title: Longitudinal correlation of 3D OCT to detect early stage erosion in bovine enamel.
abstract: Erosive tissue-loss in dental enamel is of significant clinical concern because the net loss of enamel is irreversible, however, initial erosion is reversible. Micro-hardness testing is a standard method for measuring initial erosion, but its invasive nature has led to the investigation of alternative measurement techniques. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an attractive alternative because of its ability to non-invasively image three-dimensional volumes. In this study, a four-dimensional OCT system is used to longitudinally measure bovine enamel undergoing a continuous erosive challenge. A new method of analyzing 3D OCT volumes is introduced that compares intensity projections of the specimen surface by calculating the slope of a linear regression line between corresponding pixel intensities and the associated correlation coefficient. The OCT correlation measurements are compared to micro-hardness data and found to exhibit a linear relationship. The results show that this method is a sensitive technique for the investigation of the formation of early stage erosive lesions.
authors.affiliation: Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, E1 1BB, UK.
authors.forename: Abdirahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aden
authors.affiliation: Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, E1 1BB, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: GSK Consumer Healthcare, St. Georges Avenue, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0DE, UK.
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Burnett
authors.affiliation: GSK Consumer Healthcare, St. Georges Avenue, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0DE, UK.
authors.forename: Richard J M
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, E1 1BB, UK.
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Tomlins
keywords: (100.0100) Image processing; (110.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (120.0120) Instrumentation, measurement, and metrology; (120.3890) Medical optics instrumentation; (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology; (170.1850) Dentistry