title: Evaluation of voxel values in mandibular cancellous bone: relationship between cone-beam computed tomography and multislice helical computed tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Measurements of bone density in designed sites are important in presurgical imaging for dental implant treatment. However, the pixel or voxel values obtained from cone-beam computed tomography (CT) images are not absolute values. Hence, the relationship between voxel values obtained from cone-beam CT with a limited-volume exposure field and a flat panel detector and bone mineral densities (BMDs) obtained from multislice CT was evaluated in the mandible.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 16 (four males and 12 females) patients who had undergone imaging for mandibular dental implant treatment using cone-beam CT with Alphard VEGA and multislice CT were enrolled in this investigation. Cross-sectional images of cone-beam and multislice CT were reconstructed, and values of regions of interest (ROIs) in images were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A high-level correlation between voxel values of cone-beam CT and BMDs of multislice CT was observed (r=0.965).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was suggested that voxel values of mandibular cancellous bone in cone-beam CT could be used to estimate bone density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin University, 2-11 Suemori-Dori, Chikusa-Ku, Nagoya 464-8651, Japan. mune@dpc.aichi-gakuin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Munetaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naitoh
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirukawa
authors.forename: Akitoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsumata
authors.forename: Eiichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ariji
mesh_terms: D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000295:instrumentation; D015519:Bone Density; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; D003720:Densitometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital / Q000295:instrumentation; D012016:Reference Values; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed