Near-infrared image-guided laser ablation of artificial caries lesions

You-Chen Tao; Kenneth Fan; Daniel Fried

doi:10.1117/12.714786

Abstract

Laser removal of dental hard tissue can be combined with optical, spectral or acoustic feedback systems to selectively ablate dental caries and restorative materials. Near-infrared (NIR) imaging has considerable potential for the optical discrimination of sound and demineralized tissue. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that two-dimensional NIR images of demineralized tooth surfaces can be used to guide CO₂ laser ablation for the selective removal of artificial caries lesions. Highly patterned artificial lesions were produced by submerging 5 x 5 mm² bovine enamel samples in demineralized solution for a 9-day period while sound areas were protected with acid resistant varnish. NIR imaging and polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) were used to acquire depth-resolved images at a wavelength of 1310-nm. An imaging processing module was developed to analyze the NIR images and to generate optical maps. The optical maps were used to control a CO₂ laser for the selective removal of the lesions at a uniform depth. This experiment showed that the patterned artificial lesions were removed selectively using the optical maps with minimal damage to sound enamel areas. Post-ablation NIR and PS-OCT imaging confirmed that demineralized areas were removed while sound enamel was conserved. This study successfully demonstrated that near-IR imaging can be integrated with a CO₂ laser ablation system for the selective removal of dental caries.

Citation Download Citation

You-Chen Tao, Kenneth Fan, Daniel Fried, "Near-infrared image-guided laser ablation of artificial caries lesions", Proc. SPIE 6425, Lasers in Dentistry XIII, 64250T (8 March 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.714786; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.714786

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