Development of a cone beam CT-based surgical planning technique with standardised and accurate jaw bone quantification at a low radiation dose.

Cone beam CT (CBCT) for dentomaxillofacial imaging is a technique for three-dimensional imaging at lower radiation dose levels than conventional spiral CT. However, due to its characteristic beam, there are higher levels of noise and it is not possible to use Hounsfield Units, the measurement unit for jaw bone quality currently determined on conventional CT slices. It is crucial to develop a reliable CBCT based bone quantification tool. Applications of such tool could be the detection of generalised bone disease, outlining of pathologic bone regions or detecting local bone infections at surgical sites. Prior to this, the highest image quality should be obtained, using the lowest possible radiation dose, in a way that the most suitable protocol can be performed in practice, based on scientific evidence. Given the rationale of this project, the main aims were described as: a) The development of a Monte Carlo framework and test objects to allow optimisation of CBCT image quality and radiation dose and b) The development of CBCT-based quantification tools for clinical jaw bone quality assessment.

Keywords:Cone beam CT

Disciplines:Laboratory medicine, Palliative care and end-of-life care, Regenerative medicine, Other basic sciences, Other health sciences, Nursing, Other paramedical sciences, Other translational sciences, Other medical and health sciences