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Optical coherence tomography guided dental drill

Patent ·
OSTI ID:874578
 [1];  [2]
  1. Danville, CA
  2. Tracy, CA
+ Show Author Affiliations

A dental drill that has one or multiple single mode fibers that can be used to image in the vicinity of the drill tip. It is valuable to image below the surface being drilled to minimize damage to vital or normal tissue. Identifying the boundary between decayed and normal enamel (or dentine) would reduce the removal of viable tissue, and identifying the nerve before getting too close with the drill could prevent nerve damage. By surrounding a drill with several optical fibers that can be used by an optical coherence domain reflectometry (OCDR) to image several millimeters ahead of the ablation surface will lead to a new and improved dental treatment device.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
Assignee:
The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA)
Patent Number(s):
US 6419484
OSTI ID:
874578
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (6)

Birefringence characterization of biological tissue by use of optical coherence tomography journal January 1998
Guided-wave reflectometry with micrometer resolution journal January 1987
High-resolution reflectometry in biological tissues journal January 1992
Optical coherence-domain reflectometry: a new optical evaluation technique journal January 1987
Polarization-sensitive low-coherence reflectometer for birefringence characterization and ranging journal January 1992
Scanning single-mode fiber optic catheter–endoscope for optical coherence tomography journal January 1996

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