Computer-Aided Implant Dentistry - An Early Report

Computer-aided implant dentistry (CAID), the direct translation of preoperative prosthetic planning to the operating theater by means of image guidance technologies, is a novel application of computer aided surgery (CAS). This work deals with the application of a modular software system for computer-aided interventions to CAID. The system is based on AVW-2.5, a software library dedicated to biomedical image processing, and a custom interface for communication with an optical tracker. A specific CAID toolset was also manufactured. We assessed the performance of two different point-based registration algorithms for this specific application of computer-aided preprosthetic surgery on several jaw models. The fiducial localization error (FLE) achievable with our system was found to be 0.7 mm, the fiducial registration error (FRE) accounted for 0.7 mm, and the target registration error TRE (the overall navigation accuracy) was found to be 1.3 mm. Since these results compare well to the resolution of the high-resolution computed tomography scan used we consider the precision of our system to be sufficient. Future enhancements of our system include the implementation of a medical augmented reality display system and the customization of the software package for exploration of other clinical applications of CAS.