Formulation of a reference coordinate system of three-dimensional head and neck images: Part II. Reproducibility of the horizontal reference plane and midsagittal plane / 대한치과교정학회지

This study was performed to investigate the reproducibility of the horizontal and midsagittal planes, and to suggest a stable coordinate system for three-dimensional (3D) cephalometric analysis. Eighteen CT scans were taken and the coordinate system was established using 7 reference points marked by a volume model, with no more than 4 points on the same plane. The 3D landmarks were selected on V works (Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea), then exported to V surgery (Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea) to calculate the coordinate values. All the landmarks were taken twice with a lapse of 2 weeks. The horizontal and midsagittal planes were constructed and its reproducibility was evaluated. There was no significant difference in the reproducibility of the horizontal reference planes. But, FH planes were more reproducible than other horizontal planes. FH planes showed no difference between the planes constructed with 3 out of 4 points. The angle of intersection made by 2 FH planes, composed of both Po and one Or showed less than 1 degrees difference. This was identical when 2 FH planes were composed of both Or and one Po. But, the latter cases showed a significantly smaller error. The reproducibility of the midsagittal plane was reliable with an error range of 0.61 to 1.93 degrees except for 5 establishments (FMS-Nc, Na-Rh, Na-ANS, Rh-ANS, and FR-PNS). The 3D coordinate system may be constructed with 3 planes; the horizontal plane constructed by both Po and right Or; the midsagittal plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane, including the midpoint of the Foramen Spinosum and Nc; and the coronal plane perpendicular to the horizontal and midsagittal planes, including point clinoidale, or sella, or PNS.

Formulation of a reference coordinate system of three-dimensional (3D) head and neck images: Part I. Reproducibility of 3D cephalometric landmarks / 대한치과교정학회지

The purpose of this study was to redefine the cephalometric landmarks in three-dimensional (3D) images, which are used in orthodontic cephalometric radiography, and to evaluate the reproducibility of each landmark for 3D cephalometric analysis. Eighteen CT scans were taken at the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Seoul National University Dental Hospital and manipulated with V works 4.0 (Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea). The coordinate system was established using 7 reference points, with no more than 4 points on the same plane. These 7 points were generated as a volume model, the voxel size of which was 4 by 4 by 2 (threshold value = 639). The cephalometric landmarks were selected at the multiplanar reformation (MPR) window on the volume mode of V works 4.0. The selected landmarks were exported to V surgery (Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea) for the calculation of coordinate values. All the data were taken twice with a lapse of 2 weeks by one investigator. The reproducibility of each landmark was 0.17 ~ 1.21 mm in the x axis, 0.30 ~ 1.53 mm in the y axis, and 0.27 ~ 1.81 mm in the z axis. In all three axes, the range of error was similar. These error ranges were acceptable with regards to the pixel space and slice thickness. The most reproducible points were I points which were selected on the basis of the volume model. The least reproducible points were J points that were defined by sutures.