Automated dental fracture detection using high resolution CBCT and advanced image analysis

PROJECT SUMMARY Epidemiologic studies report that cracked teeth are the third most common cause for tooth loss in industrialized countriesAll cracks are colonized by bacteriawhich have the potential to cause pulpal and periapical diseasePain associated with these diseases is intense and is the most common reason for seeking emergency dental careCracked teeth present a complexdiagnostic dilemma since symptoms associated with cracked teeth are often discontinuous with periods of remissionIf left undetectedcracks continue to progress and ultimately result in tooth lossAvailable clinical tools used to detect cracks have limitations and often cannot determine the extent of the crackTo address this we propose to develop an open source software solution based onD Isotropic Steerable Wavelets that will accurately detect the presence and quantify cracks in any location and orientationThe work proposed will acreate a novel image analysis method and software solution forD tracing andD visualization of tooth cracks using high resolution CBCT and bperform validation of theD crack detection biomarkers on extracted human teethThe work proposed addresses a significant need for quantitativereproducible and evidence based techniques to detect and localize cracks on teethSuccessful completion of this Phase I proposal will result in a Phase II SBIR proposal focused on the clinical validation of the proposed methodology on different types of cracks in vivoThis will ultimately lead to a better understanding of this pathology and thus to better preventive strategies and improved tracking of the progression of cracks in patients PROJECT NARRATIVE Diagnosing cracked teeth is difficult with current diagnostic toolsand undetected cracks ultimately result in tooth lossWe will develop a software solution based onD Isotropic Steerable Wavelets that will accurately detect the presence of and quantify cracks in any location and orientationThis proposal addresses a significant need for quantitativereproducible and evidence based techniques to detect and localize cracks on teethThe outcome will be better preventive strategies and an improved tracking of the progression of cracksUltimately this will lead to targeted interventions and better clinical outcomes