Abstract
The common way to diagnose hard and soft tissue irregularities in the oral cavity is initially the visual inspection by an experienced dentist followed by further medical examinations, such as radiological imaging and/or histopathological investigation. For the diagnosis of oral hard and soft tissues, the detection of early transformations is mostly hampered by poor visual access, low specificity of the diagnosis techniques, and/or limited feasibility of frequent screenings. Therefore, optical noninvasive diagnosis of oral tissue is promising to improve the accuracy of oral screening. Considering this demand, a rigid handheld endoscopic scanner was developed for optical coherence tomography (OCT). The novelty is the usage of a commercially near-infrared endoscope with fitting optics in combination with an established spectral-domain OCT system of our workgroup. By reaching a high spatial resolution, in vivo images of anterior and especially posterior dental and mucosal tissues were obtained from the oral cavity of two volunteers. The convincing image quality of the endoscopic OCT device is particularly obvious for the imaging of different regions of the human soft palate with highly scattering fibrous layer and capillary network within the lamina propria.
Highlights
Visual examination is usually the first step toward diagnosis of diseases within the oral cavity, such as carious lesions, periodontitis, oral inflammation, dysplasia, and malignancies
In order to evaluate the performance of the developed endoscopic OCT (EOCT) probe with telecentric scanning, several measurements were performed for the quantification of the axial and lateral resolution ðΔz; ΔxÞ, the FoV, the sensitivity, and the spectrometer-induced depth-dependent sensitivity loss
By developing a scanning optics for 2-D imaging and using the established SD-optical coherence tomography (OCT) system of our workgroup, EOCT cross-sections of hard and soft oral tissue are detected with a frame rate of 23 fps, a spatial resolution of 11.6 μm axially and 17.5 μm laterally, and a FoV of 4.8 mm
Summary
Visual examination is usually the first step toward diagnosis of diseases within the oral cavity, such as carious lesions, periodontitis, oral inflammation, dysplasia, and malignancies. Current imaging modalities in dentistry include conventional x-ray radiography, computed and digital volume tomography (CT, DVT), magnetic resonance tomography (MRI), and sonography (ultrasound, US) for the in vivo diagnosis of altered tissue in the oral cavity. While all of those imaging techniques are well established, the diagnosis of submillimeter structure is still difficult (for e.g., US) or rather expensive in clinical routine (e.g., CT/DVT, MRI). The potential of the presented imaging system is demonstrated by in vivo measurements of healthy oral mucosa and conspicuous parts of teeth by means of two volunteers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
