Background
Postsurgical evaluation of sinus floor elevation regularly involves linear measurements of the elevated volumes in the cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. The accuracy of measurements could be compromised due to ill‐defined sinus floor outline if implants are placed simultaneously.
Purpose
The aim was to examine a CBCT superimposition method to improve the measurement accuracy.
Materials and Methods
Twenty patients who received transalveolar sinus floor elevation with immediate implantation were enrolled. CBCTs before and after surgery were transformed into digital imaging and communications in medicine format and imported into the Dolphin Imaging software. Voxel‐based superimposition was automated to merge the files. In the superimposed image, parameters including alveolar bone height, protruded implant length, and total elevated height were measured. The superimposition and measurements were performed independently by two examiners and in two timepoints with 1‐week time interval. We used intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to analyze the interexaminer and intraexaminer agreements.
Results
Of measured parameters, the mean of difference between two timepoints ranged from 0.18 to 0.26 mm by examiner 1, and from 0.16 to 0.20 mm by examiner 2. ICCs were equal or greater than 0.98, indicating perfect intraexaminer agreement. For interexaminer reliability, the largest mean of difference was 0.27 mm in measuring alveolar bone height between two examiners. ICCs were greater than 0.98, showing perfect interexaminer agreement.
Conclusions
The voxel‐based superimposition of pre‐ and post‐surgical CBCT images with Dolphin Imaging is an effective and reliable way for linear measurements so as to assess the surgical outcome. There is minimal effect on reproducibility of measured data by different timepoints or performers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.