Abstract
A research report on the development of an assisting system for image diagnosis in the field of dentistry is described. The research was conducted under the big project entitled as “Development of Advanced Medical Equipment Using Manufacturing Technologies and Information Technologies,” which was done in Regional Innovation Strategy Support Program (City Area Type) in Southern Gifu Area, granted from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, MEXT, Japan (2009.6-2012.3) . To identify asymptomatic patients is a challenging task and an essential first step in diagnosis. Findings of dental panoramic radiograph (DPR) include not only dental conditions but also radiographic signs that are suggestive of possible systemic diseases such as osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, and maxillary sinusitis. Detection of such signs on DPR has a potential to provide supplemental benefits for patients. For that reason, a new screening pathway for systemic diseases in collaboration with dentists and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system was designed in our project. Multi-institutional clinical trials showed that our new screening pathway had the potential to identify asymptomatic patients. Toward commercializing our CAD system, we developed not only the stand-alone CAD system, but also the new systems to improve their usability; “CAD&PACS (picture archiving and communication systems) ” that integrates CAD schemes into dental PACS, and “CAD-ASP (application service provider) model” that offers CAD services via internet by the utilization of information and telecommunications technology.
