• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 2021

Background: In 2018, the government increased the fee for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image deciphering services of the external hospital to discourage the redundant MRI scan and to induce appropriate use of the MRI services. It is important to evaluate the effect of the policy to provide the basis for establishing other MRI-related policies. Methods: The healthcare data of the patients who had brain MRI scans were organized by episode and analyzed using the panel study in order to find out the effect of the MRI-related policy on the substitution effect and the medical expenses. Results: As a result of the increase in the fee of deciphering the MRI image, there has been an uplift in deciphering the MRI scan of the external hospital. It implies that more hospitals chose to use the MRI scan taken by other clinics or hospitals, rather than the MRI scan taken at their own facilities. Conclusion: The research results imply that a policy that facilitates the exchange of the medical image data between the hospitals is needed in order to establish an efficient management system of the healthcare resources. Such improvement is expected to reduce the social cost and contribute to the stability in the finance of national health insurance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.201-205
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• 2011

Subacute Ankle Sprain patients, 3 tests have been acknowledge for diagnostic precision and thus most commonly used to test their soft tissues, muscles, and ligaments: ankle stress-valgus test, anterior-draw test, and MRI scan. Although not much different from the rest two in its diagnostic value, MRI costs patients some money and time. Also, we have reached the conclusion through an experiment with a group of patients in a certain hospital that the rest two methods is as efficient and useful as MRI in diagnosing ankle joint patients.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2017

Purpose: To describe technical methods for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with arterial spin labeling (ASL) compared to blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) technique and discuss the potential of ASL for research and clinical practice. Materials and Methods: Task-based (n = 1) and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) (n = 20) were performed using ASL and BOLD techniques. Results of both techniques were compared. Results: For task-based fMRI with finger-tapping, the primary motor cortex of the contralateral frontal lobe and the ipsilateral cerebellum were activated by both BOLD and ASL fMRI. For rs-fMRI of sensorimotor network, functional connectivity showed similar results between BOLD and ASL. Conclusion: ASL technique has potential application in clinical and research fields because all brain perfusion imaging, CBF measurement, and rs-fMRI study can be performed in a single acquisition.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.948-958
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• 2010

Human body signals collected by the MRI system are very weak, such that they may be easily affected by either external noise or system instability while being imaged. Therefore, this paper analyzes the nonuniformity caused by a design of the RF receiving coil in a low-magnetic-field MRI system, and proposes an efficient method to improve the image uniformity. In this paper, a method for acquiring 3D bias volume data by using phantom data among various methods for correcting such nonuniformity in MRI image is proposed, such that it is possible to correct various-sized images. It is shown by simulations that images obtained by various imaging methods can be effectively corrected using single bias data.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.571-584
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• 2004

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most advanced imaging techniques in clinical and research medicine. However, clinical application of MRI to the lung or thorax has been limited due to various drawbacks. Low signal intensity of the lung and cardiac and respiratory movements are the most serious problems with MRI in thorax. Nevertheless, MRI is superior to CT in some selected patients with thoracic diseases. The role of clinical MRI in thoracic disease has been widened with improvement of MR equipments and development of new pulse sequences. Otherwise, functional assessment of lung by MRI has been studied for the last decade. These include perfusion MRI with or without contrast enhancement and ventilation MRI with oxygen-enhancement or hyperpolarized noble gas, $^3He$ and $^{129}Xe$.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.93-109
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• 2004

The imports of used medical equipment such as CT. MRI have been rapidly increased every year. How to manage those medical equipment has been one of critical issues in the government sector. In this study, we demonstrate how benefit/cost analysis using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) can be applied to the comparison of used CT/MRI and new CT/MRI. The final results show that the new CT/MRI is more attractive than the used CT/MRI.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.35-53
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• 2020

The authors congratulate the cerebrations for the 30 years of the Korean Society of Medical Physics (http://www.ksmp.or.kr/). The paper is published to recognize the anniversary. Geon-Ho Jahng invited Professor Z. H. Cho to join to submit this manuscript because he has been one of the leaders in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the last 40 years. In this review, we describe the development and clinical histories of MRI internationally and domestically. We also discuss diffusion and perfusion MRI, molecular imaging using MRI and MR spectroscopy (MRS), and the hybrid systems, such as positron emission tomography-MRI (PET-MRI), MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS), and MRI-guided linear accelerators (MRI-LINACs). In each part, we discuss the historical evolution of the developments, technical developments, and clinical applications.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.155-182
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• 1998

There exists a remarkable differences in use of MRI scanning among income classes. The poor can hardly utilize it. This is because, among high cost technnologies, MRI is the only equipment not covered under health insurance benefits in Korea. This study was designed 1) to reveal the status of nation-wide MRI installation, customary charges and per unit annual scanning performance, and 2) to analyse factors influencing the above variables. The data for this study came from "MRI Prevalence Survey" conducted by the National Federation of Medcial Insurance(NFMI) in 1997, and were analyzed through SAS packages for T-test, analysis of variance and stepwise multiple regression. Data were collected from 188 hospitals equipped with MRI scanners. Major findings are summarized as follows : The number of MRI scanners has increased from 69 in 994 to 158 in 1996(2.3 times) while per unit annual scanning performance has risen by 11.2% from 2,173 cases in 1994 to 2,417 cases in 1996. Such a rapid increase was made possible mainly due to the inclusion of CT scanning under the health insurance benefit package. The customary charges for MRI scanning with or without contrast media, on average, amounted to 484,000 Won and 402,000 Won, respectively, with the percentile increase of 17.8% and 8.1% each during the same time. Korea ranks the third worldwidely in terms of number of MRI installations, 4.8 scanners per one million persons, only next to Japan and United States. Geographical variation of MRI, however, was rather high, 7.91 unit, in Cheju area compared to 1.82 in Kyongnam area. Variations of customary charges of MRI scanning can be explained as much as by 44.8% by both the total amount of claims to NFMI and geographical variable. The charges were more likely to be higher in metropolitan areas like Seoul and in hospitals with a bigger amount of claims. While those of per unit annual scanning performance can be explained as much as by 30.7% by both MRI installation cost and level of MRI-installed organizations. Per capital scannig performance was higher in tertiary hospitals and hospitals equipped with more expensive scanners than hospitals with less expensive scanners. Two measures are called for the remedying the existing excessive abundance in MRI units in korea : One is to set a ceiling of MRI units in an area like a province or a metropolitan district. The other is to establish a committee on introduction of high cost technologies for reviewing its effective use.ctive use.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.60-65
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• 2014

Purpose: To diagnose soft tissue tumor, such as lipoma and Schwannoma, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sufficient in most cases. However, various characteristics are found in MRI images of Schwannoma, thus other type of tumors are often misdiagnosed as Schwannoma with MRI images. In this study, we evaluate the diagnostic value of specific MRI findings of Schwannoma. Materials and Methods: From January 2002 to May 2013, 104 patients who are suspected as Schwannoma rith MRI images are included in data, and the final diagnosis is confirmed with biopsy. Patients are divided into group 1 and group 2 who are confirmed as Schwannoma and other disease with biopsy, respectively. Results: 92 patients were diagnosed as Schwannoma (group 1) and 12 patients were diagnosed as other disease (group 2). We investigate the diagnostic value of specific MRI findings of Schwannoma. 41 patients of group 1 (45%) and 0 patients of group 2 (0%) showed target sign, 47 patients of group 1 (51%) and 2 patients of group 2 (17%) showed fascicular sign, 44 patients of group 1 (48%) and 5 patients of group 2 (42%) showed fat split sign, 28 patients of group 1 (30%) and 1 patients of group 2(9%) showed nerve entering and exiting sign, and 8 patients of group 1 (9%) and 6 patients of group 2 (50%) showed none of four specific findings on their MRI images. 52 patients of group 1 (57%) and 5 patients of group 2 (42%) have tumors on the pathway of nerve. Target sign could be considered as the best diagnostic value of the sign we investigate (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although specific MRI findings have powerful diagnostic value, patients are often misdiagnosed as Schwannoma with MRI findings. Therefore, if patients who are suspected as Schwannoma based on MRI findings have no target sign on their MRI images, we should consider the possibility of other disease.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2006

The effects of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on mouse embryos at the early stage of organogenesis were investigated. Pregnant ICR mice were exposed on day 8 of gestation to MRI at 0.5 T for 0.5 hour to 3 hours. The mortality rates of embryos or fetuses, the incidence of external malformations, fetal body weight and sex ratio were observed at day 18 of gestation. A significant increase in embryonic mortality was observed after exposure to either 0.5 T MRI for 0.5 hour or 2 hours. However, the exposure to MRI for 1 hour or 3 hours did not induce any significant increase in embryonic mortality when compared with control. External malformations such as exencephaly, cleft palate and anomalies of tail were observed in all experimental groups exposed to each MRI. A statistically significant increase of external malformations was observed in all groups treated with 0.5 T MRI for 0.5 hour and 3 hours. The incidence of external malformations in the mice group exposed to 0.5 T MRI for 0.5-hour was found to be higher than those of mice group exposed to 0.5 T MRI for 2 hours. The effects of MRI on the external malformations might not to be dose-dependent. There was no statistically significant difference in fetal body weight and sex ratio among each MRI exposure groups.