Intraoral optical coherence tomography and angiography combined with autofluorescence for dental assessment

Nhan Le; Jie Lu; Peijun Tang; Kwok-Hung Chung; Hrebesh Subhash; LaTonya Kilpatrick-Liverman; Ruikang K Wang

doi:10.1364/BOE.460575

Intraoral optical coherence tomography and angiography combined with autofluorescence for dental assessment

Biomed Opt Express. 2022 May 31;13(6):3629-3646. doi: 10.1364/BOE.460575. eCollection 2022 Jun 1.

Authors

Nhan Le^{1

2}, Jie Lu^{1

2}, Peijun Tang¹, Kwok-Hung Chung³, Hrebesh Subhash⁴, LaTonya Kilpatrick-Liverman⁴, Ruikang K Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
² These authors contributed equally to this work.
³ Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁴ Colgate-Palmolive Company, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.

Abstract

There remains a clinical need for an accurate and non-invasive imaging tool for intraoral evaluation of dental conditions. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a potential candidate to meet this need, but the design of current OCT systems limits their utility in the intraoral examinations. The inclusion of light-induced autofluorescence (LIAF) can expedite the image collection process and provides a large field of view for viewing the condition of oral tissues. This study describes a novel LIAF-OCT system equipped with a handheld probe designed for intraoral examination of microstructural (via OCT) and microvascular information (via OCT angiography, OCTA). The handheld probe is optimized for use in clinical studies, maintaining the ability to detect and image changes in the condition of oral tissue (e.g., hard tissue damage, presence of dental restorations, plaque, and tooth stains). The real-time LIAF provides guidance for OCT imaging to achieve a field of view of approximately 6.9 mm × 7.8 mm, and a penetration depth of 1.5 mm to 3 mm depending on the scattering property of the target oral tissue. We demonstrate that the proposed system is successful in capturing reliable depth-resolved images from occlusal and palatal surfaces and offers added design features that can enhance its usability in clinical settings.