Enabling Effortless Imaging of Dental Structures Utilizing Ultrasound

Abstract

Periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Diagnosis of periodontal disease varies from visual inspection to invasive probing of the gums. In this master thesis the goal is to enable the use of ultrasound imaging to assist in diagnosis and classification of periodontal disease. Utilizing ultrasound could allow for a non-invasive, simple andp ainless imaging technique. Through dialog with dental and ultrasound experts the latest equipment and knowledge was sourced. As there has not been any widespread use of ultrasound in dental imaging, a novel sleeve system for in vivo imaging has been developed to further investigate the potential of ultrasound. Utilizing the sleeve resulted in improvedimage quality that could not be matched by modern post-processing algorithms. The dentalstructure can be clearly seen, but to further investigate the possibilities a clinical trial isrequired to acquire images of unhealthy periodontium. The main objective of this thesis isto advance the knowledge about ultrasound in dental imaging, and be as a stepping stonebetween the initial idea and the start of a research project at NTNU.