A comparison of cephalometric measurements obtained from two computerized cephalometric softwares with manual tracings

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of linear and angular cephalometric measurements obtained from two computerized cephalometric analysis softwares viz., AutoCEPH͹ (version 1.0) and Dolphin® (version 11.7) as compared to manual tracings. Materials and Methods: Fifty pretreatment lateral cephalograms were selected from the archives of a postgraduate orthodontic clinic. The digital images of each cephalogram were imported directly into two softwares Dolphin® and AutoCEPH͹ for onscreen digitization. While for manual tracings digital images were printed using a compatible X-ray printer. After images were standardized and calibrated 34 commonly used anatomical landmarks were plotted on each cephalogram. These landmarks were then utilized to evaluate 35 cephalometric parameters. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine both intrarater reliability for repeated measurements and agreement between linear and angular measurements obtained from the three methods. Results: High ICC values (>0.9) were obtained for all parameters while comparing three methods, i.e., manual tracings versus AutoCEPH͹ ; manual tracings versus Dolphin® and AutoCEPH͹ versus Dolphin® . Conclusion: A high level of agreement (ICC >0.9) for cephalometric measurements was obtained from both the computerized softwares Dolphin® and AutoCEPH͹ in comparison with manual tracings