Exploring Jaw Morphology and Patient-specific Dynamic Rotation Trajectory Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is a widely adopted technology in dental healthcare, particularly for surgical planning. However, effective visualization methods are crucial for formatting and analyzing volumetric data. Two primary formatting options - Curved Multi-planar Reformatting and Direct Volume Rendering - are used widely for evaluating jaw shape and creating panoramic views. Existing software methods frequently require the manual selection of several nodes along the jaw on an axial image that roughly represents the shape of the dental arch. Our work intends to introduce a novel and automatic algorithm for detecting the patient’s jaw from CBCT, suitable for defining a focal trough and evaluating an optimal patient-specific dynamic rotation trajectory applicable to rotational panoramic radiography based only on the CBCT volume data without the need to delineate a dental arch. Our findings showed that this approach works well even for patients without teeth or having heavy metal implants.