A novel image processing and measurement system applied to quantitative analysis of simulated tooth root canal shape

Dental pulp is located in root canal of tooth. To modern root canal therapy, "Root canal preparation" is the main means to debride dental pulp infection. The shape of root canal will be changed after preparation, so, when assessing the preparation instruments and techniques, the root canal shaping ability especially the apical offset is very important factor. In this paper, a novel digital image processing and measurement system is designed and applied to quantitative analysis of simulated canal shape. By image pretreatment, feature extraction, registration and fusion, the variation of the root canals' characteristics (before and after preparation) can be accurately compared and measured, so as to assess the shaping ability of instruments. When the scanning resolution is 1200dpi or higher, the registration and measurement precision of the system can achieve 0.021mm or higher. The performance of the system is tested by a series of simulated root canals and stainless steel K-files.

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