A Cone Beam Computed Tomography Annotation Tool for Automatic Detection of the Inferior Alveolar Nerve Canal
Cristian Mercadante, Marco Cipriano, Federico Bolelli, Federico Pollastri, Mattia Di Bartolomeo, Alexandre Anesi, Costantino Grana
Abstract
In recent years, deep learning has been employed in several medical fields, achieving impressive results. Unfortunately, these algorithms require a huge amount of annotated data to ensure the correct learning process. When dealing with medical imaging, collecting and annotating data can be cumbersome and expensive. This is mainly related to the nature of data, often three-dimensional, and to the need for well-trained expert technicians. In maxillofacial imagery, recent works have been focused on the detection of the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (IAN), since its position is of great relevance for avoiding severe injuries during surgery operations such as third molar extraction or implant installation. In this work, we introduce a novel tool for analyzing and labeling the alveolar nerve from Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) 3D volumes.