• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.154-158
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• 2013

Development of dual functional liposome has been studied for cancer theragnostics. Therefore, we focused on ultrasound-sensitive liposomes with doxorubicin (DOX) and gadolinium (Gd) as a theragnostic carrier having a potential for cancer therapy and diagnosis. In this study, Gd(III)-DOTA-modified sonosensitive liposomes (GL) was developed using chemically synthesized Gd(III)-DOTA-DPPE lipid. Sonosensitivity of GL to 1 MHz ultrasound induced 25% of DOX release. The relaxivities ($r_1$) of GL were $7.33-10.34\;mM^{-1}s^{-1}$, which was higher than that of MR-bester$^{(R)}$. Intracellular delivery of DOX from GL by ultrasound irradiation was evaluated according to ultrasound intensity, resulting in increase of uptake of DOX released from ultrasound-triggered GLs compared to GL3 or Doxil$^{(R)}$ without ultrasound. Taken together, this study shows that the paramagnetic and sonosensitive liposomes, GL, is a novel and highly effective delivery system for drug with the potential for broad applications in human disease.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.228-235
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• 2016

Flaws at dissimilar metal welds (DMWs), such as reactor coolant systems components, Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM), Bottom Mounted Instrumentation (BMI) etc., in nuclear power plants have been found. Notably, primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in the DMWs could cause significant reliability problems at nuclear power plants. Therefore, phased array ultrasound is widely used for inspecting surface break cracks and stress corrosion cracks in DMWs. However, inspection of DMWs using phased array ultrasound has a relatively low probability of detection of cracks, because the crystalline structure of welds causes distortion and splitting of the ultrasonic beams which propagates anisotropic medium. Therefore, advanced evaluation techniques of phased array ultrasound are needed for improvement in the probability of detection of flaws in DMWs. Thus, in this study, an investigation of focusing and steering phased array ultrasound in DMWs was carried out using a time reversal technique, and an adaptive focusing technique based on finite element method (FEM) simulation. Also, evaluation of focusing performance of three different focusing techniques was performed by comparing amplitude of phased array ultrasonic signals scattered from the targeted flaw with three different time delays.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.15-21
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• 2012

Image segmentation for object to extract data from ultrasound acquired is an essential preprocessing step for the effective diagnosis. Various image segmentation methods have been studied. In this study, interactive image segmentation method by graph cut algorithm is proposed to develop a variety of applications of vascular ultrasound imaging and diagnostics. General imaging and vascular ultrasound imaging segmentation by entering constrain condition such as foreground and background. In the future it will be able to develop new ultrasound diagnostics.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.584-590
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• 2021

This paper proposes a removal method of signal interference between ultrasound sensors where ghost signals due to interference are excluded and correct signal is recognized in distance mensurement using ultrasound sensors. The proposed method detects and excludes ghost signals when previous measured distance is compared to current measured distance and the distance difference exceeds a threshold. The threshold is fixed in conventional methods, so ghost signals cannot be correctly excluded when ultrasound sensor or target object move rapidly. On the contrary, to improve accuracy, the threshold is not fixed in the proposed method, and the threshold is adpatively determined based on the relative velocity when ultrasound sensor or target object move. Experiments of distance measurement with ultrasound signal interference are carried out where multiple ultrasound sensors of same type are exploited with maximum interference, and the results show that the proposed method efficiently exclude ghost signals.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2022

This research is to measure real-time temperature distribution inside a tissue-mimicking phantom for the safety and effectiveness evaluations of focused ultrasound (FUS) device capable of linear scanning stimulation. Since the focusing area of the FUS stimulation device is smaller than diameter of conventional thermal probe and keeps moving, it is impossible to monitor temperature distribution inside the phantom. By using the phantom with a thin film temperature sensor array inserted, real-time temperature change caused by the FUS device was measured. The translation of the measured temperature peak was also tracked successfully. The present phantom had been experimentally proven to be applicable to validate the performance and safety of the therapeutic ultrasound devices.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 2014

Ultrasound measurements of backfat thickness (UBF), longissimus muscle area (ULMA) and marbling score (UMS) and carcass measurements of carcass weight (CW), backfat thickness (BF), longissimus muscle area (LMA), and marbling score (MS) on 7,044 Hanwoo steers were analyzed to estimate genetic parameters. Data from Hanwoo steers that were raised, finished in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon-do (province) and shipped to slaughter houses during the period from October 2010 to April 2013 were evaluated. Ultrasound measurements were taken at approximately three months before slaughter by an experienced operator using a B-mode real-time ultrasound device (HS-2000, FHK Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) with a 3.5 MHz linear probe. Ultrasound scanning was on the left side between 13th rib and the first lumbar vertebrae. All slaughtering processes and carcass evaluations were performed in accordance with the guidelines of beef grading system of Korea. To estimate genetic parameters, multiple trait animal models were applied. Fixed effects included in the models were: the effects of farm, contemporary group effects (year-season at the time of ultrasound scanning in the models for UBF, ULMA, and UMS, and year-season at slaughter in the models for CW, BF, LMA, and MS), the effects of ultrasound technicians as class variables and the effects of the age in days at ultrasound scanning or at slaughtering as linear covariates, respectively for ultrasound and carcass measures. Heritability estimates obtained from our analyses were 0.37 for UBF, 0.13 for ULMA, 0.27 for UMS, 0.44 for CW, 0.33 for BF, 0.36 for LMA and 0.54 MS, respectively. Genetic correlations were strongly positive between corresponding traits of ultrasound and carcass measures. Genetic correlation coefficient between UBF and BF estimate was 0.938, between ULMA and LMA was 0.767 and between UMS and MS was 0.925. These results suggest that ultrasound measurement traits are genetically similar to carcass measurement traits.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1285-1290
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• 2014

The aim was to determine whether ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) promotes dual targeting of HSP72 and HSC70 for therapy of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), to improve the specific and efficient delivery of siRNA, to induce tumor cell specific apoptosis, and to find new therapeutic targets specific of CRPC.VCaP cells were transfected with siRNA oligonucleotides. HSP70, HSP90 and cleaved caspase-3 expression were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Apoptosis and transfection efficiency were assessed by flow cytometry. Cell viability assays were used to evaluate safety. We found HSP72, HSC70 and HSP90 expression to be absent or weak in normal prostate epithelial cells (RWPE-1), but uniformly strong in prostate cancerous cells (VCaP). UTMD combined with dual targeting of HSP72 and HSC70 siRNA improve the efficiency of transfection, cell uptake of siRNA, downregulation of HSP70 and HSP90 expression in VCaP cells at the mRNA and protein level, and induction of extensive tumor-specific apoptosis. Cell counting kit-8 assays showed decreased cellular viability in the HSP72/HSC70-siRNA silenced group. These results suggest that the combination of UTMD with dual targeting HSP70 therapy for PCa may be most efficacious, providng a novel, reliable, non-invasive, safe targeted approach to improve the specific and efficient delivery of siRNA, and achieve maximal effects.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.45-59
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of ultrasound on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritis was induced in 26 female Sprauge-Dawley rats by the subcutaneous injection of a single dose of .1 mL of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) (1 mg of Mycobacterium Butyricum suspended in .1 $m{\ell}$ paraffin oil) into the right hind paw. After confirming inflammatory edema and arthritis in the paw 2 weeks later, the arthritic rats were divided into 3 groups, i.e., a control group, a pulsed ultrasound group (Group A), and a continuous ultrasound group (Group B) with 8 rats placed in each group. The rats in Group A were treated with pulsed ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with .5 $W/cm^2$ intensity in 1 : 4 mode for 3 minutes. The rats in Group B were treated with continuous ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with 2 $W/cm^2$ intensity in the continuous mode for 3 minutes. The ultrasound treatment was done in the left and right ankles for 2 weeks. Clinical, radiographic and histopathologic findings were then evaluated before and after treatment and yielded the following results. 1. No significant difference was present in body weight between the control group and the treated groups. 2. A statistically significant decrease in the edema of the paw was seen in the rats in Group A that was treated with pulsed ultrasound by 26~29 days after the treatment started (p<.05). 3. According to radiological examination, Group A showed the lowest score in arthritis scale which means it showed a tendency to suppress arthritic inflammation of the left and right hind paws. However, no statistically significant difference was present in the score between the control group, Group A and Group B. 4. According to histopathologic findings, the degree of infiltration by inflammatory cells and hypertrophy of the synovium were less in Group A compared with the control group and Group B. The results of the study show that rats that were treated with the pulsed ultrasound effectively suppressed adjuvant arthritis. However, more effort is needed to objectively prove the effectiveness of ultrasound by developing more sensitive testing methods that could quantitatively evaluate the treatment effects of acute rheumatoid arthritis and by trying out different ultrasound treatment methods.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2012

Some high frequency sounds alter physiological processes of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua. This study investigated the effect of ultrasound (${\geq}$ 20 kHz) on larval feeding, pupal development, and adult mating behavior of S. exigua. Ultrasound suppressed feeding behavior of fifth instar larvae, and 30 or 45 kHz treatment inhibited more than 50% of feeding activity. Larvae treated with ultrasound exhibited alterations in major nutrient compositions in the hemolymph plasma. Plasma protein levels decreased with an increase in ultrasound frequency. In contrast, sugar levels increased with an increase in ultrasound frequency. Lipid levels increased with an increase in ultrasound frequency up to 30 kHz and then decreased at treatments > 30 kHz. Hemocytes, the fat body, and epidermis expressed three heat shock proteins and apolipophorin III. Ultrasound treatment markedly inhibited expression of some stress-related genes. Ultrasound treatment also inhibited S. exigua pupal development by extending the pupal developmental period and preventing adult emergence. Last, ultrasound treatment significantly inhibited adult mating behavior, which resulted in a significant decrease in female fecundity. These results show that ultrasound is a physiological stress to S. exigua.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-183
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• 2004

Hepatic mass was aspirated under the guidance with ultrasound in 9-year old female maltese with signs of anorexia, hematochezia, vomiting, depression, and abdominal distension. Radiographic and abdominal ultrasonographic examinations were performed, which revealed enlarged tubular shaped uterine mass and solitary, small round hyperechoic hepatic mass dorsal to gall bladder as an incidental finding. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was completed, but histologic confirmation should be made for definitive diagnosis by tissue core or wedge biopsy.