUSIC, especially focusing on how accurately they can estimate and separate various brain electrical signals such as linear, nonlinear, and chaotic signals without a priori knowledge. Results of the realistic simulation studies, adopting directed transfer function (DTF) and Granger causality (GC) as measures of the accurate extraction of source time series, demonstrated that the MUSIC-based approach is more reliable than the ICA-based approach.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.171-174
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• 2004

Angiogenesis, the formation of new capillaries from existing vessels, increases oxygenation and nutrient supply to ischemic tissue and allows tumor growth and metastasis. As such, angiogenesis targeting provides a novel approach for cancer treatment with easier drug delivery and less drug resistance. Therapeutic anti-angiogenesis has shown impressive effects in animal tumor models and are now entering clinical trials. However, the successful clinical introduction of this new therapeutic approach requires diagnostic tools that can reliably measure angiogenesis in a noninvasive and repetitive manner. Molecular imaging is emerging as an exciting new discipline that deals with imaging of disease on a cellular or genetic level. Angiogenesis imaging is an important area for molecular imaging research, and the use of radiotracers offers a particularly promising technique for its development. While current perfusion and metabolism radiotracers can provide useful information related to tissue vascularity, recent endeavors are focused on the development of novel radioprobes that specifically and directly target angiogenic vessels. Presently available proges include RGD sequence containing peptides that target ${\alpha}_v\;{\beta}_3$ integrin, endothelial growth factors such as VEGF or FGF, metalloptoteinase inhibitors, and specific antiangiogenic drugs. It is now clear that nuclear medicine techniques have a remarkable potential for angiogenesis imaging, and efforts are currently continuing to develop new radioprobes with superior imaging properties. With future identification of novel targets, design of better probes, and improvements in instrumentation, radiotracer angiogenesis imaging promises to play an increasingly important role in the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of cancer and other angiogenesis related diseases.