ACCURACY OF HIGH-FREQUENCY ULTRASOUND SCANNER IN DETECTING PERI-IMPLANT BONE DEFECTS

The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of high-frequency ultrasound (US) in the measurement of peel-implant bone defects in comparison with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and micro-computed tomography (mu CT). Bone defects were mechanically created around dental implants inserted into porcine ribs (n = 10). The bone samples were scanned by CBCT, mu CT and US. Linear dimensions of the peri-implant defects were determined for supra-alveolar component, intra-bony component and width. The accuracy of measurements was evaluated with repeated-measures analysis of variance and the intra-class correlation coefficient at p <= 0.05. US underestimated the measurements for the supra-alveolar and intra-bony components in comparison to CBCT and mu CT, and there were no statistically significant differences in the measurements of width. The intra-class correlation coefficient of US ranged from 0.96 to 0.98, whereas that for CBCT ranged from 0.77 to 0.97. US was accurate in measuring the width of peri-implant defects, although vertical measurements were underestimated by approximately 1 mm in comparison to those of CBCT and mu CT. (C) 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.