title: Dry skull positioning device for extra-oral radiology and cone-beam CT.
abstract: Extra-oral radiographs of dry skulls on scientific or forensic context have head position as a critical procedure. The aims of this article are to present a multi-purposed head-positioning device, and to describe the new method of image acquirement using the device to adequately keep the head in a correct and safe position during radiological or tomographic exam. The design was created from an average-sized skull and then tested in 20 others with different morphologies, sizes, weights, and structural state of preservation. A series of digital and analog orthopantomographies followed by a cone-beam computer tomography were obtained to assure that the correct positioning standards and anatomical visualization were achievable. The developed device properly kept adult skulls in position for all extra-oral radiographic exams, providing to operators a secure and facilitated way to achieve the proper position standards. The device did not impair the visualization of the anatomical structures neither on radiographs nor in cone-beam computer tomography.
authors.affiliation: Anthropology and Forensic Odontology Laboratory, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, tbeaini@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thiago Leite
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Beaini
authors.forename: Paulo Eduardo Miamoto
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Rodolfo Francisco Haltenhoff
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Melani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D002508:Cephalometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D056888:Patient Positioning / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*