Cone-Beam Computed Tomography - Magnetic Resonance Imaging registration in dento-maxillary imaging

摘要

Jaws can be affected by numerous lesions that require exploration by imaging methods. This work is aimed atdemonstrating the benefits of registration and fusion of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) and MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI) examinations within the framework of the exploration of benign tumoral lesions of the jaws.These two modalities based on different physical principles are generally complementary in terms of tissue contrast.Currently, the analysis of CBCT and MRI based on two distinct acquisitions is performed separately, but can be timeconsumingand challenging, especially when looking at multiple areas of tissue interfaces and even more so for nonspecialistmedical imaging practitioners. Therefore, co-registration should be done by the operator based on reorientationof the axes to find equivalent cutting planes in both CBCT and MRI data. Such a process appears tedious. This work wasdone by the analysis of imaging records of benign lesions of the jaw from seven patients and based on the use of Horos*,a common medical image processing software using a non-rigid fiducial point-based registration. Our results show thatinterfaces between bone and lesional content benefit from this combined view of data: it could improve diagnosis andtherapeutic approach. Such an approach was not communicated in dento-maxillary imaging for jawbone lesions. Thepreliminary results demonstrate the clinical potential of this approach and the need to perform further investigations tooptimize CBCT-MRI registration techniques in dento-maxillary imaging, or even to motivate development of combinedimaging instruments specific to this field.