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Curvature analysis of the mandibular condyle

Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, Japan

*Correspondence to: Dr Takashi Nakamura, Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan; Email: taku{at}net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Received 3 September 2002; revised 30 December 2002; accepted 27 February 2003

Objective: To determine whether curvature analysis on high resolution CT images can be used as a tool for evaluation of mandibular condyle morphology.

Methods: Curvature analysis was performed on reconstructed oblique coronal CT images of 634 normal condyles from 317 patients (144 men and 173 women; age range 4–89 years) with inner or middle ear disease. The condyles were scanned with 1 mm collimation using helical CT. The CT images were analysed manually on a personal computer.

Results: The condyle CT images could be categorized into five curvature profile patterns: (1) bi-peak; (2) no peak; (3) tri-peak; (4) bi-peak with an intervening bottom above the base line (bi-peak with a col); and (5) bi-peak with an intervening negative phase. A separate evaluation using computer graphic condyle models indicated that these curvature patterns corresponded to flat (bi-peak), round (no peak), convex (bi-peak with a col), concave (bi-peak with a negative phase) and angled (tri-peak) contours of the condyle's superior surface. The curvature profiles were identical between bilateral condyles in 40% (126/317) of the patients. Gender-related differences in the incidence of the curvature profiles were also found, the bi-peak with a col profile being more frequently observed in women and the bi-peak with a negative phase profile being observed more frequently in men.

Conclusion: Curvature analysis on CT images depicts condyle morphology effectively and may be an adjunctive tool for condyle morphometry.

Keywords: tomography, spiral computed; mandibular condyle; image processing, computer-assisted; shape analysis