Design, evaluation, and use of a portable cephalometric cephalostat: the Porta-Stat (an X-ray subsystem)

A portable and light-weight cephalostat (Porta-Stat) is described. Device design, clinical use, and evaluation to verify accuracy are presented. The basic design uses a mainframe to which the image receptor, head, and X-ray source are referenced for standardization of image and magnification distortion in cephalometric radiographs. In a test to verify the accuracy of image reproducibility, no statistically significant difference was found from a fixed cephalostat system. The Porta-Stat cephalostat has verified accuracy essentially equivalent to traditional cephalometric radiography. Anecdotal case presentations show the usefulness of the Porta-Stat in the dental office, hospital radiology department, and operating room for case documentation, growth monitoring, treatment effect, and clinical research purposes. The device has proved to be useful in the management of TMJ syndrome, orthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, neurosurgery, and craniofacial growth monitoring.