A new microtomographic technique for non-invasive evaluation of the bone structure around implants.

A new X-ray microtomographic technique for non-invasive assessment of the structure of bone surrounding implants was tested. Three titanium microimplants retrieved directly (n = 2) or 6 months (n = 1) after insertion in 3 patients were used as test samples. Two samples were used dry and one was embedded in plastic resin prior to microtomography. The technique provided high-resolution consecutive cross-sectional X-ray images of the specimens with a slice-to-slice distance of 4.4 to 11.0 microns. The pictures could be imported into an image analysing software with which semiautomatic quantitative measurement of the bone area and three-dimensional images of the specimens could be made. It is suggested that the technique may be used for non-invasive assessment of the bone structure around implants. Further studies are needed to evaluate the accuracy of the technique, for instance by comparing tomographic sections with histologic ones.