• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2000

The paper compares topography, phase contrast and force spectroscopy in atomic force microscopy data for evaluating the microheterogeneity of surface layer. The worn surface of ion-plated TiN coating was measured using both a laboratory-built and a commercial AFM. The results of analysis revealed structural and micromechanical heterogeneity of the worn surfaces. We demonstrated that the phase image allows relatively qualitative estimation of elastic modulus of the sample surface. The tribolayer formed in the worn surface possessed much lower stiffness than the original coating. It is shown that the most stable phase imaging is provided with a stiff cantilever. In this case, phase contrast is well conditioned, first of all, by microheterogeneity of elastic properties of the investigated surfaces. In this study an attempt was also made to correlate the results of phase imaging with that of the farce spectroscopy. The joint analysis of information on the surface properties obtained by the phase imaging and quantitative data measured with the force spectroscopy methods allows a better understanding of the nature of the surface micromechanical heterogeneity.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1634-1641
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• 2000

Objective : The cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) pulsates within the craniospinal axis in response to rhythmic cerebral blood volume variation during the cardiac cycle. The aim of this study is to characterize the normal and abnormal CSF flow and its waveforms in the cervical spinal subarachnoid space. Methods : The magnetic resonance(MR) images were obtained with 1.5 T(GE Signa, GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, USA) unit using the 2 dimensional cine PC(phase contrast) sequence with cardiac gating and gradient recalled echo imaging. This pulse sequence yielded 16 quantitative flow-encoded images per cardiac cycle. Sagittal and axial images of the cervical spinal CSF space were obtained, and target sites were analyzed for characteristic CSF flow (TR=50ms, TE=12.5-15ms). The region of interest(ROI) was 1mm 3 in volume. Twenty six persons were included in this study : 10 healthy volunteers and 16 patients with cervical myelopathy. The post-operative cine MR study were also done in five patients. Results : The normal CSF pulsation dynamics in the cervical spine showed discrete systolic and diastolic components. The CSF flow revealed a sine wave pattern, in which the systolic phase was shorter than the diastolic phase(ratio=2 : 3). The patient group revealed decreased amplitudes of the CSF flow and irregularly distored flow waves. The systolic phase was elongated in the ROI above the stenotic level, whereas the diastolic phase was lengthened below the level. In the postoperative images, the abnormal pattern and amplitude were found to be corrected. Conclusion : From these results, the authors believe that the CSF flow study provides valuable informations regarding the extent of cervical stenosis and may be useful for the surgical planning and post-operative evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1066-1076
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• 2018

Objective: The reliability of size measurements of liver metastases from neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) phases made by different readers may be hampered due to transient, variable rim enhancement in arterial phase (AP) or portal venous phase (PVP) images. We aimed to assess the reliability of tumor size measurements in pre- and post-contrast scans. Materials and Methods: The study coordinator selected target lesions according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1 guidelines in 44 consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed NET liver metastases. Two blinded readers measured the longest diameters of target lesions on pre-contrast, AP, and PVP images twice with a 4-week interval. Inter- and intra-observer agreements were evaluated using Bland-Altman plots and 95% limit of agreement (LOA) calculations. Results: Of the 79 target lesions (approximate mean size of 3 cm), 45 showed rim enhancement. Inter-observer agreement assessed based on LOA was highest in pre-contrast CT images (-6.1-5.7 mm), followed by PVP (-7.9-7.1 mm) and AP (-8.5-7.4 mm) images. Intra-observer agreement showed the same trend: -2.8-2.9 mm and -2.9-2.9 mm for readers 1 and 2, respectively, on pre-contrast CT, -2.8-2.9 mm and -3.0-3.2 mm, respectively, on PVP, and -3.2-4.2 mm and -3.4-3.2 mm, respectively, on AP images. Mean tumor diameters differed significantly among the phases in the following increasing order: pre-contrast CT, PVP, and AP images. Conclusion: There was better inter- and intra-observer agreement in size measurements of NET liver metastases on pre-contrast scans than on AP and PVP scans. Pre-contrast CT may be the optimal for measuring NET liver metastases if its accuracy is proven.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2015

Dust samples collected from air in metropolitan areas of Busan and Ulsan were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy, phase contrast dispersion microscopy and SEM. Asbestos concentration in dust samples was lower than detection limit. Many fibrous materials were observed in dust samples, but most of them were organic fibers. Inorganic fibers such as rock fiber, ceramic fiber and gypsum were contained in the samples and non-fibrous minerals such as quartz, calcite and feldspar were also occasionally observed. Domestic law requires that asbestos in air dust is mainly analyzed by phase contrast microscopy. From this study, however, precise analysis of asbestos was almost impossible by this method only. As indicated in JIS method of Japan, therefore, count and identification of asbestos were more efficient by dispersion staining method after removing organic materials in samples by low temperature incinerator.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2011

Synchrotron radiation (SR) imaging enables us to observe internal structures of biologic samples without staining. In this study, we obtained X-ray microscopic images of human breast tissues with 11.1 KeV hard X-ray microscope of the Pohang light source and used zone plates and phase-contrast technique to get high resolution X-ray images. Hard X-ray microscopic images of fibrocystic change and breast cancer tissues with a spatial resolution of 60 nm were obtained and from these images, we could observe the micro-structures of human breast tissue. Also we analyzed and compared these images, which revealed distinct features of each condition. In conclusion, SR imaging with phase-contrast hard X-ray microscope for medical application, especially in breast disease can give some useful information for clinical research.

• 순환기질환의공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.28-36
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• 2006

The x-ray PIV method was improved for measuring quantitative velocity fields of real blood flows using a coherent synchrotron x-ray source. Without using any contrast media or seeding particles, this method can visualize flow pattern of blood by enhancing the phase-contrast and interference characteristics of blood cells based on a synchrotron x-ray imaging mechanism. The enhanced x-ray images were achieved by optimizing the sample-to-scintillator distance, the sample thickness, and hematocrit. The quantitative velocity fields of blood flows inside opaque tubes were obtained by applying a 2-frame PIV algorithm to the x-ray images of the blood flows. The measured velocity field data show typical features of blood flows such as the yield stress effect. The non-Newtonian flow characteristics of blood flows were analyzed using the x-ray PIV method and the experimental results were compared with hemodynamic models.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

The x-ray PIV method was improved for measuring quantitative velocity fields of real blood flows using a coherent synchrotron x-ray source. Without using any contrast media or seeding particles, this method can visualize flow pattern of blood by enhancing the phase-contrast and interference characteristics of blood cells based on a synchrotron x-ray imaging mechanism. The enhanced x-ray images were achieved by optimizing the sample-to-scintillator distance, the sample thickness, and hematocrit. The quantitative velocity fields of blood flows inside opaque tubes were obtained by applying a 2-frame PIV algorithm to the x-ray images of the blood flows. The measured velocity field data show typical features of blood flows such as the yield stress effect. The non-Newtonian flow characteristics of blood flows were analyzed using the x-ray PIV method and the experimental results were compared with hemodynamic models.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.254-262
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• 2023

Novel thermo-optically focus-switchable Fresnel zone plates based on phase-change metafilms are designed and analyzed at a visible wavelength (660 nm). By virtue of the large thermo-optic response of vanadium dioxide (VO₂) thin film, a phase-change material, four different plasmonic phase-change absorbers are numerically designed as actively tunable Gires-Tournois Al-VO₂ metafilms in two and three dimensions. The designed phase-change metafilm unit cells are used as the building blocks of actively focus-switchable Fresnel zone plates with strong focus switching contrast (40%, 83%) and high numerical apertures (1.52, 1.70). The Fresnel zone plates designed in two and three dimensions work as cylindrical and spherical lenses in reflection type, respectively. The coupling between the thermo-optic effect of VO₂ and localized plasmonic resonances in the Al nanostructures offer a large degree of freedom in design and high-contrast focus-switching performance based on largely tunable absorption resonances. The proposed method may have great potential in photothermal and electrothermal active optical devices for nonlinear optics, microscopy, 3D scanning, optical trapping, and holographic displays over a wide spectral range including the visible and infrared regimes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.659-664
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• 2004

It is important to measure precisely the size and velocity of micro-bubbles used in various field. The synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique was employed to measure the size and velocity of micro-bubbles moving in an opaque tube simultaneously. Phase contrast images were obtained at interfaces of micro-bubbles between water and air due to their different refractive indices. The X-ray micro-imaging technique was found to measure an optical fiber with an accuracy of 0.2%. Micro-bubbles of 20∼60$\mu\textrm{m}$ diameter moving upward in an opaque tube (${\Phi}$＝2.7mm) were tested to measure bubble size and up-rising velocity. For DI water, the measured velocity of micro-bubbles is nearly proportional to the square of bubble size, agreed well with the theoretical result. In addition, the synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique can measure accurately the size and velocity of several overlapped micro-bubbles.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.179-184
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect according to the NEX, VENC, targeted cardiac phases on the velocity measurement of 4D phase-contrast MRI. Materials and Methods: The abdominal aortic phantom was made to experiment. The working fluid was mixed with water and glycerin to mimic the density and viscosity of human blood. The inlet velocity was Reynolds number 2000. The experimental conditions were NEX 1 and 4, VENC 102 cm/s and 200 cm/s, and 10 and 15 targeted cardiac phases, respectively. The average flow rate, average velocity, maximum velocity, and cross-section area were measured. Results: As a result of the case-by-case comparison, the error rate was less than 5%. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It is expected that this result will be useful for acquiring blood flow information in clinical practice.