Comparison of the Hounsfield Unit in CT scan with the Gray Level in cone-beam CT

Background. The present study was undertaken to compare the Hounsfield Unit (HU) in computed tomography (CT) with the gray level in CBCT in human tissues.

Methods. In this study, 25 different soft and hard tissues were evaluated in 21 patients. CBCT images were taken with Newtom VGi machine (Verona, Italy) and CT images were prepared with Somatom Sensation unit (Siemens, Germany). The HU values of soft and hard tissues were compared with the gray level values of CBCT images.

Results. There was a strong correlation between the HU in CT and the gray level in CBCT in soft tissues (P<0.001, R2=0.85) and hard tissues (P<0.001, R2=0.74) and in general (P<0.001, R2=0.91).

Conclusion. A high degree of agreement was seen between HU in CT and gray level in CBCT in both hard and soft tissues. Since the gray level in CBCT was similar to HU in CT and can be used as a parameter determine bone density in implant treatment and also to determine the bone type, the CBCT technique is recommended in such cases due to its low radiation dose, short time and low cost compared to CT.