Multispectral truncated-correlation photothermal coherence tomography imaging modality for detection of early stage dental caries

• Main Authors: Mandelis, A. (Author), Shokouhi, E.B (Author), Sivagurunathan, K. (Author), Welch, R. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA) 2022
• Subjects: Article; bone; Coherence tomography; Computerized tomography; dental caries; Dental caries; Diagnostic imaging; Health condition; human; Imaging modality; Light absorption; micro-computed tomography; Molecular contrast; Multi-spectral; multispectral imaging; optical coherence tomography; Oral healths; Photo-thermal; Tomography imaging
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher
• ISBN: 21567085 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1364/BOE.455117

One of the major oral health conditions worldwide is dental caries. Light-absorption-based thermophotonic diagnostic imaging is well positioned for this challenge thanks to its speed, safety, and high molecular contrast advantages. In this work, a multispectral (MS) truncated-correlation photothermal coherence tomography (TC-PCT) imaging modality is introduced for the detection of bacterial-induced dental caries. MS TC-PCT provided thorough information about optimal lesion contrast and type of dental defects such as caries in teeth. The experimental results were validated using micro-computed tomography (µCT) including quantitative lesion depth profiles at wavelengths in the 675-700 nm range. MS TC-PCT gives rise to hard-tissue biomedical diagnostic applications such as bone and dental imaging. © 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement