The effects of slice thickness and interslice interval on reconstructed cone beam computed tomographic images

Objective The objective of this study was to compare the effects of varying 2 image-processing parameters, slice thickness and interslice interval, on the appearances of reconstructed cone beam CT (CBCT) images. Study design Bone height was used a metric for comparing images reconstructed with different slice thicknesses and interslice intervals. We examined 102 putative implant sites in 18 subjects who had treatment planned for dental implants and who were imaged with custom-fitted imaging stents with linear radiopaque markers. Image slice thickness and interslice interval were increased in millimetric increments from 1 to 5 mm, and bone height was used to determine if varying these parameters had a bearing on the resulting images. Results Statistically significant differences were found between bone heights when slice thickness or interslice interval were varied by greater than 1 mm ( P < .005). Conclusions Understanding the effects of slice thickness and interslice interval may be important in the portrayal of both normal anatomy and pathoses in CBCT images.