**5.3 Outline of research projects**

A conference was held in real time between researchers in Japan and Laos by sharing image information and using a TV monitor, utilizing the medical ICT function. Researchers shared information on morphological measurement of the teeth and jawbones on images (**Figure 4**).

In 2015, as part of a quality assessment of our teleradiology collaboration, Matsumoto et al. [20] evaluated the validity of patient information gathered during teleradiology, panoramic imaging technique at the Lao PDR UHS, and ability of Laotian oral and maxillofacial radiologists to interpret images and detect temporomandibular joint (TMJ) abnormalities [20]. A total of 2446 joints from 1223 radiographs were evaluated for TMJ abnormalities to compare the image interpretation abilities of Laotian and Japanese radiologists. They reported that the kappa coefficient was 0.836 for the comparison of the judgments of the two observers in detecting TMJ abnormalities on radiographs (*P* < 0.01), which was considered very good agreement. Based on these results, we started research on osteoporosis between Japan and Laos using digital imaging data as materials.

**Figure 3.** *Network overview of teleradiology in the first phase.*

*Empirical Study on Medical Information and Communication Technology System in Dentistry… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101080*

#### **Figure 4.** *Diagnostic imaging using medical ICT.*

In the same year, Sisounthone et al. also established the average MCW in 519 Laotian subjects (age, 7–79 years; mean, 38.21 years) [21] (**Figure 5**). According to these results, the average MCW showed significant differences between all age groups. The average MCW in the youngest age group of 7–19 years was 2.90 ± 0.81 mm (range, 1.50–5.80), which was higher than the data obtained for the 4–6 years age group in this study. They also described a statistically significant sexual dimorphism in overall average MCW. In summary, the MCW of Laotian children aged 4–6 years increases slightly, but changes were more significant following adolescence.

In 2018, Souksavanh et al. established MCW standards for Laotian preschool children (4–6 years) at Vientiane [22]. According to their study, MCW increased slightly with increasing age but had no significant difference between age groups.

Moreover, the positive correlation between MCW and height was significant, but no significant correlation was noted between MCW and weight, suggesting that MCW in this period is not a useful indicator for the diagnosis of osteogenesis in children. They concluded that further studies were needed to examine if other panoramic radio morphometric indices could be more relevant in children.

In this way, the introduction of the medical ICT system has been shown to be effective tool in promoting international joint research in the field of medical imaging, indicating the possibility of effective calibration of image reading among dentists in Laos.

#### **Figure 5.**

*Changing in MCW in Laotian people. Left: measurement of MCW. Yellow bars indicate MCW. Right: Changing of MCW in Lao people. These figures are taken from Ref. [21].*
