Low Cost Tri-modal Intra-oral camera for Early Detection of Caries and Cracks

描述(申请人提供)：在牙科执业的早期阶段准确检测正在发展的病变并对病变进行量化的能力将为牙医提供启动早期预防治疗的机会；在尽可能早的阶段正确诊断折断的牙齿将鼓励更多的保守治疗选择以及改善预后。我们提出了一种结合偏振光反射、荧光和近红外(NIR)透光成像技术的三模成像技术，用于早期龋齿检测和牙裂检测。每种成像方式都基于不同的对比机制，在检测龋齿、染色、牙石等牙齿结构的性质变化方面相互关联和/或相辅相成。因此，三模式成像技术将对牙齿腐烂更敏感，并将在检测脱矿牙区域时提供更高的特异度，利用来自每种模式的互补信息。随着偏振近红外反射成像和近红外透光成像，三模成像技术在检测牙齿裂纹方面将更加敏感，因为偏振反射成像收集牙齿内部的散射光，而透光成像检测牙齿裂纹。 光散射和透光的局部变化。除了个别的反射图像、荧光图像和透光图像外，我们还将利用荧光比率成像和荧光图像与偏振反射图像之间的比率成像来研究龋损的对比度增强。我们还将研究牙齿裂纹检测中偏振反射成像和透光成像的最佳近红外波长。我们将演示所提出的三模口腔内摄像头的概念，并验证其在检测龋齿和牙裂方面的性能。这一第一阶段项目的成果是龋齿和裂缝检测的三模式成像技术，以及低成本和紧凑型口腔内相机的概念，该概念将在第二阶段实施，用于临床前研究。这个项目的核心优势之一是强大的跨学科研究团队。它汇集了系统开发、检测电子学和产品商业化方面的研究人员(周博士)，开发口腔内摄像和光学技术的研究人员(梁博士)，以及在龋齿检测、诊断和管理方面评估各种光学技术的心脏病专家(Amaechi博士)。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to accurately detect the developing lesions at early stage in dental practice and to quantify the lesions will provide dentists with the opportunity of initiating early prophylactic treatment; correct diagnosis of a fractured tooth in is earliest possible stage encourages more conservative treatment options as well as an improved prognosis. We propose a tri-modal imaging technique integrating polarized reflectance, fluorescence, and with the near-infrared (NIR) transillumination imaging modalities for early caries detection and tooth crack detection. Each imaging modality is based on distinct contrast mechanism and correlates with each other and/or complements each other in detecting caries, stain, calculus, and other property changes of tooth structure. Therefore, the tri-modal imaging technique will be more sensitive to tooth decay and will provide higher specificity in detecting demineralized tooth regions with the complementary information from each modality. With polarized NIR reflectance imaging and NIR transillumination imaging, the tri-modal imaging technique will be more sensitive in detecting tooth crack because the polarized reflectance imaging collects the scattered light inside the tooth and the transillumination imaging detects the local variation in light scattering and transillumination. In addition to individual reflectance imge, fluorescence image, and transillumination image, we will investigate the contrast enhancement of caries lesion with fluorescence ratio imaging and ratio imaging between the fluorescence image and polarized reflectance image. We will also investigate the optimal NIR wavelength for polarized reflectance imaging and transillumination imaging in tooth crack detection. We will demonstrate the proposal concept of tri-modal intra-oral camera and verify its performance in detection of caries and tooth crack. The result of this Phase I project is the tri-modal imaging technique for caries and crack detection and the concept of a low cost and compact intra-oral camera which will be implemented in Phase II for pre-clinical study. One of the core-strengths of this project is the strong interdisciplinary research team. It brings together the researcher in system development, detection electronics, and produce commercialization (Dr. Zhou), the research in developing intra-oral camera and optical technologies (Dr. Liang) and the expert in Cardiology and in evaluating various optical technologies in detection, diagnosis and management of caries (Dr. Amaechi).