Dental optical coherence tomography: a comparison of two in vitro systems

Abstract

Objective: To compare the imaging results obtained with two different in vitro prototype dental optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems.

Methods: Two prototypes were evaluated: an 850 nm wavelength, 700 microW OCT system with a relatively low numerical aperture (0.03) and a 1310 nm wavelength, 140 microW system with a higher numerical aperture (0.20).

Results: Using the 850 nm system a characteristic scattering signal was observed that correlated with the depth of a periodontal probe. There was, however, insufficient light penetration to create images with adequate resolution. Improved image quality was achieved with the 1310 nm OCT system; these images had sufficient resolution to allow identification of anatomical structures important for the diagnostic assessment of oral structures.

Conclusions: These results illustrate the improvement in imaging dental structures that can be obtained with a prototype 1310 nm OCT system. The feasibility of OCT as a dental imaging technique is verified.