2007 Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 41-48
The aim of this study was to reduce artifacts in microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) images caused by the beam hardening effects of X-ray. The micro-CT images were corrected in comparison with a human extracted tooth embedded in compensating material, dental plaster (CaSO4・1/2H2O), which was placed in an aluminum cylindrical container and not embedded. As a result, the artifacts of the micro-CT images were reduced by the compensating materials. It is considered that this phenomenon occurred because the low-energy X-ray parts were absorbed by the compensating material which has a high attenuation coefficient. The development of this method eliminated the problems caused by beam hardening effects when measuring bone mineral density (BMD), such as surrounding newly formed bone in dental implants, and also suggested the possibility of using the new methods for BMD by using micro-CT images.
