• 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.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.139-145
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• 2012

Electric activity of cardiac muscles generates magnetic fields. Magnetocardiography (or MCG) technology, measuring these magnetic signals, can provide useful information for the diagnosis of heart diseases. It is already about 40 years ago that the first measurement of MCG signals was done by D. Cohen using SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) sensor inside a magnetically shielded room. In the early period of MCG history, bulky point-contact RF-SQUID was used as the magnetic sensor. Thanks to the development of Nb-based Josephson junction technology in mid 1980s and new design of tightly-coupled DC-SQUID, low-noise SQUID sensors could be developed in late 1980s. In around 1990, several groups developed multi-channel MCG systems and started clinical study. However, it is quite recent years that the true usefulness of MCG was verified in clinical practice, for example, in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. For the practical MCG system, technical elements of MCG system should be optimized in terms of performance, fabrication cost and operation cost. In this review, development history, technical issue, and future development direction of MCG technology are described.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2002

Measuring magnetic fields with a SQUID sensor always requires preliminary adjustments such as optimum bas current determination and flux-locking point search. A conventional magnetoencephalography (MEG) system consists of several dozens of sensors and we should condition each sensor one by one for an experiment. This timeconsuming job is not only cumbersome but also impractical for the common use in hospital. We had developed a serial port communication protocol between SQUID sensor controllers and a personal computer in order to control the sensors. However, theserial-bus-based control is too slow for adjusting all the sensors with a sufficient accuracy in a reasonable time. In this work, we introduce programmatic control sequence that saves the number of the control pulse arrays. The sequence separates into two stages. The first stage is a function for searching flux-locking points of the sensors and the other stage is for determining the optimum bias current that operates a sensor in a minimum noise level Generally, the optimum bias current for a SQUID sensor depends on the manufactured structure, so that it will not easily change about. Therefore, we can reduce the time for the optimum bias current determination by using the saved values that have been measured once by the second stage sequence. Applying the first stage sequence to a practical use, it has taken about 2-3 minutes to perform the flux-locking for our 37-channel SQUID magnetometer system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2010

A Compton X-ray backscatter technique has been developed to quantitatively assess impact damage in quasi-isotropic laminated composites made by a drop-weight tester. X-ray backscatter imaging system with a slit-type camera is constructed to obtain a cross-sectional profile of impact-damaged laminated composites from the electron-density variation of the cross section. A nonlinear scattering model based on Boltsman equation is introduced to compute Compton X-ray backscattering field for the defect assessment. An adaptive filter is also used to reduce noises from many sources including quantum noise and irregular distributions of fibers and matrix in composites. Delaminations masked or distorted by the first delamination are detected and characterized effectively by the Compton X-ray backscatter technique, both in width and location, by application of error minimization algorithm.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.397-405
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• 2022

Computed radiography (CR) systems, which convert an analog signal recorded on a cassette into a digital image, combine the characteristics of analog and digital imaging systems. Compared to digital radiography (DR) systems, CR systems have presented difficulties in evaluating system performance because of their lower detective quantum efficiency, their lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and lower modulation transfer function (MTF). During the step of energy-storing and reading out, a baseline offset occurs in the edge area and makes low-frequency overestimation. The low-frequency offset component in the line spread function (LSF) critically affects the MTF and other image-analysis or qualification processes. In this study, we developed the method of baseline correction using mathematical morphology to determine the LSF and MTF of CR systems accurately. We presented a baseline correction that used a morphological filter to effectively remove the low-frequency offset from the LSF. We also tried an MTF evaluation of the CR system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the baseline correction. The MTF with a 3-pixel structuring element (SE) fluctuated since it overestimated the low-frequency component. This overestimation led the algorithm to over-compensate in the low-frequency region so that high-frequency components appeared relatively strong. The MTFs with between 11- and 15-pixel SEs showed little variation. Compared to spatial or frequency filtering that eliminated baseline effects in the edge spread function, our algorithm performed better at precisely locating the edge position and the averaged LSF was narrower.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.37-45
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• 2023

In line with the 4th Industrial Revolution, facility maintenance technologies for building smart factories are receiving attention and are being advanced. In addition, technology is being applied to smart farms and smart fisheries following smart factories. Among them, in the case of a recirculating aquaculture system, there is a motor pump that circulates water for a stable quality environment in the tank. Motor pump maintenance activities for recirculating aquaculture system are carried out based on preventive maintenance and data obtained from vibration sensor. Preventive maintenance cannot cope with abnormalities that occur before prior planning, and vibration sensors are affected by the external environment. This paper proposes an anomaly detection algorithm that utilizes ADTK, a Python open source, for motor pump anomaly detection based on data collected through current sensors that are less affected by the external environment than noise, temperature and vibration sensors.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.60.2-60.2
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• 2021

중력파 관측은 2015년에 사상 최초로 검출에 성공한 이래, 불과 5년 만에 주 1 회 이상 안정적으로 검출되고 있으며 검출기들의 성능이 계속 향상됨에 따라 관측 범위와 빈도가 급격히 확대되는 추세에 있다. 이제 중력파는 전자기파 외에 우주를 보는 새로운 창으로서 확고한 지위를 구축하고 있으며 향후 무궁무진한 발전의 잠재력을 보여주고 있다. 이러한 가능성을 일찌감치 내다본 미국과 유럽의 선도 국가들은 현재 운영 중인 LIGO와 Virgo 검출기의 지속적인 업그레이드는 물론 Cosmic Explorer, Einstein Telescope 등 차세대 거대 검출기 개발을 병행해서 진행하고 있으며, 일본, 인도, 중국, 호주 등 후발주자들도 제각기 다양한 중력파 검출기 계획들을 추진하고 있다. 이에 한국천문연구원에서도 2019년부터 중력파 검출기술 연구를 시작하였으며, 특히 한국과학기술원 물리학과와 협력하여 차세대 핵심기술인 양자잡음 저감기술을 중점적으로 개발하고 있다. 이 발표에서는 본 연구팀의 최근 연구 진행상황을 요약하고 국제 중력파 검출기 공동개발 참여 현황을 소개한다.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2008

With recent advancement of the medical imaging systems and picture archiving and communication system (PACS), installation of digital radiography has been accelerated over past few years. Moreover, Computed Radiography (CR) which was well established for the foundation of digital x-ray imaging systems at low cost was widely used for clinical applications. This study analyzes imaging characteristics for two systems with different pixel sizes through the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) and Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE). In addition, influence of radiation dose to the imaging characteristics was also measured by quantitative assessment. A standard beam quality RQA5 based on an international electro-technical commission (IEC) standard was used to perform the x-ray imaging studies. For the results, the spatial resolution based on MTF at 10% for Agfa CR system with I.P size of $8{\times}10$ inches and $14{\times}17$ inches was measured as 3.9 cycles/mm and 2.8 cycles/mm, respectively. The spatial resolution based on MTF at 10% for Fuji CR system with I.P size of $8{\times}10$ inches and $14{\times}17$ inches was measured as 3.4 cycles/mm and 3.2 cycles/mm, respectively. There was difference in the spatial resolution for $14{\times}17$ inches, although radiation dose does not effect to the MTF. The NPS of the Agfa CR system shows similar results for different pixel size between $100{\mu}m$ for $8{\times}10$ inch I.P and $150{\mu}m$ for $14{\times}17$ inch I.P. For both systems, the results show better NPS for increased radiation dose due to increasing number of photons. DQE of the Agfa CR system for $8{\times}10$ inch I.P and $14{\times}17$ inch I.P resulted in 11% and 8.8% at 1.5 cycles/mm, respectively. Both systems show that the higher level of radiation dose would lead to the worse DQE efficiency. Measuring DQE for multiple factors of imaging characteristics plays very important role in determining efficiency of equipment and reducing radiation dose for the patients. In conclusion, the results of this study could be used as a baseline to optimize imaging systems and their imaging characteristics by measuring MTF, NPS, and DQE for different level of radiation dose.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2008

The aim of this study is to suggest the method for image enhancement of digital chest radiograph and evaluate clinically the quality of the resultant image. A nonlinear iterative filter was developed in order to reduce quantum noise preserving edge. Dynamic range was adjusted and adaptive image enhancement was performed based on the property of anatomic region and the degree of compatibility with neighboring pixels. The lung fields were enhanced appropriately to visualize effectively vascular tissue, bronchus and lung tissue with the desired mediastinum enhancement. Clinic evaluation was performed by three radiologists with at least 8 years experience. The anatomic regions of 11 in PA and 9 in Lateral were observed carefully in each 100 radiographs according to ITU (International Telecommunication Union) recommendation 500 protocol. The result showed the mean 3.4 between good and adequate. This means that the clinical utility of the image quality is enough. In this study, image enhancement was carried out considering image display device and human perceptual system to prevent the loss of useful anatomic information. In order to increase the diagnostic accuracy in digital radiograph, the continuous study on image enhancement is needed.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2005

We propose a method to measure atrial arrhythmias (AA) such as atrial fibrillation (Afb) and atrial flutter (Afl) with a SQUID magnetocardiograph (MCG) system. To detect AA is one of challenging topics in MCG. As the AA generally have irregular rhythm and atrio-ventricular conduction, the MCG signal cannot be improved by QRS averaging; therefore a SQUID MCG system having a high SNR is required to measure informative atrial excitation with a single scan. In the case of Afb, diminished f waves are much smaller than normal P waves because the sources are usually located on the posterior wall of the heart. In this study, we utilize an MCG system measuring tangential field components, which is known to be more sensitive to a deeper current source. The average noise spectral density of the whole system in a magnetic shielded room was $10\;fT/{\surd}Hz(a)\;1\;Hz\;and\;5\;fT/{\surd}Hz\;(a)\;100\;Hz$. We measured the MCG signals of patients with chronic Afb and Afl. Before the AA measurement, the comparison between the measurements in supine and prone positions for P waves has been conducted and the experiment gave a result that the supine position is more suitable to measure the atrial excitation. Therefore, the AA was measured in subject's supine position. Clinical potential of AA measurement in MCG is to find an aspect of a reentry circuit and to localize the abnormal stimulation noninvasively. To give useful information about the abnormal excitation, we have developed a method, separative synthetic aperture magnetometry (sSAM). The basic idea of sSAM is to visualize current source distribution corresponding to the atrial excitation, which are separated from the ventricular excitation and the Gaussian sensor noises. By using sSAM, we localized the source of an Afl successfully.