NHI-Imaging Diagnostics of Dental Diseases and Conditions (Caries, Periodontal Disease, Cracked Teeth, and Pulp Vitality) SBIR R43/R44 (PA 12 195)

MY NOTE: This link was  reposted in the last five hours, so I don't know if the deadline for applicants has been expanded or not.
I posted it because, I had not seen it before. 

http://www.usgrants.org/opportunity/imaging-diagnostics-of-dental-diseases-and-conditions-caries-periodontal-disease-cracked-teeth-and-pulp-vitality-sbir-r43r44/4350

The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Imaging Diagnostics of Dental Diseases and Conditions (Caries, Periodontal Disease, Cracked Teeth, and Pulp Vitality) SBIR R43/R44" and is now available to receive applicants.

Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research.

This funding opportunity was created on Jun 4, 2012 and posted on Jun 4, 2012.

Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 5, 2015.

Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Full Funding Opportunity Description:

The intent of this SBIR initiative is to accelerate the advanced development and clinical implementation of reliable, reproducible, highly specific and sensitive imaging diagnostic devices for dental caries, periodontal disease, cracked teeth, and pulp vitality.

These new devices must demonstrate superior specificity and sensitivity compared with current diagnostic methods, such as the visual/tactile/radiographic examination for detection of caries, while not increasing health risks for patients.

Approaches that could be explored include, but are not limited to optical coherence tomography (OCT) with or without Raman spectroscopy, MRI image analysis, electrical conductivity measurement (ECM), quantitative laser fluorescence (QLF), alternating current impedance spectroscopy, multi photon imaging, infrared thermography, infrared fluorescence (IR), ultrasound, and terahertz imaging.

The development of novel modalities is also encouraged.

Abstract-Characterization of primary and permanent teeth using terahertz spectroscopy.

Kamburoğlu K1, Yetimoĝlu NÖ, Altan H.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24940807

• 11 Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: 

To analyse teeth samples by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system that was developed in the laboratory to measure the properties of sliced teeth sections in transmission mode.

METHODS: 

Using home-built THz-TDS system, we analysed a total of 25 teeth samples (9 primary and 16 permanent teeth). For transmission measurements, the refractive index and absorptive properties of the teeth sections were calculated. Difference between groups was tested using Mann-Whitney U-test statistics at the specific frequency of 0.5 THz, which was at the midpoint of the bandwidth. Median and minimum-maximum values were given as descriptive statistics. Type-I error rate was taken as α = 0.05.

RESULTS: 

Median refractive index values for permanent and primary teeth were found to be 2.53 and 2.54, respectively. Median absorption coefficient values for permanent and primary teeth were found to be 26.29 and 29.67, respectively. Median refractive index values for both healthy and carious teeth were found to be 2.54. Median absorption coefficient values for healthy and carious teeth were found to be 26.52 and 27.13, respectively. Although higher median absorption coefficient values were found for primary and carious teeth than those of permanent and healthy teeth, the differences were insignificant (p > 0.05). In addition, no statistical differences were found for refractive index values among different groups (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: 

THz imaging has the potential to be used in assessing dental structures.

Assessment of Enamel Demineralisation and Remineralisation using Terahertz Pulsed Imaging

Saturday, June 28, 2014: 8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Location: Ballroom East (CTICC Convention Center)
Presentation Type: Oral Session

https://iadr.confex.com/iadr/14iags/webprogram/Paper189313.html

D. CHURCHLEY¹, F. LIPPERT², A. BUTLER¹, A. PORTIERI³, and R.J.M. LYNCH¹, ¹GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Weybridge, England, ²Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, IN, ³TeraView Ltd, Cambridge, England

Objective: Transverse micro-radiography (TMR) is the “gold standard” for measuring mineral changes in enamel; however, it is destructive in nature. The aim of this study was to compare Terahertz Pulsed Imaging (TPI), a non-destructive technique, with TMR for measuring mineral changes in enamel.
Methods: Lesions with diverse mineral characteristics were created in bovine and human enamel blocks (n=48 per enamel type) using three demineralising systems (MeC, Carbopol C907 & HEC).  Specimens were assigned to two treatment groups (n=24 per enamel type per group): Group 1: remineralisation for 5 days (1.5mM CaCl₂.2H₂O, 0.9mM KH₂PO₄, 20mM HEPES and 130mM KCl) Group 2: demineralisation for 2 days (50mM acetic acid, 2.25mM CaCl₂.2H₂O, 1.35mM KH₂PO₄, 130mM KCl and 5ppm F).  Lesions were imaged using a TPI imaga 1000. Reflection data were used to generate lesion mineral profiles.   Lesions were also radiographed.  For both techniques the integrated mineral loss (ΔZ), lesion depth (L), change in mineral content (ΔM), and change in lesion depth (ΔL) were calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for the combined data set as well as by enamel type, treatment and lesion type.
Results: The table shows the Pearson correlation coefficients.  There is generally a good association (Pearson coefficients ≥ 0.70) between TPI and TMR measurements for most variables.

Variable	Combined	Enamel Type		Treatment		Lesion Type
		Bovine	Human	Demin	Remin	MeC	C907	HEC
ΔZ(baseline)	0.66	0.69	0.65	0.59	0.81	0.28	0.74	0.47
ΔZ(post-treatment)	0.84	0.92	0.71	0.78	0.83	0.82	0.82	0.77
ΔM	0.75	0.84	0.58	0.55	0.52	0.80	0.72	0.70
L(baseline)	0.79	0.77	0.80	0.76	0.87	0.19	0.75	0.20
L(post-treatment)	0.88	0.95	0.77	0.75	0.73	0.97	0.87	0.78
ΔL	0.84	0.93	0.65	0.49	0.51	0.94	0.80	0.82

Conclusions:   Whilst these initial findings demonstrate that TPI could be a useful technique for the non-destructive assessment of enamel mineral changes; further evaluation is required.

Focus on MelVitas- A new generation of multifunctional diagnosing tool for dentists

My Note: I came across this interesting company which touts it's non- ionizing inspection of teeth
http://www.melvitas.com

                                                        Linnea Wikman, Moa Persson, Linda Rönn,

Product

MelVitas develops a new diagnostic tool with the ambition to detect the very first stage of demineralisation of the enamel which enables a much earlier and more efficient treatment of caries. The product is based upon a technology developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology. MelVitas is planning to participate in two validation studies designed by Karolinska Institutet and Sahlgrenska during   year 2014 in order to verify the technical performance. 

The patented technology is based upon a sub millimeter wave near field radar. Its specific properties allow to distinguish the smallest differences in dielectric behavior of matter on micrometer scale. It will be a handheld tool with the size of an electric toothbrush that is easy to use for dental professionals during examinations.

About Melvitas

MelVitas is a Gothenburg based medtech start-up with the vision to increase awareness in society about the importance of good oral health and how it affects overall health.

MelVitas aim to achieve the vision by increasing communication between medical and dental professionals and developing diagnostic tools that enables earlier caries detection.  

One of the most common infections today is caries, affecting a majority of all people at some point. If caries is identified early, it is possible to eliminate further complications and the problem can be solved with easy treatments. The major challenge is that many individuals do not get precise diagnoses in time. Additionally, research has shown that bad oral health can lead to increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, one of the most growing problems in today’s society.

MelVitas work for greater awareness concerning the importance of good oral health and better communication between dental professionals and other medical disciplines.

MelVitas is driven by three business developers at Chalmers’ Encubator together with the idea partner Chalmers Industri Teknik. The project started in 2013 and originates from researches at Chalmers. MelVitas has an exclusive license on the patents and is now optimizing the technology in order to participate in clinical trials (in vitro and in vivo) during 2014.

Our vision is to deliver a new generation diagnostic tool that simplifies the dentist’s daily work and optimises patient safety and comfort during examinations. Currently MelVitas focus on product development and finding future collaboration partners. We are interested in talking to:

• people with a genuine interest in how oral health affects overall health
• people with an interest in increasing awareness of oral health and dentistry in society.
• people with extensive knowledge in dental cariesdiagnoses and/or treatment.
• Companies that develop, produce or sell dental diagnostic equipment/dental imaging equipment/caries preventive products.

Currently, we have a collaboration and a regular exchange of knowledge with the researchers Álfheiður Ástvaldsdóttir, DDS Cariology (Karolinska Institutet) and Agneta Lith, DDS Radiology (Sahlgrenska). 

TeTechS blog-Terahertz imaging applications in cancer detection and dental imaging

http://www.tetechs.com/blog/

Terahertz imaging applications in cancer detection and dental imaging

Posted by Alireza Zandieh on Monday, 13 January 2014 in Terahertz

As a consequence of extensive research over the last decade, the Terahertz(THz) technology has advanced considerably. Significant amount of research is conducting on application of THz imaging in biological problems as unique properties of THz technology can address many unresolved issues in this area. Compared to X-ray imaging, THz wave can realize a non-invasive and non-ionizing imaging for biological tissues due to its low photon energy. The scattering effect is also reduced considerably as the size of the scattering particles in biological tissues is much smaller than THz wavelength range (3-100um). This effect along with the inherent small wavelength of THz waves makes the spatial resolution of 250um laterally and 20um axially easily achievable. Additionally, coherent detection technique (which measures the amplitude and the phase of THz signal) in THz imaging provides precise information on the material properties such as refractive index and absorption coefficient over the THz range frequency. Since these properties depend on the chemical content of the biological cells, monitoring them can be used for medical diagnosis and examine the condition of biological cells.

Two main applications of THz imaging are dental carries detection and cancer detection. Early erosion in tooth through radiography is hard to diagnose, but THz imaging can be applied to detect the early carries through characterizing the properties of different tooth layers (enamel and dentine). The indication of early carries is the change in refractive index of enamel which is resulted from mineral loss in this layer. THz imaging has shown a great potential to be an alternative to x-ray for dental imaging. However, as a consequence of substantial attenuation of THz wave in an actual tooth, most of the researches have been conducted on characterization of a thin slice or on the surface of the tooth. This issue originates from irregular shape of the tooth, thick tooth layers (few millimeters in total), and high absorption coefficient of composed materials (varies from 2dB/mm to 4dB/mm). Therefore, to develop a THz dental imaging system, a high power, compact and affordable THz source is essential.

Skin cancer and breast cancer detection can be considered as other applications of THz imaging. Since skin is a superficial layer, it can be a suitable target for THz imaging in a reflection measurement configuration. In skin structure, the basal layer lies against the dermis, innermost layer. Studies have shown that too much UV exposure to this layer can transform it to cancerous cells. Compared to the normal cells, the cancerous cells show an increase in the interstitial water or a change in the vibrational modes of their water molecules; therefore, THz imaging can be utilized to evaluate the boundary and infiltration depth of skin cancer. Breast cancer can also be a suitable target for THz imaging as the breast is mostly composed of low water content fat tissues.  In breast cancer cases, there is an essential need to identify accurately tumor margin to avoid second breast-conserving surgery. The available technologies are incapable of accurate detection and up to 55% of the cases need the second operation. The high sensitivity of THz absorption to water density can be exploited for breast cancer detection as the cancerous cells contain more water compared with the normal fat tissues.

Although THz medical imaging has demonstrated a great potential and some commercial THz systems have been developed for medical applications, the THz medical imaging is still in its early stages and more research should be conducted to enable this technology to compete with other alternative imaging techniques.

TERAHERTZ DENTAL

My Note: The innovations in THz, continue to explode. I just came across this page on the net.
http://www.encubator.com/ventures/terahertz-dental/

• Stages: Innovation Project in incubator
• Contact +46 (0) 761-761809

A new generation of multifunctional diagnosing tool for dentists

Terahertz Dental develops a diagnostic tool that supports dental professionals to perform secure and reliable examinations which enable instant treatments.

Dental caries is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world and affects 90 % of all people. The patented technology outperforms current diagnosing methods and is not based on the harmful ionizing radiation which is used today.

Terahertz Dental offers a method for increased patient comfort and possibilities to improve oral health.

Postal adress

Vera Sandbergs Allé 8 SE-41296 Gothenburg Sweden

Encubator AB

Email: info@encubator.com
Phone: +46 31 772 81 02

Visiting adress

Vera Sandbergs Allé 8
411 33 Gothenburg

TeTechS starts terahertz blog

My Note: I found, yet another THz blog, this one on the TeTechS webpage, and I am sharing one of the posts below. 
http://www.tetechs.com/blog/

Terahertz Imaging is viable alternative to X-ray for Dental Imaging

Posted by Daniel Hailu on Thursday, 08 August 2013 in Terahertz

The terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum has several advantages for skin cancer detection, dental imaging, and pharmaceutical applications. Continuous wave (CW) and pulsed THz transmission-mode and reflection-mode imaging with nonionizing and noninvasive properties for tooth imaging are considered an alternative modality to X-ray imaging. Dental imaging application of THz imaging exploits the change in the refractive index between dental caries and enamel and/or dentine tissues. Dental caries or tooth decay is the most common human disease, and there is currently no sensitive or accurate means for detecting it using X-rays in its early stages, when tissue damage can be minimized or even reversed. The shortfalls of existing clinical tools are compounded by the fact that some dentists do not regularly assess patients for caries with X-rays owing to fears associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. One needs to go the dentist every six month to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation.These fears are even more serious when it comes to children.

Terahertz rays use for tooth imaging have been in the news for more than a decade. Terahertz rays are viable option for in vivo imaging of dental carries.Interest in biomedical applications has been increasing since the first introduction of THz pulsed imaging (TPI) in 1995 by Hu and Nuss. Their THz images of porcine tissue demonstrated a contrast between muscle and fats. This initial study promoted later research on the application of THz imaging to other biological samples. THz pulsed imaging actually can be viewed as an extension of the THz-Time domain spectroscopy (TDS) method. T-rays have longer wavelength than X-rays resulting in less scattering when passing through tooth samples.Terahertz imaging offers a non-invasive non-ionising alternative to x-rays and additionally provides higher contrast in clinical diagnosis.

THz imaging involves in vivo imaging of the tooth to examine surface features and employs reflection geometry THz probe used for THz reflection from the outer layer of enamel. Terahertz Pulsed Imaging system is one such system that distinguishs between the different types of tissue in a human tooth; detect caries at an early stage in the enamel layers of human teeth and monitor early erosion of the enamel at the surface of the tooth . Caries are a result of mineral loss from enamel, and this causes a change in refractive index within the enamel. The change in refractive index means that small lesions, smaller than those detected by the naked eye, can be detected. However, in practice THz imaging systems are large and cumbersome - even structures as obvious as teeth can make a challenging target. In this respect THz imaging is still some way off offering a non-ionizing alternative to X-rays in dentistry.But the design of compact THz sources and detectors such as photoconductive antennas at 800 nm and 1550 nm, which can come close to tooth, along with the advantage of THz imaging to detect early onset of decay and enamel erosion, material characterization and use of improved THz TDS 3D imaging techniques based on radar techniques make it possible for a viable tool for dentists.