M2 Technologies LLC — Department of Health and Human Services STTR Phase I: NIDCR

Description

Project summary Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a commonly used 3D x-ray imaging modality in dental and craniofacial imaging. While CBCT is primarily employed in evaluating bony anatomy in 3D, soft tissues are often poorly visualized in dental CBCT images. Moreover, tissue densities cannot be extracted accurately from CBCT images. The main culprit behind this problem is scattered radiation. Scattered x-rays emanating from the patient are registered by the x-ray sensor, severely degrading the fidelity of image signals. Thus, in this project, we propose a novel two-dimensional antiscatter grid (2D grid) to substantially improve the dental CBCT image quality. Our proposed 2D grid will attenuate scattered x-rays effectively, while transmitting primary, or useful, x-rays to the image sensor. Once successfully implemented, our 2D grid will provide significantly improved soft tissue visualization, accurate bone density measurement, and will reduce image artifacts. Alternatively, our 2D grid can reduce imaging radiation dose while providing comparable contrast-to- noise ratio with respect to current dental CBCT images. To implement our proposed 2D grid technology, (1) we will investigate the optimal physical characteristics of 2D grids to achieve effective scatter suppression and high primary transmission. (2) We will evaluate the improvement in CBCT image quality provided by 2D grid in phantom imaging experiments.Project narrative While cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is the most commonly used 3D imaging modality in dentistry, its utilization is hampered by its poor image quality. The main culprit behind this problem is the high intensity of scattered radiation inherent to CBCT systems. In this project, we propose a novel device and associated data correction methods to suppress scattered radiation, and improve image quality in dental CBCT.