• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2854-2863
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• 2023

Objective: To present a hybrid approach that incorporates a constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) and deep learning (DL)-based post-refinement for metal artifact reduction in dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) is derived from a polychromatic X-ray attenuation model with respect to X-ray transmission length, which calculates associated parameters numerically. Deep-learning-based post-refinement with an artifact disentanglement network (ADN) is performed to mitigate the remaining dark shading regions around a metal. Artifact disentanglement network (ADN) supports an unsupervised learning approach, in which no paired CBCT images are required. The network consists of an encoder that separates artifacts and content and a decoder for the content. Additionally, ADN with data normalization replaces metal regions with values from bone or soft tissue regions. Finally, the metal regions obtained from the CBHE are blended into reconstructed images. The proposed approach is systematically assessed using a dental phantom with two types of metal objects for qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Results: The proposed hybrid scheme provides improved image quality in areas surrounding the metal while preserving native structures. Conclusion: This study may significantly improve the detection of areas of interest in many dentomaxillofacial applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2419-2431
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• 2023

Experiments related to Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) accomplished at the Institute of Nuclear Techniques (INT), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (TUB) are presented. Relevant investigations are required before designing BNCT for vivo applications. Samples of relevant boron compounds (H₃BO₃, BDTPA) usually employed in BNCT were investigated with neutron beam. Channel #5 in the research reactor (100 kW) of INT-TUB provides the neutron beam. Boron samples are mounted on a carrier for neutron irradiation. The particle attenuation of several carrier materials was investigated, and the one with the lowest attenuation was selected. The effects of boron compound type, mass, and compound phase state were also investigated. To detect the emitted charged particles, a traditional ZnS(Ag) detector was employed. The neutron beam's interaction with the detector-detecting layer is investigated. Graphite (as a moderator) was employed to change the neutron beam's characteristics. The fast neutron beam was also thermalized by placing a portable fast neutron source in a paraffin container and irradiating the H₃BO₃. The obtained results suggest that the direct measurement approach appears to be insufficiently sensitive for determining the radiation dose committed by the Alpha particles from the ¹⁰B (n,α) reaction. As a result, a new approach must be used.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.623-625
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• 2022

In this paper, the proton induced attenuation characteristics were evaluated for 5 types of commercial single-mode optical fibers using a proton accelerator. The proton beam used in the irradiation test has a high energy of 100 MeV class, and the test was performed by setting the uniformity of the beam irradiation area to 10% or less. According to the type of optical fiber (internal material, impurities), the radiation induced attenuation by the proton irradiation showed a noticeable difference.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.146-153
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• 2013

Objectives: Aluminum step wedge (ASW) equivalent radiodensity (eRD) has been used to quantify restorative material's radiodensity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of image acquisition control (IAC) of a digital X-ray system on the radiodensity quantification under different exposure time settings. Materials and Methods: Three 1-mm thick restorative material samples with various opacities were prepared. Samples were radiographed alongside an ASW using one of three digital radiographic modes (linear mapping (L), nonlinear mapping (N), and nonlinear mapping and automatic exposure control activated (E)) under 3 exposure time settings (underexposure, normal-exposure, and overexposure). The ASW eRD of restorative materials, attenuation coefficients and contrasts of ASW, and the correlation coefficient of linear relationship between logarithms of gray-scale value and thicknesses of ASW were compared under 9 conditions. Results: The ASW eRD measurements of restorative materials by three digital radiographic modes were statistically different (p = 0.049) but clinically similar. The relationship between logarithms of background corrected grey scale value and thickness of ASW was highly linear but attenuation coefficients and contrasts varied significantly among 3 radiographic modes. Varying exposure times did not affect ASW eRD significantly. Conclusions: Even though different digital radiographic modes induced large variation on attenuation of coefficient and contrast of ASW, E mode improved diagnostic quality of the image significantly under the underexposure condition by improving contrasts, while maintaining ASW eRDs of restorative materials similar. Under the condition of this study, underexposure time may be acceptable clinically with digital X-ray system using automatic gain control that reduces radiation exposure for patient.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.191-199
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• 2021

The purpose of this research is to analyze the radiation shielding effect of soft magnetic material to confirm the applicability to the military facilities. The soft magnetic material is known to be effective in shielding EMP. If this material is also effective in radiation shielding, it is expected that it has a lot of applicability in military protection. In particular, this material contains boron, so it will be effective in shielding neutrons. In this research, experiments were conducted using Cs-137 and Co-60 sources to check the gamma ray shielding effect. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) modeling was applied to evaluate the gamma ray and neutron shielding effect of a military command tent. As a result, as the soft magnetic thickness increased, the shielding performance improved according the linear attenuation law of gamma ray and neutron. Therefore, this research verified that the application of soft magnetic material for military purposes in radiation shielding would be effective.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2021

A quality assurance of computed tomography(CT) have done seven items that were water attenuation coefficient, noise, homogeneity, spatial resolution, contrast resolution, slice thickness, artifact using by standard phantom. But there is no quality assurance items and methods for CT simulator at domestic institutions yet. Therefore the study aimed to access the CT dose index(CTDI), table tilting, image distortion, laser accuracy, table movement accuracy and CT seven items for CT simulator quality assurance. The CTDI at the center of the head phantom was 0.81 for 80 kVp, 1.55 for 100 kVp, 2.50 for 120 mm, 0.22 for 80 kVp at the center of the body phantom, 0.469 for 100 kVp, and 0.81 for 120 kVp. The table tilting was within the tolerance range of ±1.0° or less. Image distortion had 1 mm distortion in the left and right images based on the center, and the laser accuracy was measured within ±2 mm tolerance. The purpose of this study is to improve the quality assurance items suitable for the current situation in Korea in order to protect the normal tissues during the radiation treatment process and manage the CT simulator that is implemented to find the location of the tumor more clearly. In order to improve the accuracy of the CT simulator when looking at the results, the error range of each item should be small. It is hoped that the quality assurance items of the CT simulator will be improved by suggesting the quality assurance direction of the CT simulator in this study, and the results of radiation therapy will also improve.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-142
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• 1999

Purpose: Either gated myocardial perfusion SPECT or attenuation corrected SPECT can be used to improve specificity in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. We investigated in this study whether gating or attenuation correction improved diagnostic performance of rest/stress perfusion SPECT in patients having intermediate pre-test likelihood of coronary artery disease. Materials and Methods: Sixty-eight patients underwent rest attenuation-corrected T1-20l/dipyridamole stress gated attenuation-corrected Tc-99m -MIBI SPECT using an ADAC vertex camera (M:F=29:39, aged $59{\pm}12$ years, coronary artery stenosis ${\geq}70%$, one vessel: 13, two vessel: 18, three vessel: 8, normal: 29). Using a five-point scale, three physicians graded the post-test likelihood of coronary artery disease for each arterial territory (1:normal, 2: possibly normal, 3:equivocal, 4. possibly abnormal, 5: abnormal). Sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver-operating-characteristic curves were compared for each operator between three methods : (A) non-attenuation-corrected SPECT; (B) gated SPECT added to (A): and (C) attenuation-corrected SPECT added to (B). Results: When grade 3 was used as the criteria for coronary artery disease, no differences in sensitivity and specificity were found between the three methods for each operator. Areas under receiver-operating-characteristic curves for diagnosis of coronary artery disease revealed no differences between each modality (p>0.05). Conclusion: In patients at intermediate risk of coronary artery disease, gated SPECT and attenuation- corrected SPECT did not improve diagnostic performance.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.83-91
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• 2017

In this work, we investigated the recently proposed phase-contrast x-ray imaging (PCXI) technique, the so-called single grid-based PCXI, which has great simplicity and minimal requirements on the setup alignment. It allows for imaging of smaller features and variations in the examined sample than conventional attenuation-based x-ray imaging with lower x-ray dose. We performed a systematic simulation using a simulation platform developed by us to investigate the image characteristics. We also performed a preliminary PCXI experiment using an established a table-top setup to demonstrate the performance of the simulation platform. The system consists of an x-ray tube ($50kV_p$, 5 mAs), a focused-linear grid (200-lines/inch), and a flat-panel detector ($48-{\mu}m$ pixel size). According to our results, the simulated contrast of phase images was much enhanced, compared to that of the absorption images. The scattering length scale estimated for a given simulation condition was about 117 nm. It was very similar, at least qualitatively, to the experimental contrast, which demonstrates the performance of the simulation platform. We also found that the level of the phase gradient of oriented structures strongly depended on the orientation of the structure relative to that of linear grids.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1297-1303
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• 2020

In this study, nuclear radiation shielding and rigidity parameters of Y (0.1-x)B0.6Bi1.8O3La2x glassy system were investigated in order to determine it's suitability for use as nuclear radiation shielding materials. Therefore, a group of bismuth borate glass samples with La₂O₃ additive were synthesized using the technique of melt quenching. According to the results, the increase of the La₂O₃ additive increases the density of the glass samples and the mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m) values, whereas the half-value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) values decrease. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) is also enhanced with an increment of both mass removal cross section for neutron (Σ_R) and absorption neutron scattering cross section (σ_abs). In addition to the other parameters, rigidity parameter values were theoretically examined. The increase of La₂O₃ causes some other important magnitudes to increase. These are the average crosslink density, the number of bonds per unit volume, as well as the stretching force constant values of these glass samples. These results are in concordance with the increase of elastic moduli in terms of the Makishima-Mackenzie model. This model showed an increase in the rigidity of the glass samples as a function of La₂O₃.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2020

The purpose of this research is to analyze the gamma ray shielding effect of heavy concrete containing magnetic aggregate and to confirm the applicability to the military protective facilities. In general, a military concrete structure protects combatants from bullets, and also it provides some radiation shielding. In this research, experiments were conducted using a Cs-137 source to check the gamma ray shielding effect. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) modeling was applied to evaluate the gamma ray shielding effect of a military structure. As a result, as the concrete thickness increased, the shielding performance improved according th the linear attenuation law. With that, as the ratio of magnetic aggregate was increased, gamma ray shielding performance was also improved. Therefore, this research verified that the application of magnetic aggregate concrete to military facilities for radiation shielding purposes would be useful.