IADR Abstract Archives

Comparison of Micro-CT and CBCT in Determining Tissue Mineral Distribution

Objectives: Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) has been widely used to assess the tissue mineral density (TMD) at the micro level of bone. However, clinical application of the micro-CT has been limited due to its high radiation dose. Alternatively, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been used for clinical practice providing images using low radiation dose. The objective of this study was to examine whether regional variations of TMD measured by high resolution micro-CT are comparable with those measured by low resolution CBCT for mandibles.

Methods: Mandible sections of individual human cadavers (1 male and 7 females, 86±12 yrs, n=8) were scanned with micro-CT at 27.22 micron voxel-size and with CBCT at 200 micron voxel-size. The micro-CT and CBCT images of each section were manipulated to isolate alveolar bone (AB) within 1 mm of root surface and control bone (CB) 0.6 mm from mandibular bone borders to isolate AB and CB. A heuristic algorithm technique was used to determine TMD histograms of AB and CB from both micro-CT and CBCT images. Using the histograms, mean, standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (COV=SD/mean) of TMD in AB and CB were obtained. Paired t-tests were used to compare the TMD parameters between AB and CB in the intra- and inter-CT groups.

Results: Mean of TMD was lower but SD and COV were higher in AB than CB for the micro-CT image group (p<0.003). All of the TMD parameters obtained using the CBCT images showed the same significant regional variations (p<0.001) as those using the micro-CT images.

Conclusions: Higher TMD variability (SD and COV) in the AB region indicated that more AB remodeling was stimulated by masticatory load applying on teeth. The current results suggest that the lower resolution images from clinical CBCT can provide TMD information comparable with the higher resolution images from micro-CT.


IADR/AADR/CADR General Session
2011 IADR/AADR/CADR General Session (San Diego, California)
San Diego, California
2011
166
Diagnostic Sciences
  • Gans, Stephanie Iris  ( Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA )
  • Taylor, Thomas T.  ( Ohio State University, Greensburg, PA, USA )
  • Tee, Boon Ching  ( Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA )
  • Kim, Nari  ( Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA )
  • Brent, Joi  ( Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA )
  • Kim, Do-gyoon  ( Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA )
    • Oral Session
    Computed Tomography
    03/16/2011