• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1240-1247
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• 2011

The localization of mobile robot in environment is a major concern in mobile robot navigation. So, many kinds of localization techniques have been researched for several years. Among them, the positioning system using ultrasound has received attention. Most of these ultrasonic positioning systems to synchronize the transmitters and receivers are used for RF (Radio Frequencies). However, due to the use of RF, the interference problems can not be avoided and the performance of radio frequencies directly affects the positioning performance. So we proposed the ultrasonic positioning system without synchronizing RF. The proposed system is based on existing USAT (Ultrasonic Satellite System) adopted infrastructure transmitting type, and consists of transmitter and receiver synchronizing modules instead of the radio frequency transmitters and receiver. The ultrasonic transmitters and receivers are synchronized individually by the transmitter and receiver synchronizing modules. In order to calculate the bias between the transmitter and receiver synchronizing modules, new positioning algorithm similar to GPS was proposed. The positioning performance of the improved USAT without synchronizing RF and the validity of the proposed positioning algorithm are verified and evaluated by experiments.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.164-169
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• 2006

We have developed the spirometer system; many patients having weak respiration have difficulties in using conventional spirometers in hospitals, because their weak breath can be affected by the errors of inertia and instrumental pressure. We have developed a new ultrasound spirometer using an ARM 920T processor. To detect weak respiratory signals, we add a comparator circuit, which can afford more information of respiration characteristics such as respiration volume, directions, and velocities. We have also developed Gill for graphical display of respiration characteristics. Through the pilot test, it has been verified that the developed spirometer is operating reliably.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.775-781
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• 2011

For the measurement of absolute position of mobile robot in indoor environments, the ultrasonic positioning systems using ultrasound have been researched for several years. Most of these ultrasonic positioning systems to avoid interference between the ultrasound are used for sequential transmitting. However, due to the use of sequential transmitting, the positions of transmitter to receive an ultrasound will change when the mobile robot moves. Therefore the accuracy of positioning is reduced. In this paper, the new position estimation algorithm with weighting factor according to the time of receipt is proposed. By applying the proposed algorithm to existing Ultrasonic Satellite System(USAT), the improved USAT is configured. The positioning performance of the improved USAT with the proposed position estimation algorithm are verified by experiments.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.68-71
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• 2006

Active thermography has been used for several years in the field of remote non-destructive testing. It provides thermal images for remote detection and imaging of damages. Also, it is based on propagation and reflection of thermal waves which are launched from the surface into the inspected component by absorption of modulated radiation. For energy deposition, it use external heat sources (e.g., halogen lamp or convective heating) or internal heat generation (e.g., microwaves, eddy current, or elastic wave). Among the external heat sources, the ultrasound is generally used for energy deposition because of defect selective heating up. The heat source generating a thermal wave is provided by the defect itself due to the attenuation of amplitude modulated ultrasound. A defect causes locally enhanced losses and consequently selective heating up. Therefore amplitude modulation of the injected ultrasonic wave turns a defect into a thermal wave transmitter whose signal is detected at the surface by thermal infrared camera. This way ultrasound thermography(UT) allows for selective defect detection which enhances the probability of defect detection in the presence of complicated intact structures. In this paper the applicability of UT for fast defect detection is described. Examples are presented showing the detection of defects in PCB material. Measurements are performed on various kinds of typical defects in PCB materials (both Cu metal and non-metal epoxy). The obtained thermal image reveals area of defect in row of thick epoxy material and PCB.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.4 s.287
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• pp.259-263
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• 2006

The applicability of UPT (Ultrasound Pulse Thermography) for real-time defect detection of the ceramic heating plate is described. The ceramic heating plate with superior insulation and high radiation is used to control the water temperature in underwater environment. The underwater temperature control system can be damaged owing to the short circuit, which resulted from the defect of the ceramic heating plate. A high power ultrasonic energy with pulse duration of 280 ms was injected into the ceramic heating plate in the vertical direction. The ultrasound excited vibration energy sent into the component propagate inside the sample until they were converted to the heat in the vicinity of the defect. Therefore, an injection of the ultrasound pulse wave which results in heat generation, turns the defect into a local thermal wave transmitter. Its local emission is monitored and recorded via the thermal infrared camera at the surface which is processed by image recording system. Measurements were Performed on 4 kinds of samples, composed of 3 intact plates and the defect plate. The observed thermal image revealed two area of crack in the defective ceramic heating plate.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.211-219
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• 2014

Closed cracks are difficult to detect using conventional ultrasonic testing because most incident ultrasound passes completely through these cracks. Nonlinear ultrasound inspection using sub-harmonic frequencies a promising method for detecting closed cracks. To implement this method, a sub-harmonic phased array (PA) is proposed to visualize the length of closed cracks in solids. A sub-harmonic PA generally consists of a single transmitter and an array receiver, which detects sub-harmonic waves generated from closed cracks. The PA images are obtained using the total focusing method (TFM), which (with a transmitter and receiving array) employs a full matrix in the observation region to achieve fine image resolution. In particular, the receiving signals are measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) to collect PA images for both fundamental and sub-harmonic frequencies. Oblique incidence, which is used to boost sub-harmonic generation, inevitably produces various surface waves that contaminate the signals measured in the receiving transducer. Surface wave interference often degrades PA images severely, and it becomes difficult to read the closed crack's position from the images. Various methods to prevent or eliminate this interference are possible. In particular, enhancing images with signal processing could be a highly cost-effective method. Because periodic patterns distributed in a PA image are the most frequent interference induced by surface waves, spatial frequency filtering is applicable for removing these waves. Experiments clearly demonstrate that the spatial frequency filter improves PA images.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.250-257
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• 2007

Functional gastrointestinal disorders affect millions of people of all age regardless of race and sex. There are, however, rare diagnostic methods for the functional gastrointestinal disorders because functional disorders show no evidence of organic and physical causes. Our research group identified recently that the gastrointestinal tract well in the patients with the functional gastrointestinal disorders becomes more rigid than healthy people when palpating the abdominal regions overlaying the gastrointestinal tract. The aim is, therefore, to develop a diagnostic method for the functional gastrointestinal disorders based on quantitative measurement of the rigidity of the gastrointestinal tract well using ultrasound technique. For this purpose, a preliminary ultrasound diagnostic system was developed and verified through phantom tests. The system consisted of transmitter, ultrasonic transducer, receiver, TGC, and CPLD, and verified via a phantom test. For the phantom test, ten soft-tissue specimens were harvested from porcine. Five of them were then treated chemically to mimic a rigid condition of gastrointestinal tract well, which was induced by functional gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, the specimens were tested mechanically to identify if the mimic was reasonable. The customized ultrasound system was finally verified through application to human subjects with/without functional gastrointestinal disorders(Normal and Patient Groups). It was identified from the mechanical test that the chemically treated specimens were more rigid than normalspecimen. This finding was favorably compared with the result obtained from the phantom test. The phantom test also showed that ultrasound system well described the specimen geometric characteristics and detected an alteration in the specimens. The maximum amplitude of the ultrasonic reflective signal in the rigid specimens $(0.2{\pm}0.1Vp-p)$ at the interface between the fat and muscle layers was explicitly higher than that in the normal specimens $(0.1{\pm}0.0Vp-p)$ (p<0.05). Clinical tests using our customized ultrasound system for human subject showed that the maximum amplitudes of the ultrasonic reflective signals nea. to the gastrointestinal tract well for the patient group$(2.6{\pm}0.3Vp-p)$ were generally higher than those in normal group$(0.1{\pm}0.2Vp-p)$ (p<0.05). These results suggest that newly designed diagnostic system based on ultrasound technique may diagnose enough the functional gastrointestinal disorders.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.85-90
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• 2015

In this study, we investigated the number of categories of veterinary medical devices registered by Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA) by 2013. We also analyzed the sales of the veterinary medical devices reported from Korea Animal Health Product Association (KAHPA) from 2011 to 2013. The registration rate of veterinary medical devices has sharply increased since 2008, and a total of 495 categories from 141 companies were registered by the end of 2013. The multi-frequency products registered for companion animals were ultrasound imaging system, x-ray system, microchip & reader, telemetry system transmitter, and hematology analyzer. The veterinary medical devices for farm animals include marker, artificial insemination catheter, injector, and ultrasound imaging system. Of these products, the multi-frequency products dominated on the veterinary medical devices market. The market size of 223 (45.0%) veterinary medical devices was estimated to be approximately 20.6 billion Won in 2013; the proportion of domestic products and imports was 56% to 44%; the proportion of domestic demand and export was 82% to 18%, respectively. This study suggested that the registration and sales of the veterinary medical devices have gradually increased as the demand of health care services got bigger in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 1994

A system for EMAT, which generates ultrasound by electro-magnectic forces and performs nondestructive testing in noncontact, was established. By linking it with a 3 axis scanning system and a data acquisition and processing system the automation of EMAT testing was attempted. A EMAT sensor was fabricated and the directivity pattern of it was measured. To be suitable automation, it has a transmitter and a receiver in one case and the main beam direction of it can be controlled by the frequency of driving signal. A program which controls the EMAT system, the 3 axis scanner and the data acquisition and processing system was developed. It also processes acquired data and displays the processing results. IBM-PC/AT compatible PC was used as main controller and the stratage of the program is emulation of real devices on the PC monitor. To provide the performance of the established EMAT system, two aluminium blocks containing artificial flaws and a welded aluminium block were tested. The result of the tests were satisfactory.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.597-602
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• 2004

In practical applications of guided wave techniques, it is very important but also difficult to identify the propagating modes, and it is preferred to generate and detect a single or less dispersive mode. Also the noncontact method is required in the automated field application. So this paper considers a non-contact guided wave technique with enhanced mode-selectivity, where a laser beam illuminated through arrayed line slits is used as the transmitter and the air-coupled transducer is used as the receiver. The line arrayed laser illumination is a wavelength matching technique that ran generate only a few modes. The air-coupled transducer detects the leaky wave of the propagated guided wave, and by tuning its detection angle we ran detect the selected single mode. Experimental results for a 1mm thick aluminum plate proved the usefulness of the proposed method, and especially it was shown that this method was powerful in the generation and detection of the $a_0$ mode.