Accuracy And Reliability Of Condylar Three-dimensional Reconstruction Linear Measurements Obtained From Cone Beam CT And Multislice CT

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of condylar three-dimensional reconstruction linear measurements obtained from cone beam CT (CBCT) and multislice CT (MSCT)Materials and Methods10dry male mandibles aged form40-60years old were selected. The mandibles were scanned with NewTom3G CBCT(Quantitative Radiology, Verona. Italy) and Light Speedl6MSCT(General Electric, America). Mimics10.01software was used for three-dimensional reconstruction and measurements on imaging data. Twelve interlandmark linear measurements were made directly on the condyle and compared with the same measurements made on the CBCT scans and MSCT scans. All measurements were made by2operators on3separate occasions. The CT measurements were established as the mean of the6measurements. Anatomic truth was established with6direct caliper measurements. Analysis of the data was conducted by using SPSS13.0statistical software. The consistency among the three measurements was analyzed by paired t test. A P value of P≤0.05was used to assign statistical significance. The accuracy of these measurements was expressed by means of the absolute error (MAE) and absolute percentage error (APE).As a measure of reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for absolute agreement based on a2-way random-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated among the3measurement methods.Results1.No significant statistical differences among the three measurement methods(P>0.05). Linear measurements of condylar three-dimensional reconstruction obtained from CBCT were consistent with MSCT.2. No significant statistical differences between the measurement accuracy of CBCT and MSCT.MAE was0.27mm (±0.19mm) for the CBCT device and0.20mm (±0.17mm) for the MSCT device. APE was0.98%(±0.73%) and1.26%(±1.50%), respectively.3. The ICC of the measurements of the images of CBCT and MSCT were all more than0.9. The reliability of condylar three-dimensional reconstruction linear measurements obtained from cone beam CT and multislice CT was good.ConclusionMSCT scans proved slightly more accurate in linear measurement. The accuracy and the reliability of CBCT were good. CBCT device can be used in condylar clinical examination instead of MSCT device.