• Toxicological Research
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

The process of drug discovery and development requires substantial resources and time. The drug industry has tried to reduce costs by conducting appropriate animal studies together with molecular biological and genetic analyses. Basic science research has been limited to in vitro studies of cellular processes and ex vivo tissue examination using suitable animal models of disease. However, in the past two decades new technologies have been developed that permit the imaging of live animals using radiotracer emission, X-rays, magnetic resonance signals, fluorescence, and bioluminescence. The main objective of this review is to provide an overview of small animal molecular imaging, with a focus on nuclear imaging (single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography). These technologies permit visualization of toxicodynamics as well as toxicity to specific organs by directly monitoring drug accumulation and assessing physiological and/or molecular alterations. Nuclear imaging technology has great potential for improving the efficiency of the drug development process.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.165-175
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• 2017

Nuclear medicine imaging is widely used in pain medicine. Low back pain is commonly encountered by physicians, with its prevalence from 49% to 70%. Computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are usually used to evaluate the cause of low back pain, however, these findings from these scans could also be observed in asymptomatic patients. Bone scintigraphy has an additional value in patients with low back pain. Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is defined as a painful disorder of the extremities, which is characterized by sensory, autonomic, vasomotor, and trophic disturbances. To assist the diagnosis of CRPS, three-phase bone scintigraphy is thought to be superior compared to other modalities, and could be used to rule out CRPS due to its high specificity. Studies regarding the effect of bone scintigraphy in patients with extremity pain have not been widely conducted. Ultrasound, CT and MRI are widely used imaging modalities for evaluating extremity pain. However, SPECT/CT has an additional role in assessing pain in the extremities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.514-522
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• 2022

Non-destructive testing (NDT) technology is a widely used inspection method for agricultural products. Compared with the conventional inspection method, there is no extensive sample preparation for NDT technology, and the sample is not damaged. In particular, NDT technology is used to inspect the internal structure of agricultural products infested by pests. The introduction and spread of pests during the import and export process can cause significant damage to the agricultural environment. Until now, pest detection in agricultural products and quarantine processes have been challenging because they used external inspection methods. However, NDT technology is advantageous in these inspection situations. In this pilot study, we investigated the feasibility of X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify pest infestation in agricultural products. Three kinds of artificially pest-infested fruits (mango, tangerine, and chestnut) were non-destructively inspected using X-ray CT and MRI. X-ray CT was able to identify all pest infestations in fruits, while MRI could not detect the pest-infested chestnut. In addition, X-ray CT was superior to the quarantine process than MRI based on the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), image acquisition time, and cost. Therefore, X-ray CT is more appropriate for the pest quarantine process of fruits than MRI.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.93-105
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• 2002

Experimental methods for making quantitative measurements of velocity fields in non-Newtonian fluids are reviewed. Techniques based on light scattering spectroscopy - laser Doppler velocimetry and homodyne light scattering spectroscopy, techniques based on imaging the displacement of markers - including particle image velocimetry and molecular tagging velocimetry, and techniques based on nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are discussed. The special advantages and disadvantages of each method are summarized, and their applications to non-Newtonian flows are briefly reviewed. Example data from each technique are also included.

• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.143-151
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• 2015

A PET-MR system is particularly useful in diagnosing brain diseases. We have developed a prototype positron emission tomography (PET) system which can be inserted into the bore of a whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system that enables us to obtain PET and MRI images simultaneously with a reduced cost. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are appropriated as a PET detector at PET/MR system because detectors have a high gain and are insensitive to magnetic fields. Despite of its improved performance compared to that of PMT-based detectors, there is a problem of the photo-peak channel shift which is due to the increase of the temperature inside the ring detector. This problem will occur decreasing sensitivity of the PET and image distortion. In this paper, I quantitative analyze parameters of the KAIST SiPM depending on temperature by experiments. And I designed cooling methods in consideration of the degradation of sensors for correction of the temperature in the PET gantry. According to this research, we expect that distortive images and degradation of the sensitivity will not be occurred with using the above idea to reduce heat even if the PET system operates for a long time.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.20-26
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• 2000

Gradient moment nulling techniques require the introduction of an additional gradient on each axis for each order of motion correction to be applied. The additional gradients introduce new constraints on the sequence design and increase the demands on the gradient system. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate techniques for optimization of gradient echo gradient moment nulling sequences within the constraints of the gradient hardware. Flow compensated pulse sequences were designed and implemented on a clinical magnetic resonance imaging system. The design of the gradient moment nulling sequences requires the solution of a linear system of equations. A Mathematica package was developed that interactively solves the gradient moment nulling problem. The package allows the physicist to specify the desired order of motion compensation and the duration of the gradients in the sequence with different gradient envelopes. The gradient echo sequences with first, second, and third order motion compensation were implemented with minimum echo time. The sequences were optimized to take full advantage of the capabilities of the gradient hardware. The sequences were used to generate images of phantoms and human brains. The optimized sequences were found to have better motion compensation than comparable standard sequences.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.66-70
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• 2016

Introduction: Distant metastases of mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) are reported with the most common sites being the soft tissue of skin, lung, liver, and bone. We report here a very rare case of MEC with multiple metastases to the kidney, adrenal gland, skull and gluteus maximus muscle. Case report: A 63-year-old male patient presented with left-sided headache. Radiologic evaluations including CT and MRI showed ill-defined soft tissue lesion involving the left infratemporal fossa and left sphenoid sinus, and multiple enlarged lymph nodes in neck and mediastinum. PET-CT demonstrated multiple hypermetabolic lesions in and around the left kidney, left adrenal gland, right ischium, right gluteus maximus and skull base. These lesions were confirmed as MEC with multiple metastases through biopsy. Discussion: Only one case of metastasis to the skull has been previously reported, and moreover, there has not been a case of metastatic MEC to the kidney, adrenal gland and gluteus maximus muscle so far in the medical literature. It is important to acknowledge the possibility of every unusual MEC metastases, since the presence of metastasis has statistically significant influence on the survival of MEC.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.49-54
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• 2004

Primary intraosseous carcinoma (PIOC) is a rare odontogenic carcinoma defined as a squamous cell carcinoma arising within a jaw having no initial connection with the oral mucosa, and presumably developing from residues of the odontogenic epithelium. A 56-year-old patient who complained of delayed healing after extraction of upper left central incisor visited our department. The conventional radiographs showed a bony destructive lesion with ill-defined margin and moth-eaten appearance. On the computed tomographic images, the lesion perforated the labial cortex of alveloar bone, elevated the left nasal floor superiorly, and perforated partially both nasal floor. The magnetic resonance images showed low signal intensity at T2 and Tl weighted images at the area and adjacent soft tissue. Histologically, there were irregular epithelial islands with cell atypia, nuclear hyperchromatism, pleomorphism, atypical mitosis. The final diagnosis was PIOC.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.83-93
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the value of the myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) in predicting myocardial functional outcome after revascularization of coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO). Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with CTO underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) before and 6 months after revascularization. Three baseline markers of functional outcome were evaluated in the dysfunctional segments assigned to the CTO vessels: ECV, transmural extent of infarction (TEI), and unenhanced rim thickness (RIM). At the global level, the ECV values of the whole myocardium with and without a hyperenhanced region (global and remote ECV) were respectively measured. Results: In per-segment analysis, ECV was superior to TEI and RIM in predicting functional recovery (area under receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]: 0.86 vs. 0.75 and 0.73, all p values < 0.010), and it emerged as the only independent predictor of regional functional outcome (odds ratio [OR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.89; p < 0.001) independent of collateral circulation. In per-patient analysis, global baseline ECV was indicative of ejection fraction (EF) at the follow-up examination (β = -0.61, p < 0.001) and changes in EF (β = -0.57, p = 0.001) in multivariate regression analysis. A patient with global baseline ECV less than 30.0% (AUC, 0.93; sensitivity 94%, specificity 80%) was more likely to demonstrate significant EF improvement (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17-0.85; p = 0.019). Conclusion: Extracellular volume fraction obtained by CMR may provide incremental value for the prediction of functional recovery both at the segmental and global levels in CTO patients, and may facilitate the identification of patients who can benefit from revascularization.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.999-1000
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• 2019