title: Noninvasive Assessment of Early Dental Lesion Using a Dual-Contrast Photoacoustic Tomography.
abstract: Dental hard tissue lesions, including caries, cracked-tooth, etc., are the most prevalent diseases of people worldwide. Dental lesions and correlative diseases greatly decrease the life quality of patients throughout their lifetime. It is still hard to noninvasively detect these dental lesions in their early stages. Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging hybrid technology combining the high spatial resolution of ultrasound in deep tissue with the rich optical contrasts. In this study, a dual-contrast photoacoustic tomography is applied to detect the early dental lesions. One contrast, named B-mode, is related to the optical absorption. It is good at providing the sharp image about the morphological and macro-structural features of the teeth. Another contrast, named S-mode, is associated with the micro-structural and mechanical properties of the hard tissue. It is sensitive to the change of tissue properties induced by the early dental lesions. Experiments show that the comprehensive analysis of dual-contrast information can provide reliable information of the early dental lesions. Moreover, the imaging parameter of S-mode is device-independent and it could measure tissue properties quantitatively. We expect that the proposed scheme could be beneficial for improving safety, accuracy and sensitivity of the clinical diagnosis of the dental lesion.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Renxiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, China.
authors.forename: Jiuyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014070:Tooth / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery