Dental diagnostics using optical coherence techniques

Conference · Mon Nov 14 23:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:145960

Nathel, H ^[1]; Colston, B ^[2]; Armitage, G ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
2. Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States)
3. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); and others

Optical radiation can be used for diagnostic purposes in oral medicine. However, due to the turbid, amorphous, and inhomogeneous nature of dental tissue conventional techniques used to transilluminate materials are not well suited to dental tissues. Optical coherence techniques either in the time- of frequency-domain offer the capabilities of discriminating scattered from unscattered light, thus allowing for imaging through turbid tissue. Currently, using optical time-domain reflectometry we are able to discriminate specular from diffuse reflections occurring at tissue boundaries. We have determined the specular reflectivity of enamel and dentin to be approximately 6.6 x 10{sup -5} and 1.3 x 10{sup -6}, respectively. Implications to periodontal imaging will be discussed.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 145960
• Report Number(s): CONF-9411140--Absts.; ON: DE95017252
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

44 INSTRUMENTATION
INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS
55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
DENTIN
DENTISTRY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
IMAGES
OPTICS
TEETH