Mandibular cortical width measurement based on dental panoramic radiographs with computer-aided system

Abstract

The paper presents a method of the determining a mandibular cortical width on dental panoramic radiographs. Cortical width of lower border of mandible may potentially be associated with recognition of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. An algorithm to perform a semiautomatic cortical width measurement in a given region of interest was developed. The algorithm is based on separate extraction of lower and upper boundaries of cortical bone. Results of boundaries extraction performed on 34 panoramic radiographs of healthy and osteoporotic individuals are presented, together with automatic measurements of particular distances. They were compared with results of hand-made measurements done by two maxillofacial radiologists. Presented algorithm may potentially be useful for screening patients with osteoporosis.