Expression of beam hardening artifacts on horizontally stitched cone-beam computed tomography images
- Author:
Juliana B Melo da FONTE
1
;
Rocharles Cavalcante FONTENELE
;
Deborah Queiroz FREITAS
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Articles
- From:Imaging Science in Dentistry 2024;54(4):327-335
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Purpose:This study was performed to evaluate the expression of beam hardening artifacts generated by high atomic number materials in stitched cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images, compared to the traditional acquisition mode.
Materials and Methods:CBCT volumes were acquired using an acrylic resin phantom embedded with pairs of cylinders made from amalgam dental alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, gutta-percha, titanium, and zirconium.These cylinders were placed within the overlapping zones of the stitching reconstruction area. For each material, 3 acquisitions were conducted: 1 utilizing the automatic stitching process with a FOV of 80 × 37 mm, and 2 with smaller FOVs of 50 × 37 mm. For the smaller FOVs, 1 scan targeted the anterior region, while the other focused on the left posterior region. Thus, 3 groups were formed: stitched FOV, anterior FOV, and posterior FOV. Artifact expression was assessed by calculating the means and standard deviations (SDs) of the gray values in 4 regions of interest located anteriorly, posteriorly, medially, and laterally to the cylinders. Analysis of variance was used to compare the data, with an alpha level of 5%.
Results:The stitched FOV exhibited lower SD values than the posterior and anterior FOVs (P<0.05). Regarding the materials evaluated, amalgam, cobalt-chromium, and zirconium generally demonstrated higher SDs of the gray values than gutta-percha and titanium (P<0.05).
Conclusion:Horizontally stitched CBCT images demonstrated lower artifact expression compared to the traditional mode of acquisition.
