Full-mouth photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging of the periodontal pocket with a compact intraoral transducer

Abstract

Periodontitis is a public issue and imaging periodontal pocket is important to evaluate periodontitis. Regular linear transducers have limitations in imaging the posterior teeth due to their geometry restrictions. Here we characterized a transducer that can image the entire human mouth including assessment of periodontal pockets via a combination of photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging. Unlike conventional transducer design, this device has a toothbrush-shaped form factor with a side-view transducer to image molars (total size: 1 x 1.9 cm). A laser diode was integrated as the light source to reduce the cost and size and facilitates clinical transition. The in vivo imaging of a molar of a periodontal patient demonstrated that the transducer could image in the posterior area of gum in vivo; the value determined by imaging was within 7% of the value measured clinically.

Dual-modal photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging: from preclinical to clinical applications

“…Given that deeper periodontal probing depths and gingival inflammation are the most common biomarkers of the disease, PA/US is investigated as a potential noninvasive approach. To address the lack of blood supply in the periodontal site, Fu et al, 2022 explored the usage of a contrast agent derived from cuttlefish ink to distinguish the periodontal site from the surrounding soft tissue for functional imaging. The feasibility of this contrast agent was verified in human teeth located at the distobuccal, mesiobuccal, and buccal sites (Moore et al, 2018).…”