• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.84-94
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• 2007

In order to collect information on local distribution of conductivity and permittivity underneath a scan probe, we developed a multi-frequency trans-admittance scanner (TAS). Applying a sinusoidal voltage with variable frequency on a chosen distal part of a human body, we measure exit currents from 320 grounded electrodes placed on a chosen surface of the subject. The electrodes are packaged inside a small and light scan probe. The system includes one voltage source and 17 digital ammeters. Front-end of each ammeter is a current-to-voltage converter with virtual grounding of a chosen electrode. The rest of the ammeter is a voltmeter performing digital phase-sensitive demodulation. Using resistor loads, we calibrate the system including the scan probe to compensate frequency-dependent variability of current measurements and also inter-channel variability among multiple. We found that SNR of each ammeter is about 85dB and the minimal measurable current is 5nA. Using saline phantoms with objects made from TX-151, we verified the performance of the lesion estimation algorithm. The error rate of the depth estimation was about 19.7%. For the size estimate, the error rate was about 15.3%. The results suggest improvement in lesion estimation algorithm based on multi-frequency trans-admittance data.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.57-65
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• 2013

The entity of negative appendectomies still poses a dilemma in chlidren. Focused computed tomography (CT) scanning has become the diagnostic test of choice in many hospitals. However, the impact of CT scans on the diagnosis in children is unknown exactly. The purpose of this study was to critically evaluate CT scans for the evaluation of acute appendicitis in children, to review utilization of this diagnostic test in our appendicitis population and to determine if diagnostic accuracy has improved. A retrospective analysis of efficacy of CT scan for diagnosis of appendicitis in children was conducted. Children undergoing appendectomy for acute appendicitis were reviewed from 2007 to 2012. Perforation and negative appendectomy (removal of a normal appendix) rates were determined by the final pathologic report. Statistical comparison were made using the $x^2$ test and significance was assigned at p < 0.05. Five hundred four appendectomies were performed. Mean age was $10.1{\pm}3.21$ years, and 62.7% were boys. Overall, 308 children (61.1%) underwent CT scanning, 100 (19.8%) had US performed, and 97 (19.2%) had no radiographic study. A pathologically normal appendix was removed in 8.7% (27 of 308) of CT patients, 9.0% (9 of 100) of US patients, and 11.3% (11 of 97) of patients without a study. The frequency of CT scanning increased from 29.7% (27 of 91) of all children in 2007 to 75.6% (59 of 78) in 2012, whereas utilization of US decreased from 30.8% (28 of 91) to 11.5% (9 of 78). During this time period the difference in the negative appendectomy rate did change significantly from 14% to 6%. Liberal use of CT scans in diagnosing appendicitis in children has resulted in a decreased negative appendectomy rate.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.48-53
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• 2012

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in South Korea. To decrease its mortality rate, its early detection is very important. Screening for HCC detection has been accepted as the management modality for patients with chronic liver disease. Reported herein is a case involving the marked rapid growth of HCC detected at an advanced stage in a screening test with a 3 months interval. A 49-year-old male patient with chronic hepatitis B was admitted to the hospital due to a liver mass detected on CT scan. The patient underwent a first CT scan 3 months earlier, and no tumor was detected. Follow-up CT scan was performed and showed a 9.1 cm HCC with portal vein thrombosis. Percutaneous liver biopsy was performed, and the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was confirmed. In the pertinent guidelines, the recommended screening interval for HCC is 6-12 months, but the screening interval and additional diagnostic methods should be considered due to the variation in the HCC growth rate according to the patient's clinical characteristics.

• 한국생활과학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.255-266
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• 2015

In this study, we have developed the ergonomic pattern from the 3D human body reflecting cycling posture and extensibility of the stretch fabrics. Adjusting pressure level in the construction of athlete's tight-fitting stretch garments by reducing the original pattern is a challenging subject, which influence on the performance of the wearer directly. Therefore, in this study, relationships between the reduction rates of the 2D pattern obtained from the 3D human scan and resultant clothing pressure were explored to improve the fit and pressure exerted by reduced clothing pattern. Subjective wear sensations of the experimental garments were rated using a seven-point Likert scale on two consecutive days. While wearing the garments, subjects were asked to take five different postures including waist flexion, sitting and others. A Likert-type scale was used for the evaluation, with 7 points indicating the best fit in tight-fitting pants. Comparing 2/3T-pattern with T-pattern, the latter was superior to 2/3T-pattern in terms of adhere well to the waist and hip area in the 0.032 significance level. T-pattern was superior to 2/3T-pattern in terms of fitting and wear comfort. As results, the pattern obtained from the flexed body reflecting cycling posture already included the contraction and extension of the skin while cycling posture, so that the extra ease for movement and good fit was not need to be considered. The optimized reduction rates were determined with the proposed reduction rate, the resultant pressure range was within the range of $0.5{\sim}3.0gf/cm^2$ at eight locations on the body except front waist band and thigh band.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.132-141
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• 2014

In an ordinary CT scan, a large number of projections with full field-of-view (FFOV) are necessary to reconstruct high resolution images. However, excessive x-ray dosage is a great concern in FFOV scan. Region-of-interest (ROI) CT or sparse-view CT is considered to be a solution to reduce x-ray dosage in CT scanning, but it suffers from bright-band artifacts or streak artifacts giving contrast anomaly in the reconstructed image. In this study, we propose an image reconstruction method to eliminate the bright-band artifacts and the streak artifacts simultaneously. In addition to the ROI scan for the interior projection data with relatively high sampling rate in the view direction, we get sparse-view exterior projection data with much lower sampling rate. Then, we reconstruct images by solving a constrained total variation (TV) minimization problem for the interior projection data, which is assisted by the exterior projection data in the compressed sensing (CS) framework. For the interior image reconstruction assisted by the exterior projection data, we implemented the proposed method which enforces dual data fidelity terms and a TV term. The proposed method has effectively suppressed the bright-band artifacts around the ROI boundary and the streak artifacts in the ROI image. We expect the proposed method can be used for low-dose CT scans based on limited x-ray exposure to a small ROI in the human body.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제46권5호
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• pp.401-408
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• 2023

Thyroid uptake measurements can be subject to measurement errors due to the scoping and positioning of the thyroid gland. To compensate for these limitations, the clinical utility of the thyroid simultaneous counting method as an alternative to thyroid uptake measurement was analyzed and evaluated experimentally through quantitative analysis of images acquired after thyroid scanning. Experimental data were obtained using a Gamma camera (GE infinia), a thyroid uptake system (KOROID 1), and a thyroid neck phantom. Based on the thyroid uptake rate of 1-5% according to the protocol of thyroid scan test (^99mTcO₄ - , 370 MBq) in normal results, ^99mTcO₄ - was set in the range of 3.7-18.5 MBq (Matrix: 256×256, Scan time: 1 min, collimator: pin hole, phantom-collimator distances: 7 cm). The acquired images were corrected for the attenuation of isotopes due to the set-up time and half-life by applying the Auto Region of interest (ROI) drawing system, and the significance of the experimental results was evaluated by Multiple linear regression analysis (SPSS, ver. 22, IBM). The thyroid uptake rate showed a significant correlation between the dose and the measured counts when using the thyroid uptake system equipment. Meanwhile, the quantitative analysis counts of phantom images using Gamma camera also showed a significant correlation. Thus confirmed that the correlation between these two experiments was statistically significant (P<0.05). The simultaneous counting protocol, which indirectly measures thyroid uptake from thyroid scans, is likely to be clinically relevant if complemented by additional studies with different variables in patients with thyroid disease.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제45회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.139.2-139.2
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• 2013

6" Multi-crystal Silicon wafer has etched suing a remote - type RF Dielectric barrier discharge (RF DBD) at atmospheric pressure. DBD source is composed of Al electrode and coated Al2O3 dielectric as function of Ar/NF3 gas combination and input power used 13.56 MHz power supply. Ar gas flow rate is changed from 2 to 10 Slm, and NF3 flow rate is changed from 0.2~1 slm. At the result, NF3 flow rate Si etching rate also increase whit the increasing of NF3 flow rate But at 2 slm etching rate was decrease. In this experience, Max etching rate is 2.3 ${\mu}m/min$ when the scan time is 45 sec.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.40-48
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• 1992

Gated blood pool scan is frequently used for evaluating the change in cardiac function in various cardiac diseases. But resting gated blood pool scan using only LVEF as a cardiac index has been consitently shown to have a low sensitivity, which is about 50%, in detecting coronary artery disease. So it is recommended to compare exercise gated blood pool scan to resting gated blood pool scan. Exercise tests, however, are not always possible, especially in patients with musculoskeletal diseases, recent myocardial infarction and in elderly persons. We studied the usefulness of resting gated blood pool scan using multiple indices in evaluating the patients with coronary artery disease. Studied cases were 185 patients with coronary artery disease (angina pectoris 31, myocardial infarction 154) and 25 normals with low likelihood of coronary artery disease. We used $^{99m}Tc-labeled$ RBC, 740 MBq labeled by in vivo method. The data were evaluated by Micro DELTA computer program. The results were as following: 1) The ejection rates (PER, AER) and filling rates (PFR, AFR) were different in normls and patients with angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. 2) Mean phase angle, ejection rates and filling rates could separate normals from coronary artery disease patients with normal LVEF. 3) Regional ejection fraction was decreased at the site of the infarct in patients with myocardial infarction. 4) Peak filling rate was the the most detectable index in evaluation of cardiac function in patients with coronary artery disease. 5) The threshold at 1.5 standard deviation of normal range was considered as the most reliable cut-off value from ROC analysis. These data suggest that the resting gated blood pool scan has an important role in the evaluation of cardiac functional changes using various cardiac indices in patients with coronary artery disease.

• 핵의학기술
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.49-56
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• 2024

Purpose: When performing nuclear medicine examinations, body wraps or plastic supports are used to support and immobilize the patient's upper extremities to prevent patient safety accidents. However, the existing plastic supports compromised patient and staff safety, including finger entrapment and falls. Moreover, the body wrap provided by manufacturers compromised image quality such as upper extremities cutoff during whole body bone scan. Therefore, a new design of body wrap was developed to improve the issue, and this study aims to evaluate the usability of this medical body wrap. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the usability of the newly designed medical body wrap, a quality assessment of whole body bone scan images and a user satisfaction survey were conducted. Adult patients (male:female=129:152, age: 60.3±12.4 years, BMI: 24.0±4.2) aged 16 years or older who underwent a whole body bone scan during two periods: June to July 2022 (before improvement, n=139) and June to July 2023 (after improvement, n=142) were randomly selected for image quality evaluation. Five radiotechnologists visually evaluated the posterior view of the whole body bone image, including the left and right elbow (2 points), arm (2 points), whether the hand is extended (2 points), whether the hand is included (2 points), and the number of visible fingers (10 points), with a total of 18 points, which were converted to 100 points and analyzed for difference before and after improvement using an independent sample t-test. The user satisfaction questionnaire was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale among 16 radiotechnologists from three general hospitals who experienced the new body wrap. Results: The image quality assessment was 82.0±13.8 before the improvement and 89.3±10.1 after the improvement, an average of 7.3 points higher, with a statistically significant difference (t=5.02, p<0.01). The user satisfaction survey showed an overall satisfaction rating of 4.1±0.8 for ease of use, 3.8±0.7 for scan preparation time, 3.9±0.7 for patient safety, 3.8±1.2 for scan accuracy, and 4.2±0.7 for recommendation (87.5% questionnaire response rate). Conclusion: The developed body wrap showed higher image quality and user satisfaction compared to the old method. Considering these results, it is deemed that the new body wrap may be more useful than existing methods.

• Carbon letters
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• 제19권
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• pp.66-71
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• 2016

The development of nanostructured functional materials derived from biomass and/or waste is of growing importance for creating sustainable energy-storage systems. In this study, nanoporous carbonaceous materials containing numerous heteroatoms were fabricated from waste coffee grounds using a top-down process via simple heating with KOH. The nanoporous carbon nanosheets exhibited notable material properties such as high specific surface area (1960.1 m² g⁻¹), numerous redox-active heteroatoms (16.1 at% oxygen, 2.7 at% nitrogen, and 1.6 at% sulfur), and high aspect ratios (>100). These unique properties led to good electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrodes. A specific capacitance of ~438.5 F g⁻¹ was achieved at a scan rate of 2 mV s⁻¹, and a capacitance of 176 F g⁻¹ was maintained at a fast scan rate of 100 mV s⁻¹. Furthermore, cyclic stability was achieved for over 2000 cycles.