The University of Manchester, Dental Health Unit, School of Dentistry, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
J Biomed Opt. 2009 Nov-Dec;14(6):064047. doi: 10.1117/1.3275480.
Near-infrared (NIR) is preferred for caries detection compared to visible light imaging because it exhibits low absorption by stain and deeper penetration into teeth. Hyperspectral images from 1000 to 2500 nm have been obtained for a total of 12 extracted teeth (premolars and molars) with different degrees of natural lesion. Analysis of the reflectance spectra suggests that light scattering by porous enamel and absorption by water in dentin can be used to quantify the lesion severity and generate a NIR caries score. Teeth were ground for histological examination after the measurements. The NIR caries score obtained correlates significantly (Spearman's correlation of 0.89, p<0.01) with the corresponding histological score. Results yield a sensitivity of >99% and a specificity of 87.5% for enamel lesions and a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity >99% for dentine lesions. The nature of the technique offers significant advantages, including the ability to map the lesion distribution rather than obtaining single-point measurements, it is also noninvasive, noncontact, and stain insensitive. These results suggest that NIR spectral imaging is a potential clinical technique for quantitative caries diagnosis and can determine the presence of occlusal enamel and dentin lesions.
近红外（NIR）光由于其较低的染色吸收和更深的牙齿穿透性，比可见光成象更适合龋病检测。我们从 1000nm 到 2500nm 获得了 12 颗不同程度自然病变的离体牙（前磨牙和磨牙）的高光谱图像。对反射光谱的分析表明，多孔釉质的光散射和牙本质中水的吸收可用于定量病变的严重程度并生成近红外龋病评分。在测量后，牙齿被研磨用于组织学检查。所获得的近红外龋病评分与相应的组织学评分显著相关（Spearman 相关系数为 0.89，p<0.01）。结果显示，对于釉质病变，灵敏度>99%，特异性 87.5%，对于牙本质病变，灵敏度 80%，特异性>99%。该技术具有显著优势，包括能够绘制病变分布而不是获取单点测量值，还具有非侵入性、非接触性和对染色不敏感等特点。这些结果表明，近红外光谱成像是一种用于定量龋病诊断的潜在临床技术，可确定窝沟釉质和牙本质病变的存在。
