Comparative evaluation of the accuracy of linear measurements between cone beam computed tomography and 3D microtomography.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of artifacts on the accuracy of linear measurements estimated with a common cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) system used in dental clinical practice, by comparing it with microCT system as standard reference.


METHODS
Ten bovine bone cylindrical samples containing one implant each, able to provide both points of reference and image quality degradation, have been scanned by CBCT and microCT systems. Thanks to the software of the two systems, for each cylindrical sample, two diameters taken at different levels, by using implants different points as references, have been measured. Results have been analyzed by ANOVA and a significant statistically difference has been found.


CONCLUSIONS
Due to the obtained results, in this work it is possible to say that the measurements made with the two different instruments are still not statistically comparable, although in some samples were obtained similar performances and therefore not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
With the improvement of the hardware and software of CBCT systems, in the near future the two instruments will be able to provide similar performances.
Dipartimento di Scienze Odontostomatologiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.
Francesca
F
Mangione
Deborah
D
Meleo
Marco
M
Talocco
Raffaella
R
Pecci
Luciano
L
Pacifici
Rossella
R
Bedini
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019250:Dental Implants, Single-Tooth; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012984:Software; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*