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Radiomics-based quantitative assessment of the mandibular cortical index on panoramic radiographs

Nature作者：Sultan Uzun2026年8月12日正文已收录本站
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Scientific Reports (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate mandibular cortical changes related to the Mandibular Cortical Index (MCI) using radiomic features extracted from panoramic radiographs in order to improve the objectivity and reproducibility of MCI assessment. A total of 159 panoramic radiographs (C1 = 53, C2 = 53, C3 = 53) were retrospectively analyzed. The right mandibular cortex was segmented following standardized anatomical boundaries, and radiomic features were extracted using PyRadiomics in 3D Slicer. Five feature classes—shape, first-order, GLCM, GLRLM, and GLSZM—were evaluated. Inter-observer reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and only features with ICC > 0.75 were included. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Several first-order features, including Energy (p = 0.006), Entropy (p = 0.001), IQR (p = 0.002), MAD (p = 0.002), rMAD (p = 0.001), and Variance (p = 0.001), differ significantly across groups, consistently distinguishing C1 from resorbed cortices. Texture analysis revealed significant differences in multiple GLCM features, such as Correlation (p < 0.001), Cluster Shade (p = 0.010), and Joint Entropy (p = 0.006). Gray Level Variance (GLRLM) (p = 0.001) and Zone Entropy (GLSZM) (p = 0.002) also demonstrated significant group effects. However, after Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction for multiple comparisons, no radiomic feature remained significantly different between the moderately (C2) and severely (C3) resorbed cortices. Radiomics enables objective quantification of morphometric and microtextural differences associated with MCI categories and may enhance the objectivity of mandibular cortical assessment on panoramic radiographs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, Bilecik, Turkey

    Sultan Uzun

  2. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Selcuk University, Alaaddin Keykubat Campus, Akademi District, No: 369, Yeni İstanbul Avenue, Selçuklu, Konya, 42075, Turkey

    Kevser Dinç

  3. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey

    Melek Tassoker

Authors

  1. Sultan Uzun
  2. Kevser Dinç
  3. Melek Tassoker

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevser Dinç.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This retrospective archive study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Dentistry Non-Drug and Non-Medical Device Research Ethics Committee (Approval No: 2025/696). Due to the retrospective nature of the study, the requirement for informed consent was waived by the same ethics committee.

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Uzun, S., Dinç, K. & Tassoker, M. Radiomics-based quantitative assessment of the mandibular cortical index on panoramic radiographs. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66651-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66651-6

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