A dual handheld SWIR transillumination/reflectance probe for imaging lesions on tooth occlusal and proximal surfaces

We developed a clinical probe capable of acquiring simultaneous short wavelength infrared (SWIR) reflectance and occlusal transillumination images of lesions on tooth proximal and occlusal surfaces to reduce the potential of false positives. The dual probe is 3D-printed and the imaging system uses a Ge-enhanced camera and fiber-optic light sources that use SWIR light at 1300-nm for occlusal transillumination and SWIR 1450-nm light for reflectance measurements. The purpose of this study was to test the performance of the probe on extracted teeth prior to commencing clinical studies. The dual probe was used to image extracted teeth with proximal and occlusal lesions. SWIR images of each tooth were compared with micro-CT images to assess performance.