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The key to Alzheimer disease, PET-MRI made in Korea
Professor Kyu-Sung Cho
- Simultaneous PET-MRI imaging system commercialization technology developed purely from domestic technology - - Inspiring achievement by KAIST, National NanoFab Center, Sogang University, Seoul National University Hospital –
Hopes are high for the potential of producing domestic products in the field of state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment that used to rely on imported products.
The joint research team (KAIST, Sogang University and Seoul National University) with KAIST Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering Professor Kyu-Sung Cho in charge, together with National Nanofab Institution (NNFC; Director Jae-Young Lee), has developed PET-MRI simultaneous imaging system with domestic technology only. The team successfully acquired brain images of 3 volunteers with the newly developed system.
PET-MRI is integrated state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment that combines the advantages of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that shows anatomical images of the body and Position Emission Tomography (PET) that analyses cell activity and metabolism. Since the anatomical information and functional information can be seen simultaneously, the device can be used to diagnose early onset Alzheimer’s disease and is essential in biological science research, such as new medicine development.
The existing equipment used to take MRI and PET images separately due to the strong magnetic field generated by MRI and combine the images. Hence, it was time consuming and error-prone due to patient’s movement. There was a need to develop PET that functions within a magnetic field to create a simultaneous imaging system.
The newly developed integral PET-MRI has 3 technical characteristics: 1. PET detector without magnetic interference, 2. PET-MRI integration system, 3.PET-MRI imaging processing.
The PET detector is the most important factor and accounts for half the cost of the whole system. KAIST Professor Cho and NNFC Doctor Woo-Suk Seol’s team successfully developed the Silicon Photomultiplier (amplifies light coming into the radiation detector) that can be used in strong magnetic fields. The developed sensor has a global competitive edge since it optimises semiconductor processing to yield over 95% productivity and around 10% gamma radiation energy resolving power.
Sogang University Department and Electrical Engineering Professor Yong Choi developed cutting edge PET system using a new concept of electric charge signal transmission method and imaging location distinction circuit. The creativity and excellence of the research findings were recognised and hence published on the cover of Medical Physics in June.
Seoul National University Hospital Department of Nuclear Medicine Professor Jae-Sung Lee developed the Silicon Photomultiplier sensor based PET imaging reconstitution programme, MRI imaging based PET imaging revision technology and PET-MRI imaging integration software.
Furthermore, KAIST Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Hyun-Wook Park was responsible for the development of RF Shielding technology that enables simultaneous installation of PET and MRI and using this technology, he developed a head coil for the brain that can be connected to PET for installation.
Based on the technology describe above, the joint research team successfully developed PET-MRI system for brains and acquired PET-MRI integrated brain images from 3 volunteers last June.
In particular, this system has the distinct feature of a detachable PET module and MRI head coil to the existing whole body MRI, so that PET-MRI simultaneous imaging is possible with low installation cost.
Professor Cho said, “We have prepared the foundation of domestic commercial PET and the system has a competitive edge in the global market of PET-MRI system technology.” He continued, “It can reduce the cost of the increasing brain related disease diagnosis, including Alzheimer’s, dramatically.”
Funded by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as an Industrial Foundation Technology Development Project (98 billion won in 7 years), the research applied for over 20 patents and 20 CSI theses.
Figure 1.Brain phantom images from developed PET-MRI system
Figure 2. Brain images from developed PET-MRI system
Figure 3. Domestic PET-MRI clinical trial
Figure 4. Head RF coil and PET detector inserted in MRI
Figure 5. Insertion type PET detector module
Figure 6. Silicon Photomultiplier sensor (Left) and flash crystal block (right)
Figure7. Silicon Photomultiplier sensor
Figure 8. PET detection principle
2013.11.28 View 12478 -
Technology Developed for Flexible, Foldable & Rechargeable Battery
Flexible, Foldable & Rechargeable Battery
The research group of professors Jang-Wook Choi & Jung-Yong Lee from the Graduate School of EEWS and Taek-Soo Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST has developed technology for flexible and foldable batteries which are rechargeable using solar energy. The research result was published in the online issue of Nano Letters on November 5.
Trial versions of flexible and wearable electronics are being developed and introduced in the market such as Galaxy Gear, Apple’s i-Watch, and Google Glass. Research is being conducted to make the batteries softer and more wearable and to compete in the fast-growing market for flexible electronics.
This new technology is expected to be applied to the development of wearable computers as well as winter outdoor clothing since it is flexible and light. The research group expects that the new technology can be applied to current battery production lines without additional investment.
Professor Choi said, “It can be used as a core-source technology in the rechargeable battery industry in the future. Various wearable mobile electronic products can be developed through cooperation and collaboration within the industry.”
2013.11.21 View 10473 -
President of WIPA Sang-Hui Lee and SK Hynix Awarded the 2013 Intellectual Property Award
The ceremony for the 3rd Intellectual Property Award was held at the KAIST campus in Seoul on November 2nd. The award is given annually to Korean practitioners in intellectual property.
This year’s recipients were Sang-Hui Lee, the president of the World Intellectual Property Association of Korean Practitioners (WIPA) and the SK Hynix Patent Group which successfully defended a long-lasting claim against a patent specialist corporation.
The Intellectual Property Award (IP Award) is presented in recognition to Korean individuals or groups that contributed to national competitiveness through creation, application, or proceedings of intellectual property, as well as to building the foundation for the protection of patents, intellectual properties, and trademarks.
President Lee successfully hosted the Global Intellectual Property Summit in Seoul, which was held in October 2012. He was a crucial force behind the foundation of WIPA in May of this year and was also elected as the first president for the organization. Recently, President Lee has been at the forefront of job creation through the efficient use of intellectual property and the creative discovery of venture endeavors.
President Lee said, “The unique characteristic of a knowledge-based society lies in the collaboration network of people and knowledge property, startups based on intellectual property, and decentralized development.”
He added, “Just as Finland adopted a policy to build venture companies in utilization of intellectual properties and encouraged the decentralized growth throughout the nation after the collapse of Nokia, Korea must adapt to meet the changing requirements of the knowledge-intensive era.”
The SK Hynix Patent Group, another recipient for the Intellectual Property Award, won the lawsuit, dragged on for 13 years, against the Rambus, an American patent specialized corporation. The group initially lost the first trial in the federal court of California, but through relentless research and efforts, they won the case in the appeals court. The IP Award was co-hosted by the Korea Patent Attorney Association, the Korea Intellectual Property and Service Association, and KAIST.
2013.11.21 View 8352 -
Visit by the President of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US
A delegation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the United States visited KAIST on November 11, 2013.
The delegation consisted of senior administrators from the university, the president, vice president for research, dean of engineering college, dean of nursing college, and associate chancellor for corporate and international relations. The managing director of the State of Illinois Far East Office also joined the delegation.
They met with President Steve Kang, including vice presidents and deans of KAIST, and discussed forming a possible partnership between KAIST and UIUC.
Robert A. Easter, the president of UIUC, said, “Higher education institutions today are bearing a critical responsibility to increase the awareness, knowledge, skills, and values needed to create a sustainable future. I hope KAIST and the University of Illinois will join forces to lead innovation in higher education and to stay connected and relevant in a global marketplace.”
President Steve Kang responded, “There would be many opportunities for the two universities to collaborate and achieve global preeminence in such field as biotechnology, engineering, and convergence research.”
The University of Illinois, with three distinct campuses in Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign, is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The university has an annual operating budget of more than USD 5 billion, collectively enrolls more than 78,000 students, awards nearly 20,000 degrees each year, and has more than 665,000 alumni around the world.
2013.11.18 View 7260 -
Professor Ji-Yun Lee, Received FAA Recognition Award
Professor Ji-Yun Lee, from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST, received the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Recognition Award for her Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) and her contribution to the development of satellite navigation technology.
GBAS contributes to the safety of aircraft navigation by providing flawless information with real-time location accuracy within one meter.
Professor Lee developed the monitoring software to improve the safety of GBAS users in her paper published in the International Journal of Radio Science in July of 2012.
The software will be distributed and used by many organizations including Eurocontrol following verification from the FAA technical center. It is expected to be standardized after discussions among international organizations.Professor Lee said, “As satellite navigation is applied to the infrastructure of air, marine, and ground transportation, as well as information & communications and finance, ensuring the performance and safety of the system is the most important factor. GBAS will be further developed and applied as a part of a global service system through international collaboration.”
2013.11.15 View 10196 -
2013 International Forum on Eco-Friendly Vehicle and System
Leaders in transportation technology gathered at KAIST to discuss commercialization & standardization and to encourage the exchange of research progress, strategy, and future initiatives in transportation technology.
The Graduate School for Green Transportation at KAIST hosted the 2013 International Forum on Eco-friendly Vehicles and Systems (IFEV) in Fusion Hall of the KAIST Institute Building from October 21 to 22.
About 50 leaders in the field of future transportation from academic institutes and industries including Dr. Soon-Man Hong, President of Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI), Dr. Kwang-Hee Nam, Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and Mr. Mike Schagrin, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Manager of the US Department of Transportation (retired) participated in the 4th annual IFEV.
The commercialization & standardization session and a technical session were followed by the plenary meeting of the forum.
Dr. Hong, the keynote speaker, introduced the High Capacity Double Deck High Speed Train, Near Surface Subway System, and Urban Railway System with Wireless Power Transfer Technology under the title “Korea’s Policy and Technology Initiative for Enhancing Green Transport Systems.”
Dr. Kwang-Hee Nam presented “Electric Vehicle Trends & the POSTECH E-Car Research Center Power Train Design,” followed by Mr. Mike Schagrin who spoke about “Going Green with Connected Automation.”
Dr. Omer C. Onar from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) shared recent research on “ORNL Development in Stationary and Dynamic Wireless Charging.”
In the commercialization session, Faical Turki of Vahle, Germany, presented “Wireless Inductive Battery Chargers,” and Professor Kazuyuki Ouchi from Tokyo University presented “Wind Challenger, the Next Generation Hybrid Vessels.”
In the technical session, presentations and discussions were performed on future ground vehicles and railroad technology, intelligent transportation systems and strategy, and policy on eco-friendly vehicle technology, including Professor In-Soo Suh of the Graduate School for Green Transportation at KAIST who presented on “Armadillo-T: 4WD Micro Electric EV with a Foldable Body Concept.”
On the second day of IFEV 2013, representatives of the European Union’s Safe and Green Road Vehicles (SAGE) consortium discussed connectivity in road transportation as a means of improving safety, efficiency and convenience in future safe and green vehicles with collaboration from Korean transportation organizations such as the Korea Transport Institute and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.
Professor Suh, who organized the forum, said, “This forum will serve as an excellent opportunity to discuss and share R&BD progress in the green transportation field. “Details can be found at http://gt.kaist.ac.kr/ifev2013/.
2013.11.15 View 11132 -
Kinetic Lighting, Dlight, Dominates World Renowned Design Awards
Professor Sang-Min Bae
“D’light,” a lamp that transforms its lampshade shape, developed by a team led by KAIST Department of Industrial Design’s Professor Sang-Min Bae, won Japan’s Good Design Awards on October the 2nd, soon after winning the internationally renowned 2013 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in August.
IDEA, sponsored by the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek, awards the best work from over 6,000 exhibits from 50 countries. Japan’s Good Design Awards, founded by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) in 1957, is the most prestigious and one of the World’s four major design awards.
“D’light” combines “donative” and “light.” Its meaning originates from the meaning of “delight” which means “giving great joy.” The shape and the brightness of the lamp can be transformed by turning the end of the heart-shaped lampshade. The team states that the lamp carries a figurative meaning of generous hearts lighting the neglected of the world by designing the lamp to be the brightest when it takes the shape of a heart. D’light developed as the 5th product of “the Nanum” project that started in 2006. Professor Bae first participated in the project in developing the 2nd product, “Cross Cube” in 2007. The he designed and launched the environmentally friendly humidifier “Lovepot” in 2008 and interactive tumbler “Hearty” in 2009.
The “Nanum” project aims to develop innovative products for charity to create a humane social circulatory system. The project, led by the international relief and development organisation, World Vision and KAIST’s ID+IM laboratory run by Professor Bae, donates all profits to educate the children of low-income families. The project raised a total of 1.7 billion Korean won from 2007 this year to provide scholarships to 240 children in need.
Professor Bae’s team has undertaken seed and “Nanum” projects with the theme of philanthropy design helping people in need by creating innovative designs. The project has produced four excellent and authentic products which received 44 world renowned design awards.
Professor Bae said, “’The Nanum’ project consists of planning, designing, producing and selling for charity and donates all profit to children in need through education and scholarship.” He continued, “The consumers can purchase products that are aesthetically pleasing and convenient as well as gaining an opportunity to donate to children in need.”
Figure1 Kinetic lighting D’light
Figure 2. Characteristics of “Nanum” D’light
The shape of the lampshade can be transformed. The lamp sheds the brightest light when it takes the shape of a heart, hence showing the figurative meaning of brightening the neglected parts of the world with generous hearts.
Figure 3. Detailed Images of D’light
2013.11.11 View 9031 -
The World Economic Forum Invites KAIST to 2014 Davos Forum
President Steve Kang and Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee have been invited by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to attend its annual meeting slated for January 22-25, 2014 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
The president will also join the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) to be held during the annual meeting. The GULF consists of leading research universities throughout the world, at which President Kang will address agenda related to higher education and research.
From September 11th to 13th, KAIST was invited to the WEF’s 2013 Summer Davos Forum held in Dalian, China. The Summer Davos Forum is recognized as a barometer of the world economy, and KAIST hosted three sessions there.
In a session titled “Smart Regulations,” Professor Sang Yup Lee hosted presentations and discussions under the topic of “How regulation models can strengthen technical innovation and expansion.” President Steve Kang, Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Group, Mark Weinberger, CEO of Ernest & Young, and Peter Terium, CEO of RWE, participated in the discussions.
The KAIST delegates also presented and participated in a session titled “From Trade Center to Innovative Hub” to discuss how to lead innovations in Asia, as well as “Marine Resources: Finding New Frontier” to address issues of how to develop and manage oceanic resources for potential growth.
President Kang said, “The World Economic Forum allows us to introduce the results of our innovative and creative research to global leaders and to demonstrate that our global position continues to grow.”
The WEF has been hosting Summer Davos Forum in China since 2007. About 1,500 participants from over 90 countries joined in this year’s summer forum under the theme of “Innovation: Inevitable Mainstream.” New strategies for innovations and solutions for global threats were suggested through presentations and discussions in 125 sessions.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent, international, and non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and government leaders to shape global, regional and industry agenda.
Among the meetings and forums organized by the WEF, its annual meeting held each January in Davos, a.k.a. the Davos Forum, has been the best known gathering. The Davos Forum brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and environment.
2013.11.07 View 10193 -
KAIST announced a novel technology to produce gasoline by a metabolically engineered microorganism
A major scientific breakthrough in the development of renewable energy sources and other important chemicals; The research team succeeded in producing 580 mg of gasoline per liter of cultured broth by converting in vivo generated fatty acids
For many decades, we have been relying on fossil resources to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and many industrial and consumer chemicals for daily use. However, increasing strains on natural resources as well as environmental issues including global warming have triggered a strong interest in developing sustainable ways to obtain fuels and chemicals.
Gasoline, the petroleum-derived product that is most widely used as a fuel for transportation, is a mixture of hydrocarbons, additives, and blending agents. The hydrocarbons, called alkanes, consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Gasoline has a combination of straight-chain and branched-chain alkanes (hydrocarbons) consisted of 4-12 carbon atoms linked by direct carbon-carbon bonds.
Previously, through metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli (E. coli), there have been a few research results on the production of long-chain alkanes, which consist of 13-17 carbon atoms, suitable for replacing diesel. However, there has been no report on the microbial production of short-chain alkanes, a possible substitute for gasoline.
In the paper (entitled "Microbial Production of Short-chain Alkanes") published online in Nature on September 29, a Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported, for the first time, the development of a novel strategy for microbial gasoline production through metabolic engineering of E. coli.
The research team engineered the fatty acid metabolism to provide the fatty acid derivatives that are shorter than normal intracellular fatty acid metabolites, and introduced a novel synthetic pathway for the biosynthesis of short-chain alkanes. This allowed the development of platform E. coli strain capable of producing gasoline for the first time. Furthermore, this platform strain, if desired, can be modified to produce other products such as short-chain fatty esters and short-chain fatty alcohols.
In this paper, the Korean researchers described detailed strategies for 1) screening of enzymes associated with the production of fatty acids, 2) engineering of enzymes and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways to concentrate carbon flux towards the short-chain fatty acid production, and 3) converting short-chain fatty acids to their corresponding alkanes (gasoline) by introducing a novel synthetic pathway and optimization of culture conditions. Furthermore, the research team showed the possibility of producing fatty esters and alcohols by introducing responsible enzymes into the same platform strain.
Professor Sang Yup Lee said, "It is only the beginning of the work towards sustainable production of gasoline. The titer is rather low due to the low metabolic flux towards the formation of short-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We are currently working on increasing the titer, yield and productivity of bio-gasoline. Nonetheless, we are pleased to report, for the first time, the production of gasoline through the metabolic engineering of E. coli, which we hope will serve as a basis for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable resources."
This research was supported by the Advanced Biomass Research and Development Center of Korea (ABC-2010-0029799) through the Global Frontier Research Program of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), Republic of Korea. Systems metabolic engineering work was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries (NRF-2012-C1AAA001-2012M1A2A2026556) by MSIP through NRF.
Short-Chain Alkanes Generated from Renewable Biomass
This diagram shows the metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of short-chain alkanes (gasoline) from renewable biomass.
Nature Cover Page (September 29th, 2013)
2013.11.04 View 10952 -
KAIST ranked 60th in the 2013 QS World University Rankings
KAST achieved the highest ranking in its history in the QS World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds.
The British company, which specializes in education, has ranked KAIST 60th in the world in its 2013 QS World University Rankings, as announced on its homepage on September 10th. KAIST was ranked 198th in 2006 and was promoted to 63rd in 2012.
This year, MIT was first, followed by Harvard in second, Cambridge in third, University College of London in fourth, and Imperial College in fifth.
Seoul National University, in 35th place, was ranked the highest among Korean universities. Six other Korean universities were included in the top 200, including KAIST, POSTECH which ranked 107th, Yonsei University in 114th place, Korea University in 145th, and Sungkyunkwan University in 162nd.
QS World University Rankings are assessed based on six different criteria: academic reputation (40%), citations per faculty (20%), student-to-faculty ratio (20%), employer reputation (10%), international student ratio (5%), and foreign faculty ratio (5%).
KAIST improved over 10 points from last year in the areas of employer reputation and citations per faculty.
“This has been accomplished through the challenging spirit and passion of the KAIST family including the students and the faculty. All possible support will be provided for them to excel in research and education”, said the president, Steve Kang.
KAIST also ranked sixth in the 2013 Chosun Daily Newspaper Asian University Rankings and first in the Chungang Daily Newspaper University Rankings for five years from 2008 to 2012.
2013.11.04 View 6076
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Collaboration with Korea Institute of Energy Research
KAIST and the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) agreed on September 4th to further collaboration on energy research such as the development of nano-based hybrid solar cells, bio-fuels, artificial photosynthesis, and carbon dioxide reduction.
The two institutions will select 11 research projects to focus on their cooperation. President Steve Kang (in the right) stood with Jooho Whang, the president of KIER (in the left), holding the signed memorandum of understanding.
2013.11.04 View 7299 -
KAIST's classes now available to take from all around the world
Signed a partnership agreement with Coursera to provide millions of people with online courses in science and technology.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a world-leading research university focusing on science, engineering and technology, joined a new, online platform for open access that serves the needs of Korean and global learners.
KAIST and Coursera, the world"s largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), agreed on October 14th, 2013 to partner for the provision of internet-based open learning, through which the university expects to reinforce its current education initiative, Education 3.0.Steve Kang, president of KAIST, was upbeat about the partnership."We know the benefits and importance of online education that will significantly impact the landscape of today"s higher education. Hopefully, our partnership with Coursera will expand our initiative to continuously provide quality education globally."
With its network of 107 prestigious partner universities and public institutions worldwide, Coursera offers 482 free online courses across a wide field of humanities, science, engineering, and business to 5 million students around the globe.
KAIST will be able to utilize top-notch online courses and lecture contents available on the company"s website. The university can also supply its online courses to the global community, allowing the faculty"s top quality lectures to reach hundreds and thousands of students and adult learners throughout the world.Incorporating advanced information and communications technology, KAIST has implemented a new, smart education program, Education 3.0, since 2012 to effectively meet the growing demands of creating a better and more interactive learning and teaching environment for students and faculty. Under Education 3.0, students study online and meet in groups with a professor for discussions and problem solving.
Tae-Eog Lee, Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching at KAIST, said:"We received a phenomenal response from students and professors to the courses made available under Education 3.0. For this year alone, we are offering 60 courses, such classes as calculus, general biology, basic programming, design and communication, bioengineering fundamentals, and logic and artificial intelligence."
Professor Lee added:"It has turned out that our education initiative is not only useful to our students but also quite popular among learners outside the university and Korea. It"s a great thing that KAIST can contribute to the world"s concerted efforts to provide equal opportunities for learning. At the same time, we look forward to seeing the benefits of MOOC-based content being used in our classrooms."
Founded in 2012 by two eminent Stanford University professors, Coursera has held a strong lead in MOOCs. Unlike the traditional online education model, open courseware (OCW), designed for simply sharing lecture materials including videos, slides, and data through the internet, MOOCs develop and evaluate courses, lecture contents, and delivery quality to meet high academic standards—In order to earn credits, subscribers (universities and students) are required to submit course registration, specification, and description; student attendance roster; homework and assignments; and assessment.
Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, commented on the partnership agreement with KAIST:"We are honored to have so many brilliant minds working together to expand educational opportunities globally. To be able to offer courses from professors at the forefront of their fields to millions of people is truly remarkable, and our students remind us daily of the value of spreading this knowledge globally."
Among the partner universities and institutions are Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the National University of Singapore, the University of Tokyo, the World Bank, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
President Steve Kang (in the left) singed a partnership agreement with Dr. Daphne Koller (in the right), president and CEO of Coursera.
2013.11.04 View 9233