Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Journal (MIRTJ) 39 (Suppl. 1) 25
Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Journal (MIRTJ) 39 (Suppl. 1)
KARTIRANJE RELAKSACIJSKEGA ČASA T2 KOT ORODJE ZA 
OCENO ZOBNE PULPE
T2 MAPPING AS A TOOL FOR ASSESSMENT OF DENTAL PULP
Ksenija Cankar 1, Jernej Vidmar 1,2,3, Lidija Nemeth 3, Igor Serša 1,4
1 Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakulteta, Inštitut za fi ziologijo, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija / 
University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty, Institute of Physiology, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 Univezitetni klinični center Ljubljana, Klinični inštitut za radiologijo, Zaloška cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija / 
University medical centre Ljubljana, Institute of Radiology, Zaloška cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
3 Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakulteta, Katedra za zobne bolezni in normalno morfologijo zobnega organa, Zaloška cesta 4, 
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija / University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty, Department of Dental Diseases and Normal Dental 
Morphology, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
4 Inštitut Jožef Stefan, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija / 
Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Korespondenca / Corresponding author: ksenija.cankar@mf.uni-lj.si
Prejeto/Recived: 30. 10. 2019
Sprejeto/Accepted: 15. 11. 2019
IZVLEČEK
Uvod: Standardna klinična diagnostika odziva zobne pulpe 
na napredovanje kariesa trenutno poteka na osnovi posredne 
ocene, saj temelji na osnovi kliničnih simptomov, ki so 
subjektivni in precej odvisni od bolnikove dovzetnosti za prag 
bolečine. Dodatno oceno omogočajo tudi klasične fi lmske in 
digitalne radiografske tehnike ter računalniška tomografi ja z 
usmerjenim snopom (CBCT), ki pa sicer podajajo le informacije 
o trdih zobnih tkivih. Nasprotno MRI omogoča tudi jasen 
prikaz zobne pulpe.
Namen: S študijo smo želeli preveriti, ali je mogoče v 
pogojih in vivo metodo kartiranja relaksacijskega časa T2, 
ki je bila generirana na osnovi standardnih MRI zaporedij 
in na standardnem kliničnem MRI sistemu, uporabiti za 
kvantitativno oceno odziva zobne pulpe na napredovanje 
kariesa.
Metode: V študijo smo vključili 74 zob, izmerjenih na sistemu 
MRI 3T (Philips Achieva) in ocenili karies. Iz izračunanih 
map relaksacijskega časa T2 smo analizirali T2 profi le vzdolž 
posameznih koreninskih kanalov (od krone do vrha), profi li 
pa so bili razvrščeni glede na vrsto zob (enokoreninski oz. 
večkoreninski) in oceno napredovanja kariesa.
Rezultati: Pri vseh zobnih pulpah, ki so bile vključene v 
študijo, smo opazili znižanje vrednosti relaksacijskega časa 
T2 z napredovanjem kariesa. V enokoreninskih zobeh je bilo 
znižanje vrednosti T2 približno konstantno glede na globino 
prizadetosti zobne pulpe, pri večkoreninskih zobeh pa smo 
opazili v kronskem delu zvišane, proti koreninskemu delu pa 
znižane vrednosti T2.
Zaključek: Uporaba in vivo MRI na osnovi standardnih MRI 
zaporedij dokazuje, da je z metodo kartiranja relaksacijskega 
časa T2 možno podati zanesljivo kvantitativno oceno odziva 
zobne pulpe na napredovanje kariesa. 
Ključne besede: zobna pulpa; karies; Kartiranje relaksacijskega 
časa T2
26 Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Journal (MIRTJ) 39 (Suppl. 1)
Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Journal (MIRTJ) 39 (Suppl. 1)
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Currently, standard clinical diagnostics of 
dental pulp response to caries progression relies on indirect 
evaluation based on clinical symptoms that are subjective and 
highly infl uenced by patients’ threshold for pain. In addition, 
fi lm-based or digital conventional radiographic techniques 
and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) provide 
information on hard dental tissues only. In contrast, MRI 
enables clear visualization of dental pulp.
Purpose: This study tested whether in vivo MRI based on 
standard MRI sequences run on a standard clinical MRI 
system can be used to quantify dental pulp response to caries 
progression using the T2 mapping method. 
Methods: In the study, 74 teeth were scanned on a 3T MRI 
system and caries was assessed. The T2 maps were processed 
to obtain T2 profi les along selected root canals (from crown to 
apex), and the profi les were sorted according to both tooth 
type (single-rooted vs. multi-rooted) and caries progression 
score. 
Results: In all the examined dental pulps it was found that 
T2 values decrease with caries progression. In single-rooted 
teeth, T2 values were found approximately constant as a 
function of dental pulp depth, while in multi-rooted teeth, 
they were found to be increasing in the coronal part and 
decreasing towards the root apex.
Conclusion: In vivo MRI based on standard MRI sequences run 
on a standard clinical MRI system confi rms that T2 mapping 
of dental pulp can be used to reliably quantify its response to 
caries progression and that it has the potential to become a 
complementary diagnostic tool. 
Keywords: dental pulp; caries; T2 mapping
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