A Comparative Study of Cephalometric Measurements with Digital versus Manual Methods

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of measurements obtained with a digital cephalometric software program. Materials and methods: Digital photographs of 32 cephalograms were imported into the Nemotec digital imaging software. Digital measurements of 41 hard and soft tissue variables generated by the software were compared to those obtained by manual tracings. Reproducibility for each method was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient by repeating measurements of all radiographs at an interval of 3 months. A paired t-test was used to detect differences between the manual and digital methods. Results: Both the methods demonstrated a high correlation (r > 0.7) between the first and second measurements indicating good reproducibility. SN-Occ, anterior cranial base length, posterior cranial base length, nasolabial angle, facial height and lower lip length showed clinically significant differences between the measurements obtained from digital and manual methods. Conclusion: Digital measurements obtained with the Nemotec digital imaging software using digital photographs of analog cephalograms were found to be reproducible and comparable to the manual method for most of the variables used in clinical practice except a few which could not be measured accurately with the digital method.

Comparative evaluation of cephalometric measurements of monitor-displayed images by Nemoceph software and its hard copy by manual tracing

“…In the present study, the significant differences found for both Upper and lower lip length (ULL and LLL) supports the findings of Agarwal et al, 18 while contrary to this, Celik et al 6 did not find any significant difference between the two techniques for upper lip length (ULL). The present study showed significant difference for the lower lip protrusion (LLP) between the two techniques, this is corroborated by the findings of Cooke and Wei 23 that lip prominence points are poor landmarks to identify.…”

“…The results of the study showed that the linear measurements i. Gregston et al, 20 Ozsoy et al 12 Contrary to the findings of present study, Uysal et al, 11 Celik et al 6 and Agarwal et al 18 showed significant difference only for U1 to NA, but did not find significant difference for L1 to NB.…”

“…The angular measurements, Mandibular plane angle (MP), Occlusal plane angle (OP), Saddle angle (SA), Articular angle (AA), Gonial angle (GA) and Facial angle (FA) showed statistically significant differences in the digital and manual methods. Naini et al 24 and Santoro et al 18 found significant difference for mandibular plane angle (MP) while contrary to this, Uysal et al, 11 Celik et al 6 and Singh et al 19 found no Amongst all the angular measurements that showed statistically significant difference between the manual and digital technique, all were clinically acceptable except SN-OP angle as per the criteria 8,9 quoted previously. The SN-occlusal plane measurements were affected by the double images of the occlusal surfaces of the teeth, interfering with easy identification of the occlusal plane.…”

Cephalometric Norms for Gujarati Children - A Cross Sectional Study

“…They also require lower levels of radiation. 39,40 Hence, digital lateral cephalographs were chosen over manual ones for this study.…”

Evaluation of Soft Tissue Landmark Reliability between Manual and Computerized Plotting Methods

“…According to Agarwal et al, 9 very few studies in the literature have been evaluated on soft tissue measurements due to the uncertainty in identifying soft tissue landmarks. Soft tissue cephalometric analysis is gaining popularity, as the orthodontists have understood the importance of soft tissues and their influence on diagnosis and treatment planning.…”