Digital subtraction radiography (DSR) enables the detection of subtle early detrimental effects of periodontal disease as well as the evaluation of the effects of therapy. However, the differences between two radiographs due to alignment and contrast errors must be kept at minimum. In the present in vitro study we test the efficacy of three basic contrast correction methods in the reduction of contrast mismatches which can adversely affect a subtracted image. The ODTF (Optical Density Thickness Function) method, which is based on a function relating grey level values of the aluminium wedge image and the corresponding thickness of the wedge, induced less contrast correction error than the CDF (Cumulative Density Function) and the LSQA (Least Square Quadratic Approximation) methods. Moreover, CDF, ODTF, and LSQA functions obtained from the reference structure density distribution may be applied for objective contrast enhancements and for standardisation of image quality, while the ODTF function allows also bone change volume estimations.
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