Computer-aided system for morphometric mandibular index computation. (Using dental panoramic radiographs).
OBJECTIVE
We propose and validate a computer-aided system to measure three different mandibular indexes: cortical width, panoramic mandibular index and, mandibular alveolar bone resorption index.


METHODS
Repeatability and reproducibility of the measurements are analyzed and compared to the manual estimation of the same indexes.


RESULTS
The proposed computerized system exhibits superior repeatability and reproducibility rates compared to standard manual methods. Moreover, the time required to perform the measurements using the proposed method is negligible compared to perform the measurements manually.


CONCLUSIONS
We have proposed a very user friendly computerized method to measure three different morphometric mandibular indexes. From the results we can conclude that the system provides a practical manner to perform these measurements. It does not require an expert examiner and does not take more than 16 seconds per analysis. Thus, it may be suitable to diagnose osteoporosis using dental panoramic radiographs.
School of Dentistry, Department of Odonto-stomatology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 18575jll@gmail.com
Jose
J
López-López
Jose-Manuel
JM
Alvarez-López
Enrique
E
Jané-Salas
Albert
A
Estrugo-Devesa
Raul
R
Ayuso-Montero
Eugenio
E
Velasco-Ortega
Juan-Jose
JJ
Segura-Egea
D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic