Efficiency Evaluation of Rapid Maxillary Expansion Treatment on Nasal Septal Deviation from Cone-Beam Computer Tomography Images using Tortuosity Ratio Program Developed in Matlab. This is the code part of a published paper in the Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine journal. If you use (or are inspired by) this code, please cite the paper (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2019.105260).
Gokcenur Gokce (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey)
Ilknur Veli (Full Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey)
Yalcin Isler (Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey)
Yilmaz Kemal Yuce (Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Antalya, Turkey)
This study aims to assess the effect of Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) on Nasal Septal Deviation (NSD) changes from three-dimensional (3D) images. In this study, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images from 15 patients with maxillary constriction (mean age 12 ± 1.6 years) were included. RME treatment with the Hyrax appliance was performed in all patients. CBCT scans were taken at three different times: before appliance insertion (T0), after active expansion (T1), and 3 months after appliance insertion (T2). We developed a novel Matlab-based application to quantify NSD based on the tortuosity ratio by dividing the actual length of the septum by the ideal length in the mid-sagittal plane by using this application. Turtuosity ratio (TR) values were found as 1.03 ± 0.03 (T0), 1.02 ± 0.02 (T1), and 1.02 ± 0.02 (T2). Differences of TR values among these groups were evaluated using the statistical method of ANOVA (ANalysis Of VAriance) for repeated measures with the significance level of p ≤ .05. Results showed significant reductions in TR values between T0-T1 (p ≤ .05) and between T0-T2 (p ≤ .05). Nonetheless, a significant difference between T1–T2 was not determined (p > .05). As a result, we can conclude that the NSD degree is affected by the RME treatment. The developed application can be used for both educational and research purposes.