Quantification of Metal Artefacts from Orthodontic Brackets in CT Images: A Modified Method

ABSTRACT

@#Any metallic object within the CT scanning field can produce metal artefacts, which will degrade the diagnostic image quality. Previous methods described for quantifying this kind of artefacts were complicated and difficult to reproduce. The purpose of this study was to introduce a new rapid method for quantifying the artefacts produced in craniofacial CT images. This is an in-vitro experimental study. Four different compositions of orthodontic brackets were bonded consecutively in the tooth surfaces of a cadaveric skull head. All scans were performed by a single operator using the same CT machine followed by a standard scanning protocol. Artefact intensity for all data sets was quantified by following a modified method with a freely available open-source software ImageJ. All datasets were duplicated where metal artefacts were quantified according to the previous conventional method. Statistical analysis included independent samples t-test for validation and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with a 95% confidence interval for both intra- and inter-examiner reliability. The modified method of measuring artefact score exhibited excellent intra (0.997–0.941) and inter-rater (0.996–0.905) reliability. In addition, no significant difference (p = 0.072) of mean artefact score was noted between the groups measured by the modified method and the conventional method. This modified method for measuring the artefact intensity is valid and reliable.