Evaluation of Reverse Engineering Technologies in Dimensional Fidelity of Rapid Prototyping Biomodels

Reverse engineering techniques, including computed tomography (CT) equipment and 3-dimensional (3D) scanners, enable the acquisition of digital data for computational modeling and biomodel plotting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dimensional fidelity of rapid prototyping (RP) biomodels obtained from different CT and 3D scanner equipment. Five dry mandibles were scanted by multidetector and cone beam CT equipment and 3D scanner. The data were processed in a standardized way to construct RP biomodels by the technique of deposition of molten material. Linear measurements were performed on dry mandibles and biomodels. The results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the measurements of dry mandibles and biomodels, but there was a difference between the measurements of the biomodels obtained by multidetector CT in relation to the other equipment ( P =0.02). There was no significant difference in the measurements of the posterior region of the mandible ( P =0.09), but in the anterior region the biomodels obtained by CBCT showed a significant difference in relation to the dry mandible ( P =0.0002). Dimensional error was irrelevant to clinical practice. The biomodels produced were accurate for use in the biomedical area, although the anterior region of the mandible presents dimensional discrepancy when cone beam CT is used.