Hugo Gaêta-Araujo1, Eduarda H L Nascimento2, Nicolly Oliveira-Santos2, Polyane M Queiroz2, Matheus L Oliveira2, Deborah Q Freitas2, Christiano Oliveira-Santos3. 1. Department of Oral Diagnosis, Division of Oral Radiology, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Av. Limeira, 901, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, 13414-903, Brazil. hugogaeta@hotmail.com. 2. Department of Oral Diagnosis, Division of Oral Radiology, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Av. Limeira, 901, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, 13414-903, Brazil. 3. Department of Stomatology, Public Oral Health and Forensic Dentistry, Division of Oral Radiology, School of Dentistry of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Av. do Cafe, s/n, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, 14040-904, Brazil.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of enhancement tools of intraoral digital radiographs on the assessment of vertical root fracture (VRF) and to quantify the resultant image noise. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty single-rooted human teeth (15 control and 15 fractured) were each radiographed in four intracanal conditions: no filling, gutta-percha, metal post, and fiberglass post, totaling 120 original images. Two filters were applied to the original images-Sharpen filter (SF) and Edge Enhancement filter (EE), and brightness and contrast were adjusted in four combinations (B&C1 to 4), resulting in 840 images. Five oral radiologists analyzed the images for VRF detection. Pixel intensity was obtained in two regions from the radiographs. Diagnostic values were calculated and compared by two-way ANOVA, and the SD values of pixel intensity values were compared by one-way ANOVA (α = 0.05). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in accuracy for VRF detection between the experimental groups (p > 0.05). Teeth with metal post presented the lowest sensitivity (p < 0.05) for all experimental conditions, except for SF and EE (p > 0.05). B&C2, B&C3, and B&C4 had higher specificity than SF (p ≤ 0.05) for all intracanal conditions. Analysis of pixel intensity showed that all enhanced images presented statistically significant higher noise compared to those of the original images (p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Digital enhancement tools in digital radiography increase image noise; however, they can be used without compromising VRF detection. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The use of digital enhancement does not impair the detection of VRF and, therefore, can be applied for this purpose according to the observer preference.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of enhancement tools of intraoral digital radiographs on the assessment of vertical root fracture (VRF) and to quantify the resultant image noise. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty single-rooted human teeth (15 control and 15 fractured) were each radiographed in four intracanal conditions: no filling, gutta-percha, metal post, and fiberglass post, totaling 120 original images. Two filters were applied to the original images-Sharpen filter (SF) and Edge Enhancement filter (EE), and brightness and contrast were adjusted in four combinations (B&C1 to 4), resulting in 840 images. Five oral radiologists analyzed the images for VRF detection. Pixel intensity was obtained in two regions from the radiographs. Diagnostic values were calculated and compared by two-way ANOVA, and the SD values of pixel intensity values were compared by one-way ANOVA (α = 0.05). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in accuracy for VRF detection between the experimental groups (p > 0.05). Teeth with metal post presented the lowest sensitivity (p < 0.05) for all experimental conditions, except for SF and EE (p > 0.05). B&C2, B&C3, and B&C4 had higher specificity than SF (p ≤ 0.05) for all intracanal conditions. Analysis of pixel intensity showed that all enhanced images presented statistically significant higher noise compared to those of the original images (p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Digital enhancement tools in digital radiography increase image noise; however, they can be used without compromising VRF detection. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The use of digital enhancement does not impair the detection of VRF and, therefore, can be applied for this purpose according to the observer preference.
Entities:
Keywords:
Digital radiography; Image processing; Radiographic image enhancement; Root fracture
Authors: I M Makeeva; S F Byakova; N E Novozhilova; E K Adzhieva; G I Golubeva; V I Grachev; I V Kasatkina Journal: Int Endod J Date: 2015-10-06 Impact factor: 5.264