Objectives: Cone beam CT (CBCT) is used widely to depict root fracture (RF) in endodontically treated teeth. Beam hardening and other artefacts due to gutta-percha may increase the time of the diagnosis and result in an incorrect diagnosis. Two CBCT machines, ProMax ® (Planmeca, Helsinki, Finland) and Master 3D ® (Vatech, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea), have the option of applying an artefact reduction (AR) algorithm. The aim of this study was to determine whether using an AR algorithm in two CBCT machines enhances the accuracy of detecting RFs in endodontically treated teeth. Methods: 66 roots were collected and decoronated. All roots were treated endodontically using the same technique with gutta-percha and zinc oxide cement. One-half of the roots were randomly selected and fractured using a nail that was tapped gently with a hammer until complete fracture resulted in two root fragments; the two root fragments were glued together with one layer of methyl methacrylate. The roots were placed randomly in eight prepared beef rib fragments. Results: The highest accuracy was obtained when the ProMax was used without AR. The lowest accuracy was obtained with the Master 3D when used with AR. For both machines, accuracy was significantly higher without AR than with AR. Both with and without AR, the ProMax machine was significantly more accurate than the Master 3D machine. The same rank ordering was obtained for both sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: For both machines, AR decreased the accuracy of RF detection in endodontically treated teeth. The highest accuracy was obtained when using the ProMax without AR.

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Nuclear magnetic resonance images of the knee were obtained from three normal volunteers and from two patients. The pathology included an osteosarcoma of the distal femur and a fracture of the tibia. Steady State Free Precession (SSFP) techniques were used with a 0.15 Tesla resistive type magnet. Normal anatomy was well displayed and the size of the osteosarcoma was accurately predicted. Using SSFP techniques, the blood in the knee joint was not visualised, but the underlying tibial fracture was clearly outlined.

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