Mezawa S, Kawato T, Yoshida K, Nozaki H, Saito T, Tamura K, Onozawa M
Department of Endodontics, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan.
J Oral Sci. 1999 Dec;41(4):191-7. doi: 10.2334/josnusd.41.191.
In recent years, ultrasonic waves have been an interesting subject for studies due to their wide range of applications in medical diagnoses. In this study, the acoustic properties of the structure of human teeth was determined with the ultrasonic imaging technique. This study may offer some fundamental findings related to the clinical application of the ultrasonic imaging technique in the further development of a virtual system for dental education and research. Twenty freshly-extracted permanent human teeth (10 molars and 10 premolars) were used to investigate their acoustic velocity and impedance by the ultrasonic image analyzing system with a high-resolution focusing probe. Additionally, the relationship between the acoustic properties and the hardness of the teeth was evaluated. It was found that the acoustic properties of the human teeth were influenced by factors related to their structure, such as degree of calcification, distribution of dentinal tubules, and volume of the dentin matrix. The acoustic velocity and impedance showed an apparent correspondence to the hardness of tooth. This analyzing system provides visual information related to tooth structure that can easily quantitatively evaluate their acoustic properties. It is expected that this system will have a wide range of applications and be further developed for clinical uses.
近年来，由于超声波在医学诊断中的广泛应用，它一直是一个有趣的研究课题。在本研究中，利用超声成像技术测定了人类牙齿结构的声学特性。这项研究可能会为超声成像技术在牙科教育和研究虚拟系统的进一步发展中的临床应用提供一些基础发现。使用二十颗新鲜拔除的人类恒牙（10颗磨牙和10颗前磨牙），通过带有高分辨率聚焦探头的超声图像分析系统来研究它们的声速和阻抗。此外，还评估了声学特性与牙齿硬度之间的关系。结果发现，人类牙齿的声学特性受到与其结构相关的因素影响，如钙化程度、牙本质小管分布和牙本质基质体积。声速和阻抗与牙齿硬度呈现出明显的对应关系。该分析系统提供了与牙齿结构相关的视觉信息，能够轻松地定量评估其声学特性。预计该系统将有广泛的应用，并进一步开发用于临床。
