Biomedical subjects

Ji-Jung Kai

Publications and source records attributed to Ji-Jung Kai.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

The fabrication and application of Zernike electrostatic phase plate.

The Zernike electrostatic phase plate (ZEPP) consisting of three ring electrodes and two insulating rings has been fabricated using Micro Electro-Mechanical System processes. The electrostatic field produced in the phase plate was measured by electrostatic force microscopy. The electrostatic field and focal length of the phase plate is calculated using electron optics principles. The comparison of the experimental electrostatic field and the theoretical calculated is discussed. Finally, we report the application of ZEPP to enhance contrast of the SiON(x)/SiO(2) interface in an NMOS semiconductor device. The quantitative analysis of the contrast enhancement versus the applied bias is discussed in detail.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Valence state map of iron oxide thin film obtained from electron spectroscopy imaging series.

This paper demonstrates the applicability of electron-spectroscopic imaging (ESI) for valence-state mapping of the iron oxide system. We have previously developed a set of signal-processing methods for an ESI series, to allow mapping of sp(2)/sp(3) ratio, dielectric function and energy bandgap. In this study, these methods are applied to generate a valence-state map of an iron oxide thin film (Fe/alpha-Fe(2)O(3)). Two problems, data undersampling and a convolution effect associated with extraction of the image-spectrum from the core loss image series, were overcome by using cubic-polynomial interpolation and maximum-entropy deconvolution. As a result, the reconstructed image-spectrum obtained from the ESI series images has a quality as good as that of conventional electron energy-loss spectra. The L(3)/L(2) ratio of the reconstructed ESI spectrum is determined to be 3.30+/-0.30 and 5.0+/-0.30 for Fe and alpha-Fe(2)O(3), respectively. Our L(3)/L(2) ratio mapping shows an accurate correspondence across the Cu/Fe/alpha-Fe(2)O(3) region. The effect of delocalization and chromatic aberration on the ESI resolution is discussed and estimated to be about 2 nm for the case of L(3)/L(2) ratio mapping.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Evaluation of pharmacokinetics of 4-borono-2-(18)F-fluoro-L-phenylalanine for boron neutron capture therapy in a glioma-bearing rat model with hyperosmolar blood-brain barrier disruption.

UNLABELLED: This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of 4-borono-2-(18)F-fluoro-l-phenylalanine ((18)F-FBPA) after intracarotid injection and with blood-brain barrier disruption (BBB-D) in F98 glioma-bearing F344 rats. The pharmacokinetics of l-p-boronophenylalanine (BPA) and (18)F-FBPA following different administration routes were compared to demonstrate the optimal delivery route and the time period for thermal neutron irradiation. METHODS: F98 glioma-bearing rats were injected intravenously or intracarotidly with (18)F-FBPA and BPA and with or without mannitol-induced hyperosmotic BBB-D. The boron concentration and (18)F radioactivity in tissues were determined by invasive (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, gamma-counting) and noninvasive PET methods. RESULTS: The biodistributions of (18)F-FBPA and BPA in F98 glioma-bearing rats were similar after intracarotid administration with BBB-D. The accumulation of BPA and (18)F-FBPA in brain tumor and the tumor-to-ipsilateral brain ratios were the highest after intracarotid injection with BBB-D, whereas the retention of boron drugs in contralateral brains exhibited only nonsignificant differences compared with those after intracarotid injection without BBB-D and intravenous injection. The high boron concentration in brain tumor (76.6 mug/g) and the high tumor-to-ipsilateral brain ratio (6.3) may afford enough radiation doses to destroy the tumor cells while sparing the normal tissues in boron neutron capture therapy. The pharmacokinetic parameters of k(el), k(12), k(21), and V(1) for intracarotid injection of (18)F-FBPA with BBB-D derived from the open 2-compartment model are 0.0206 +/- 0.0018 min(-1), 0.0260 +/- 0.0016 min(-1), 0.0039 +/- 0.0003 min(-1), and 3.1 +/- 0.1 mL, respectively. The effect of BBB-D varied depending on the anesthetic agents used and the anesthetic conditions. A smaller degree of BBB-D and, thus, lower boron concentrations in tumor and ipsilateral brain were observed under isoflurane anesthesia than under ketamine anesthesia. The k(12)/k(21) ratio may serve as a good indication for evaluating the extent of BBB-D, tumor uptake, and tumor-to-brain ratio after intracarotid injection of boron compounds. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide important information for establishing an optimal treatment protocol when intracarotid injection with BPA after BBB-D is applied in clinical boron neutron capture therapy.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Resolution extension and exit wave reconstruction in complex HREM.

Direct methods in real and reciprocal space are developed for structural reversion. The direct method in real space involves the use of a novel method to retrieve the phase in the image plane using transport of intensity equation/maximum entropy method (TIE/MEM) and exit wave reconstruction by self-consistent propagation. Since the exit wave is restored from the complex signal in the image planes, no image model between the exit wave and image is assumed. The structural information in the reconstructed exit wave is then further extended by a "complex" maximum entropy method as a direct method in reciprocal space to extrapolate the phase to higher frequencies.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Bandgap mapping for III-V quantum well by electron spectroscopy imaging.

The concept of 'bandgap mapping' was proposed originally to map the inhomogeneity of band energy in III-V semiconductors with a spatial resolution of a few nanometres in a scanning transmission electron microscope with the focus beam mode. In this paper, several techniques were developed to demonstrate the possibility to map the distribution of bandgap energies for GaN/AlN quantum-well structures using electron spectroscopy imaging (ESI). The phase correlation function was used to register different energy-loss images among ESI series with an accuracy of 1 pixel. The energy dispersion of ESI series was improved by a fast Fourier transform interpolation method. An iterative multivariable least square algorithm was derived to refine the fitting of the single scattering distribution to an analytic form of the density of states function a(E - E(g))(0.5). The inhomogeneity of the band energy of the quantum well can be revealed from the band-energy map. A threshold filter method is applied to estimate the average value and SD of the bandgap energy from barrier and well regions in the energy map. The average bandgap energy of AlN and GaN is determined to be 5.62 +/- 0.35 and 3.87 +/- 0.36 eV, respectively. The effect of delocalization on the accuracy of band-energy determination is discussed. The 2sigma(E(g)) accuracy of this analysis is comparable to half of the energy resolution of the ESI experiment.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2002

Mapping of sp2/sp3 in DLC thin film by signal processed ESI series energy-loss image.

A set of signal processing methods comprising fast Fourier transform interpolation, maximum entropy deconvolution and wavelet transformation has been successfully integrated to improve the equality of the extracted C K-edge spectra from electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) series. Fast Fourier transform interpolation is used to improve the dispersion arising from discrete sampling of ESI series in the energy space. The maximum entropy method is used to dispel the convolution effect resulting from that ESI series acquired with a finite energy window. Wavelet transformation is applied to de-noise the extracted ESI spectrum. The post-processed ESI spectrum has quality as good as that of a probe-acquired spectrum and makes semi-quantitative analysis of the two-dimensional sp2/sp3 ratio map in diamond-like carbon thin film possible. In general, this method is applicable for reconstructing good quality core-loss electron energy-loss spectra from a nanometre-sized area, so that it may be possible to quantitatively analyse two-dimensional information about electronic structure in materials with near nanometre resolution.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of the phenylboric acid derivative entrapped lipiodol in boron neutron capture therapy for hepatoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatoma, a common cancer in Taiwan, responds poorly to conventional therapies. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) may provide a promising approach for hepatoma therapy. In this study, a pharmaceutical composition, phenylboric acid derivative entrapped lipiodol (PBAD-lipiodol), was synthesized and characterized. In vitro study was used for evaluation of PBAD-lipiodol for the BNCT of hepatoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: alpha Track observation was used to identify the boron compound in the TLC plate and to evidence the uniform distribution of boron in the PBAD-lipiodol. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy and neutron activation analysis were used to determine the concentrations of boron and lipiodol, respectively. Human hepatoma HepG2 cells were used for in vitro experiments. A Nomarski optical microscope was used to investigate the uptake of PBAD-lipiodol globules in individual hepatoma cells. RESULTS: PBAD-lipiodol was stable in human serum. The boron source, PBAD, was uniformly distributed in PBAD-lipiodol. Many of the PBAD-lipiodol globules were internalized and retained in HepG2 cells, and the boron concentration of HepG2 cells reached 269 ppm after 72 hours of PBAD-lipiodol treatment. CONCLUSION: In vitro studies revealed that PBAD-lipiodol could deliver a therapeutically effective amount of PBAD as a boron source for the BNCT of hepatoma. PBAD-lipiodol is a potential new boron drug for the BNCT of hepatoma.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy↗