Design and testing of prototype handheld scanning probes for optical coherence tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optoelectronics
• Dental Materials Science

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables high-resolution, non-contact, and non-destructive imaging.
• Existing OCT probes may lack accessibility or ergonomic design for certain clinical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present three simple, low-cost handheld scanning probe configurations for OCT.
• To detail designs for easy duplication in research and clinical settings.
• To evaluate probe performance in dental applications.

Main Methods:

• Construction of three handheld OCT probe configurations using off-the-shelf components.
• Detailed documentation of designs for laboratory replication.
• Ex vivo testing of probes with a spectral domain OCT system for dental constructs.
• Previous in vivo and ex vivo testing for ear, nose, and throat applications with a swept source OCT system.

Main Results:

• Successful development of three distinct handheld OCT probe designs.
• Demonstration of probe usability and performance in dental material quality assessment.
• Validation of probe designs for both educational and clinical investigation levels.

Conclusions:

• The developed handheld OCT probes are versatile, cost-effective, and suitable for various applications.
• The designs facilitate replication, promoting wider adoption of OCT in research and clinical practice.
• The probes enable detailed, real-time, non-destructive evaluation of dental materials.