Delineation of inferior alveolar nerve canal in panoramic dental images using image processing Techniques

Abstract

Dental clinics have been stepping into a new evolution of automation newlinefor their entire processing like dental implants, root canal surgery, third molar newlineextraction, etc.,. Nowadays, panoramic radiography is regularly used in all newlinedental automation processes, since it provides visibility of anatomical structures newlinein pathological changes of the teeth, jaws, and temporomandibular joints. newlinePanoramic radiography has many advantages including a short time for newlinediagnosis, greater patient acceptance, and cooperation, and overall coverage of newlinethe dental arches and associated structures. However, the disadvantage of newlinepanoramic radiography is its inability to accurately represent the internal newlinestructure of soft tissue regions. newlineOne of the important soft tissue regions is the Inferior Alveolar Nerve newlineCanal (IAC) which creates the main problematical significance of dental surgical newlineprocedures and has major medico-legal implications. These injuries result in newlinepartial or complete loss of sensation from the ipsilateral skin of the lower lip and newlinechin, the buccal oral mucosa in this region, and the lower teeth. The causes of newlineIAC injury include placement of dental implants, local anesthetic injections, newlinethird molar surgery, endodontic, trauma, and orthognathic surgery. In order to newlinemeet the requirements, dentists depend on imaging methods to avoid IAC injury newlineat the time of surgery and to provide high accuracy in the dental automation newlineprocesses. newlineAn accurate visualization system of the anatomical structure of IAC newlinein imaging methods is highly demanded by dentists in terms of enhancement and newlinesegmentation in order to make the perfect assessment in the field of endodontics, newlineorthodontics, and oral and maxillofacial surgeries. newline