TY - JOUR
T1 - DIMITRA paediatric skull phantoms
T2 - Development of age-specific paediatric models for dentomaxillofacial radiology research
AU - Oenning, Anne Caroline
AU - Salmon, Benjamin
AU - De Faria Vasconcelos, Karla
AU - Nicolielo, Laura Ferreira Pinheiro
AU - Lambrichts, Ivo
AU - Sanderink, Gerard
AU - Pauwels, Ruben
AU - Jacobs, Reinhilde
AU - DIMITRA Group
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors. Published by the British Institute of Radiology.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Objectives: This report aims to describe the development of age-specific phantoms for use in paediatric dentomaxillofacial radiology research. These phantoms are denoted DIMITRA paediatric skull phantoms as these have been primarily developed and validated for the DIMITRA European research project (Dentomaxillofacial paediatric imaging: an investigation towards low-dose radiation induced risks). Methods: To create the DIMITRA paediatric phantoms, six human paediatric skulls with estimated ages ranging between 4 and 10 years- old were selected, protected with nonradiopaque tape and immersed in melted Mix-D soft tissue equivalent material, by means of a careful procedure (layer-by-layer). Mandibles were immersed separately and a Mix-D tongue model was also created. For validation purposes, the resulting paediatric phantoms were scanned using a cone-beam CT unit with different exposure parameter settings. Results: Preliminary images deriving from all scans were evaluated by two dentomaxillofacial radiologists, to check for air bubbles, artefacts and inhomogeneities of the Mix-D and a potential effect on the visualization of the jaw bone. Only skulls presenting perfect alignment of Mix-D surrounding the bone surfaces with adequate and realistic soft tissue thickness density were accepted. Conclusions: The DIMITRA anthropomorphic phantoms can yield clinically equivalent images for optimization studies in dentomaxillofacial research. In addition, the layer-by-layer technique proved to be practical and reproducible, as long as recommendations are carefully followed.
AB - Objectives: This report aims to describe the development of age-specific phantoms for use in paediatric dentomaxillofacial radiology research. These phantoms are denoted DIMITRA paediatric skull phantoms as these have been primarily developed and validated for the DIMITRA European research project (Dentomaxillofacial paediatric imaging: an investigation towards low-dose radiation induced risks). Methods: To create the DIMITRA paediatric phantoms, six human paediatric skulls with estimated ages ranging between 4 and 10 years- old were selected, protected with nonradiopaque tape and immersed in melted Mix-D soft tissue equivalent material, by means of a careful procedure (layer-by-layer). Mandibles were immersed separately and a Mix-D tongue model was also created. For validation purposes, the resulting paediatric phantoms were scanned using a cone-beam CT unit with different exposure parameter settings. Results: Preliminary images deriving from all scans were evaluated by two dentomaxillofacial radiologists, to check for air bubbles, artefacts and inhomogeneities of the Mix-D and a potential effect on the visualization of the jaw bone. Only skulls presenting perfect alignment of Mix-D surrounding the bone surfaces with adequate and realistic soft tissue thickness density were accepted. Conclusions: The DIMITRA anthropomorphic phantoms can yield clinically equivalent images for optimization studies in dentomaxillofacial research. In addition, the layer-by-layer technique proved to be practical and reproducible, as long as recommendations are carefully followed.
KW - Cone-beam computed tomography
KW - Imaging phantoms
KW - Paediatric dentistry
KW - Radiation protection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042592413&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1259/dmfr.20170285
DO - 10.1259/dmfr.20170285
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 29161909
AN - SCOPUS:85042592413
SN - 0250-832X
VL - 47
JO - Dentomaxillofacial Radiology
JF - Dentomaxillofacial Radiology
IS - 3
M1 - 20170285
ER -