Three-dimensional analysis of pharyngeal airway form in children with anteroposterior facial patterns.

Objective: To test the null hypothesis that the form and size of the pharyngeal airways in preadolescents do not differ among various skeletal patterns.

Materials And Methods: Sixty healthy children (mean age, 11.79 ± 1.

Pharyngeal airway volume and shape from cone-beam computed tomography: relationship to facial morphology.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the differences in airway shape and volume among subjects with various facial patterns.

Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography records of 62 nongrowing patients were used to evaluate the pharyngeal airway volume (superior and inferior compartments) and shape. This was done by using 3-dimensional virtual surface models to calculate airway volumes instead of estimates based on linear measurements.

Accuracy and landmark error calculation using cone-beam computed tomography-generated cephalograms.

Objective: To evaluate systematic differences in landmark position between cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-generated cephalograms and conventional digital cephalograms and to estimate how much variability should be taken into account when both modalities are used within the same longitudinal study.

Materials And Methods: Landmarks on homologous cone-beam computed tomographic-generated cephalograms and conventional digital cephalograms of 46 patients were digitized, registered, and compared via the Hotelling T(2) test.

Results: There were no systematic differences between modalities in the position of most landmarks.

Working with DICOM craniofacial images.

The increasing use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) requires changes in our diagnosis and treatment planning methods as well as additional training. The standard for digital computed tomography images is called digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM). In this article we discuss the following concepts: visualization of CBCT images in orthodontics, measurement in CBCT images, creation of 2-dimensional radiographs from DICOM files, segmentation engines and multimodal images, registration and superimposition of 3-dimensional (3D) images, special applications for quantitative analysis, and 3D surgical prediction.