Appending active contour model on digital panoramic dental X-rays images for segmentation of maxillofacial region

Jawbone cysts of maxillofacial region are a major issue of concern for health care providers. Management of these lesions is predominantly bogged by recurrence. Cystic lesions if not treated early may lead to the formation of tumors. Cysts affecting jawbone can be detected by radiographic examination using orthopantomograms (OPG) commonly referred as panoramic dental x-rays. Orthopantomograms are turned to be cost effective and most preliminary step taken for scanning any dental anomalies. The dental panoramic images obtained with orthopantomograms are degraded by noise and poor visualization. An efficient computer aided diagnosis is much essential for segmentation of cysts/lesions from the panoramic images for its early detection. Segmentation of cyst/ lesion plays a crucial part in the diagnosis as most of the times cystic region is not defined by a proper boundary. Oftenly, the radiologist is supposed to mark manually to extract the region of cysts. Hence in this paper, a segmentation algorithm based on active contour model (ACM) is proposed for segmentation of cystic lesion and extracting the area of cysts to study the behavior of cyst formation. This could assist radiologist/dentist in diagnosis and treatment planning of the jawbone cysts.