A NEW IMAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR DENTISTRY
ABSTRACT
Background. Optical coherence tomography, or OCT, is a new diagnostic imaging technique that has many potential dental applications. The authors present the first intraoral dental images made using this technology.
Methods. The authors constructed a prototype dental OCT system. This system creates cross-sectional images by quantifying the reflections of infrared light from dental structures interferometrically.
Results. We used our prototype system to make dental OTC images of healthy adults in a clinical setting. These OCT images depicted both hard and soft oral tissues at high resolution.
Conclusions. OCT images exhibit microstructural detail that cannot be obtained with current imaging modalities. Using this new technology, visual recordings of periodontal tissue contour, sucular depth and connective tissue attachment now are possible. The internal aspects and marginal adaptation of porcelain and composite restorations can be visualized.
Clinical Implications. There are several advantages of OCT compared with conventional dental imaging. This new imaging technology is safe, versatile, inexpensive and readily adapted to a clinical dental environment.
In plain film radiographic techniques, such as periapical or cephalometric radiography, the radiographic source and film are stationary. All anatomical structures interposed between the X-ray source and the film are present in the image. The disadvantage of plain film radiography is that important diagnostic information often is obscured by the superimposition of regional anatomy; for example, the morphological characteristics of the mandibular condyles are obscured in a cephalometric radiograph by the dense overlying structures of the cranial base.
The term tomography first was used to describe sectional radiographic techniques. When the radiographic tube is moved during exposure synchronous with the film plate, but in the opposite direction, the image of a selected anatomical plane remains stationary on the moving film while the shadows of all other planes are blurred or obliterated. A tomographic image, thus, represents a selected "layer" or "slice" of the structure whose images have been recorded. In tomographic images, for example, the mandibular condyles are clearly visualized without the superimposition of the dense cranial base. Panoramic radiographs are the most common form of tomographic imaging used in dentistry.
Tomography now is used as a general term to describe any imaging method that produces images of selected anatomical planes within a structure. The tomographic images created by panoramic radiography and computed tomography result from the interaction of biological tissues with X-radiation photons. Recent developments in the field of optical engineering have made it possible for researchers to consider optical techniques for biomedical imaging applications. These developments include the increased availability of compact, modular diode light sources and the development of highly sensitive detectors that make it possible to distinguish very small numbers of light photons after they interact with tissue.
ABSTRACT
Background. Optical coherence tomography, or OCT, is a new diagnostic imaging technique that has many potential dental applications. The authors present the first intraoral dental images made using this technology.
Methods. The authors constructed a prototype dental OCT system. This system creates cross-sectional images by quantifying the reflections of infrared light from dental structures interferometrically.
Results. We used our prototype system to make dental OTC images of healthy adults in a clinical setting. These OCT images depicted both hard and soft oral tissues at high resolution.
Conclusions. OCT images exhibit microstructural detail that cannot be obtained with current imaging modalities. Using this new technology, visual recordings of periodontal tissue contour, sucular depth and connective tissue attachment now are possible. The internal aspects and marginal adaptation of porcelain and composite restorations can be visualized.
Clinical Implications. There are several advantages of OCT compared with conventional dental imaging. This new imaging technology is safe, versatile, inexpensive and readily adapted to a clinical dental environment.
In plain film radiographic techniques, such as periapical or cephalometric radiography, the radiographic source and film are stationary. All anatomical structures interposed between the X-ray source and the film are present in the image. The disadvantage of plain film radiography is that important diagnostic information often is obscured by the superimposition of regional anatomy; for example, the morphological characteristics of the mandibular condyles are obscured in a cephalometric radiograph by the dense overlying structures of the cranial base.
The term tomography first was used to describe sectional radiographic techniques. When the radiographic tube is moved during exposure synchronous with the film plate, but in the opposite direction, the image of a selected anatomical plane remains stationary on the moving film while the shadows of all other planes are blurred or obliterated. A tomographic image, thus, represents a selected "layer" or "slice" of the structure whose images have been recorded. In tomographic images, for example, the mandibular condyles are clearly visualized without the superimposition of the dense cranial base. Panoramic radiographs are the most common form of tomographic imaging used in dentistry.
Tomography now is used as a general term to describe any imaging method that produces images of selected anatomical planes within a structure. The tomographic images created by panoramic radiography and computed tomography result from the interaction of biological tissues with X-radiation photons. Recent developments in the field of optical engineering have made it possible for researchers to consider optical techniques for biomedical imaging applications. These developments include the increased availability of compact, modular diode light sources and the development of highly sensitive detectors that make it possible to distinguish very small numbers of light photons after they interact with tissue.
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