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Published on: January 8, 2019
Measuring the airway in 3 dimensions: a reliability and accuracy study
1Department of Orthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Summary
Three digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) viewers showed high reliability for measuring upper airway volumes but poor accuracy, indicating systematic errors in calculations.
Area of Science:
- Radiology and Medical Imaging
- Dental Imaging Analysis
Background:
- Accurate measurement of upper airway volumes is crucial in diagnosing conditions like sleep apnea.
- Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) viewers are commonly used for medical image analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the reliability and accuracy of three commercial DICOM viewers for upper airway volume measurements.
- To assess the performance of Dolphin3D, InVivoDental, and OnDemand3D against a manual segmentation program (OrthoSegment).
Main Methods:
- Thirty cone-beam computed tomography scans were analyzed for oropharynx and nasal passage volumes.
- Measurements were repeated after two weeks, with reliability assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC).
- Regression analysis and Pearson correlation were used to compare commercial viewers with the OrthoSegment program.
Main Results:
- All tested DICOM viewers demonstrated high reliability in volume measurements.
- Dolphin3D and InVivoDental showed the highest correlation with OrthoSegment for oropharynx and nasal passage, respectively.
- Despite high correlation, statistically significant differences and inconsistencies were observed compared to manual segmentation, indicating poor accuracy.
Conclusions:
- Commercial DICOM viewers offer high reliability for upper airway volume calculations.
- Systematic errors lead to poor accuracy in volume measurements by these viewers.
- Further refinement of automated segmentation algorithms in DICOM viewers is needed for clinical applications.
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