Reliability of three-dimensional measurements of the upper airway on CBCT images

Publication date: Available online 23 April 2016
Source:Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology
Author(s): Hui Chen, Ghizlane Aarab, Azin Parsa, Jan de Lange, Paul F. van der Stelt, Frank Lobbezoo
Objectives(1) to assess intra- and inter-observer reliability of the localization of anatomical landmarks of the upper airway on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images; (2) and to assess intra- and inter-observer reliability of the three-dimensional measurements of the upper airway based on these landmarks.Study designFifteen NewTom 5G CBCT data sets were randomly selected from the archives of Department of Oral Radiology, Academic Centre for Dentistry (ACTA). Three observers localized six anatomical landmarks that are relevant for upper airway analysis twice with a 10-day interval using 3Diagnosys® software. Subsequently, the observers performed upper airway volume measurement based on those landmarks twice as well, again with a 10-day interval using Amira® software. The upper airway measurements also included the minimum cross-sectional area (CSAmin), location of the CSAmin, and anterior-posterior and lateral dimensions of the CSAmin.ResultsBoth intra- and inter-observer reliability were excellent for the localization of the anatomical landmarks of the upper airway (Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)=0.97-1.00) as well as for the three-dimensional upper airway measurements (ICC=0.78-1.00).ConclusionThe methodology of landmark localization and upper airway measurements used in this study shows an excellent reliability and can thus be recommended in the upper airway analysis on CBCT images.



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