###Transforming dental imaging using optical coherence tomography
Project ID: 2228bd1031 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies
UCL Lead department: Eastman Dental Institute
Lead Supervisor: Francesco D’Aiuto
Project Summary:
This project will use Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to revolutionize dentistry, which urgently needs superior in vivo imaging. For example, although dental caries affects more than 90% of adults, the current gold standard of visual inspection and X-ray radiography detects only around 67% of caries. In another example, diagnosis of gum diseases is currently performed by visual inspection using an error-prone, invasive, technique which measures the amount of gum loss around teeth.
OCT is a high resolution, three-dimensional, non-ionizing, imaging technique widely used in ophthalmology. It is highly sensitive to subtle changes in soft and hard tissue microstructure which allows for earlier detection of dental disease, monitoring treatment responses over shorter time scales and enables personalized treatments.
The project will be undertaken in combination with the Computational Optics Group, in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, and the Periodontology Unit at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute (EDI), a center of excellence for post-graduate education and clinical research in Periodontology.
Research at the EDI has revealed promising evidence regarding the clinical use of OCT in the oral cavity. This project seeks to translate OCT into a routine clinical tool through four primary objectives: work with clinicians to optimize the oct hardware and establish an imaging protocol; develop an imaging segmentation and analysis software tool for the oral cavity; investigate the use of quantitative approaches to OCT imaging and, finally, demonstrate these objectives in a clinical environment.
in three steps: identify the most promising clinical applications; optimizing hardware and imaging protocols; and developing bespoke image analysis tools. This work will be key to OCT becoming a mainstream imaging tool in general dentistry.
Applicants should have a 2:1(or non-UK equivalent) or higher in an engineering or physical sciences related discipline. A background in optics and computer programming will be advantageous.