Hand Tracing Verses Digital Tracing with PACS Method

Abstract

Introduction: Traditionally, cephalometric analysis has been carried out using a hand-tracing manual method. In imaging, picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are information management systems used for the capture and measurement of medical and dental radiographs. Although not customized for lateral cephalometry, this study aimed to evaluate the cephalometric measurements made on screen with Nemoceph NX 2006 software using PACS compared with the conventional hand-tracing method. Material and methods: All the subjects were positioned in the cephalostat with the sagittal plane at right angles to the path of the X-rays and to the Frankfort plane parallel to the floor. That digital cephalogram was sent to printer via Image Dent software to print the hard copy through Laser printer and it is also transferred to the personal computer of Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics by PACS (picture archiving and communication systems) method. Results: In this study the total time taken in manual tracing is 30 min, while digital tracing takes around 35 min. So, Time taken in manual tracing is less than digital tracing that might be because only few parameters has been included in this study. The results showed no statistically significant differences in any of the assessed measurements (p> 0.05). Conclusion: Conventional and computerized methods showed consistency in all angular and linear measurements. The computer program Nemotech dental studio NX 2006 can be used reliably as an aid in diagnosing, planning, monitoring and evaluating orthodontic treatment both in clinical and research settings.