Reduction of the negative influence of patient motion on quality of CBCT scan

The role of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in imaging of the oral and maxillofacial region is well known and its indications and possibilities are still increasing. More sophisticated technologies are being developed each year, mainly providing higher resolution, bigger field of view, faster scanning and better scatter reduction. One of the major problems remaining to be solved is the unwanted movement of the patient during the scanning procedure. All hardware solutions that have been developed to fix the patient's head in a steady position have their limits. For example, they cannot eliminate small movements caused by breathing, heartbeat, and swallowing. We have developed a simple method to improve these CBCT images. The movement of the scanned object is monitored with marks attached to it. These marks are identified on every 2D image captured during the scanning procedure and used to unify the position of these 2D images. The final 3D reconstruction produces a sharper 3D data set with higher resolution and reduced blur. In conclusion, this simple method has the potential to improve the quality of CBCT scans. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.