New software to automatically outline bones in OPG

The shape of the mandibular condyle changes in various disease conditions and varies from disease to disease. Among the various radiographic methods the most commonly used to screen the temporomandibular joint is panoramic radiograph. Detecting bone contour from radiograph plays an important role in disease diagnosis, preoperative planning and treatment analysis. At present the method available to predict the condylar shape in OPG is manual analysis without specific parameters. In addition, concerns persist about intra-observer and inter-observer reliability in evaluating condylar morphology using panoramic radiography. We have developed unique software to map the condylar morphology automatically thereby reducing the time and resources for the benefit of the patient and also to give accurate diagnosis every time.

Total of 100 orthopantamograms (200 sides) were chosen for the study. We present a fully automatic method using BoneFinder software to accurately detect the contour of mandibular condyle in panoramic radiographs.