Publications (2)4.57 Total impact
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Article: Polarization memory effect in optical coherence tomography and dental imaging application.
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ABSTRACT: We report the existence of polarization memory effect (PME) in optical coherence tomography and investigate its potential applications in dental imaging. We performed the study in three steps. First, microsphere scattering phantoms of different sizes were imaged in order to validate experimental results with PME theory. Both linearly and circularly polarized light were used to probe the samples. Second, healthy tooth samples were scanned and polarization memory effect was identified in dentin. In this step, specific verification and signal processing were performed to rule out possible image interpretation by birefringence effect. Third, we evaluated dentin demineralization with PME. Results show polarization memory can be useful to characterize this dynamic mineralization process for early caries detection and rehabilitation.Journal of Biomedical Optics 08/2011; 16(8):086005. · 3.16 Impact Factor -
Article: Characterization of dentin, enamel, and carious lesions by a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system.
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ABSTRACT: Enamel and dentin are the primary components of human teeth. Both of them have a strong polarization effect. We designed a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PSOCT) system to study the spatially resolved scattering and polarization phenomena of teeth. The system is constructed in free space to avoid the complexity of polarization control in fiber-based PSOCT. The structural features of enamel were evaluated in five human teeth that had no visible evidence of caries. The teeth were subsequently sectioned in mesial distal orientation and coronal orientation. Then the structural aspects of dentin were evaluated. OCT images were made of the mantel dentin near the dentin-enamel junction. Five teeth with interproximal and occlusal caries were also studied. With two channel and phase-retardation images, PSOCT provided better functional contrast and more detailed structural information than conventional OCT. For a better description of the measured PSOCT data, we classify these features by two types, i.e., the local textural features and the global structural features. This study indicates that PSOCT has the potential to be a powerful tool for research of dental formation and caries diagnosis.Applied Optics 05/2005; 44(11):2041-8. · 1.41 Impact Factor
