title: Raman imaging of carious lesions using a hollow optical fiber probe.
abstract: Raman spectroscopy using a hollow optical fiber probe with a glass ball lens at the distal end is proposed for detection of early caries lesions. Raman spectroscopy on carious lesions of extracted teeth showed that the probe enables measurement with a high signal-to-noise ratio when combined with a ball lens with a high refractive index. The proposed probe and lens combination detects changes in Raman spectra caused by morphological differences between sound and carious enamel. We also obtained a high-contrast image of an early carious lesion by scanning the tooth surface with the probe.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 05 Aoba, Sendai 9808579, Japan.
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakino
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuura
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000473:pathology*; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007909:Lenses; D055100:Optical Fibers; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation*