• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.51-61
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• 2004

In the dental field, the 3D tooth model in which each tooth can be manipulated individually is an essential component for the simulation of orthodontic surgery and treatment. To reconstruct such a tooth model from CT slices, we need to define the accurate boundary of each tooth from CT slices. However, the global threshold method, which is commonly used in most existing 3D reconstruction systems, is not effective for the tooth segmentation in the CT image. In tooth CT slices, some teeth touch with other teeth and some are located inside of alveolar bone whose intensity is similar to that of teeth. In this paper, we propose an image segmentation algorithm based on B-spline curve fitting to produce smooth tooth regions from such CT slices. The proposed algorithm prevents the malfitting problem of the B-spline algorithm by providing accurate initial tooth boundary for the fitting process. This paper proposes an optimal threshold scheme using the intensity and shape information passed by previous slice for the initial boundary generation and an efficient B-spline fitting method based on genetic algorithm. The test result shows that the proposed method detects contour of the individual tooth successfully and can produce a smooth and accurate 3D tooth model for the simulation of orthodontic surgery and treatment.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1171-1181
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• 2014

In this paper, we propose improved methods which are image conversion and extraction method of watershed seed using morphological characteristic of teeth on complement image. Conventional tooth segmentation methods are occurred low detection ratio at molar region and over, overlap segmentation owing to specular reflection and morphological feature of molars. Therefore, in order to solve the problems of the conventional methods, we propose the image conversion method and improved extraction method of watershed seed. First, the image conversion method is performed using RGB, HSI space of tooth image for to extract boundary and seed of watershed efficiently. Second, watershed seed is reconstructed using morphological characteristic of teeth. Last, individual tooth segmentation is performed using proposed seed of watershed by watershed algorithm. Therefore, as a result of comparison with marker controlled watershed algorithm and the proposed method, we confirmed higher detection ratio and accuracy than marker controlled watershed algorithm.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.45-60
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• 2014

Dentist can obtain 3D anatomical information without distortion and information loss by using dental Computed Tomography scan images on line, and also can make the preoperative plan of implant placement or orthodontics. It is essential to segment individual tooth for making an accurate diagnosis. However, it is very difficult to distinguish the difference in the brightness between the dental and adjacent area. Especially, the root of a tooth is very elusive to automatically identify in dental CT images because jawbone normally adjoins the tooth. In the paper, we propose a method of automatically tooth region segmentation, which can identify the root of a tooth clearly. This algorithm separate the tooth from dental CT scan images by using Seeded Region Growing method on dental crown and by using Level-set method on dental root respectively. By using the proposed method, the results can be acquired average 19.2% better accuracy, compared to the result of the previous methods.