Autologous Transplantation Tooth Guide Design Based on Deep Learning

Abstract

BackgroundAutogenous tooth transplantation requires precise surgical guide design, involving manual tracing of donor tooth contours based on patient CBCT scans. While manual corrections are time-consuming and prone to human errors, deep learning-based approaches show promise in reducing labor and time costs while minimizing errors. However, the application of deep learning techniques in this particular field is yet to be investigated. PurposeWe aimed to assess the feasibility of replacing the traditional design pipeline with a deep learning-enabled autologous tooth transplantation guide design pipeline. Study design, setting, sampleThis retrospective cross-sectional study used 79 CBCT images collected at the Guangzhou Medical University Hospital between October 2022 and March 2023. Following preprocessing, a total of 5,070 region of interest (ROI) images were extracted from 79 CBCT images. Predictor variableAutologous tooth transplantation guide design pipelines, either based on traditional manual design or deep learning-based Main outcome variableThe main outcome variable was the error between the reconstructed model and the gold standard benchmark. We used the third molar extracted clinically as the gold standard and leveraged it as the benchmark for evaluating our reconstructed models from different design pipelines. Both trueness and accuracy were used to evaluate this error. Trueness was assessed using the root mean square (RMS), and accuracy was measured using the standard deviation (SD). The secondary outcome variable was the pipeline efficiency, assessed based on the time cost. Time cost refers to the amount of time required to acquire the third molar model using the pipeline. AnalysesData were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. ResultsIn the surface matching comparison for different reconstructed models, the deep learning group achieved the lowest RMS value (0.335±0.066 mm). There were no significant differences in RMS values between manual design by a senior doctor and deep learning-based design (p=0.688), and the SD values did not differ among the three groups (p=0.103). The deep learning-based design pipeline (0.017±0.001 min) provided a faster assessment compared to the manual design pipeline by both senior (19.676±2.386 min) and junior doctors (30.613±6.571 min) (p<0.001). Conclusions and RelevanceThe deep learning-based automatic pipeline exhibited similar performance in surgical guide design for autogenous tooth transplantation compared to manual design by senior doctors, and it minimized time costs.