Description:
Reference Number:1644
Background
With recent discoveries in the way that dental disease develops, the desire
for the dentist to be able to detect, and subsequently diagnose, early caries
has increased significantly. In the case of early lesions the initial loss of
mineral from the tooth can frequently be reversed and through the use of good
oral hygiene and fluoride the tooth can 'heal itself' and is frequently then
more resistant to further attack.
Technology
By adapting technology originally developed for the telecommunications
industry the Institute of Photonics has built a confocal microscope suitable for
use in the oral cavity. By utilising low cost laser diodes and optical fibres
the instrument is capable of recording depth profiles through a lesion. The
resulting curves can then be analysed and the depth and state of
de-mineralisation within the lesion determined.For treatment to be effective the
disease needs to be detected and diagnosed (are the lesions growing or
remineralising) as early as possible. Dentists, through their eyes, have always
used the optical properties of teeth for diagnosis but the challenge to an
optical physicist is to quantify and classify the lesion. Although X-rays can
help, generally, if a lesion is visible by X-rays it has progressed beyond the
point of self-healing.
Key Benefits
- Superior detection compared to dentists' eyes (early lesions appear as
white spots on a white background)
- Provides diagnosis as well as detection for efficient treatment plans
- Suitable for inter-proximal, lingual and bucal lesions
- Earlier detection than X-rays, will reduce number of fillings required
- Suitable for imaging of every tooth at every visit (inadvisable and
expensive with X-ray)
- The capital equipment is not expensive and avoids the costs of
photographic plates and chemical processing required for dental X-rays
- Safer for dentist and dental staff as they will be exposed to fewer X-rays
Markets and Applications
This is clearly aimed at the early diagnosis of lesions and caries in teeth.
Ideally this would be used by every dentist for every routine check-up. There
are approximately 21,000 dentists in general practise in the UK alone. Devices
could be sold as capital equipment or offered on free lease with charges made
per image captured. The most likely model would be to offer the equipment at
minimal cost to the user and generate revenue through the sale of the necessary
sterile, single-use disposable tips. The instrument also has applications to
other areas of the body and through the use of different light source
fluorescence detection can be used if more applicable for the disease of
interest, thus providing a product pipeline.
Licensing and Development
The commercialisation route for this would be a mix of possible company
start-up or licensing of the technology to interested parties around the
world.
For further information, please contact Research & Knowledge Exchange
Services:
e: rkes@strath.ac.uk t: 0141 548 3707 f: 0141 552
4409