Visualization of x-ray microtomography data for a human tooth atlas

Allen Seifert; Michael J. Flynn; Kevin Montgomery; Paul Brown

doi:10.1117/12.536963

5 May 2004 Visualization of x-ray microtomography data for a human tooth atlas

Allen Seifert, Michael J. Flynn, Kevin Montgomery, Paul Brown

Proceedings Volume 5367, Medical Imaging 2004: Visualization, Image-Guided Procedures, and Display; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.536963
Event: Medical Imaging 2004, 2004, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Three-dimensional x-ray microtomography is used in this work to assess the internal morphology and mineral density of human tooth specimens. Of particular interest is the demonstration of the character of the distal root canal morphology, which can be as small as 10 microns. Human teeth are individually embedded in a low atomic number material. Each tooth is then identically scanned on an advanced design bench-top cone-beam microtomography system under controlled conditions. The specimens are scanned using an 80 kVp technique and a CsI(Tl) scintillator mounted via a taper to a thermoelectrically cooled CCD camera with an overall nominal pixel size of 15 microns at the plane of the specimen. Scanning a ruby sphere phantom independently assessed the resolution of the system. The full width at half-maximum of the plane spread function is nominally 53 microns in the axial direction and 60 microns in the transverse plane. The visualization of the x-ray data consists of several complimentary techniques, including a three-dimensional stack of the reconstructed tomogram slices with 30 micron reconstruction voxel, a 360 degree rotating view of the tooth comprised from a sequence of projection images processed for detail contrast enhancement and edge restoration, and a surface model of each tooth. In total, 237 human teeth representing multiple samples of each of the varied tooth types have been individually scanned, analyzed, and visualized to date. The set of tooth data is being compiled into a comprehensive human tooth atlas, which is to be made available on CD for students and investigators as a resource for anyone studying tooth morphology and mineralization.

Citation Download Citation

Allen Seifert, Michael J. Flynn, Kevin Montgomery, and Paul Brown "Visualization of x-ray microtomography data for a human tooth atlas", Proc. SPIE 5367, Medical Imaging 2004: Visualization, Image-Guided Procedures, and Display, (5 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.536963

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available