Intra-oral 3D X-ray imaging to localise structures and characterise tissue

Everyone you know will have had a dental X-ray at some point. If you have ever had the chance or inclination to look at the acquired image, you will have seen they are difficult to read due to the fact they are a 'shadow-gram' of the full depth of the tooth, so the feature you are seeking to identify is obstructed by the over-lying tissue. As importantly the detector (typically 4 x 6cm) is illuminated by one single X-ray emitter with a diverging cone beam, so if there are two features the same size, the one further from the detector appears bigger. The outcome of this is that from a conventional 2D image it is not possible to quantify any features in terms of size. Finally, the lack of images from multiple points means that the feature cannot be characterised in terms of density, which is important if you are attempting to understand if tissue varies from that surrounding it. In Breast Imaging, and now in General Radiology, these problems are now being solved using 'Tomosynthesis' or 'Partial Sweep Tomography' which gives image resolution and characterisation approaching that of Computer Tomography (known as a 'CT' or 'CAT Scan'), but at a fraction of the X-ray dose and equipment cost. Adaptix, a company that was incubated in the European Space Agency incubator at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is seeking to apply Tomosynthesis to Dental Imaging to give your dentist the ability to: discriminate the position of a molar root relative to the nerve canal prior to an extraction; identify vertical root fractures that cannot be seen using 2D imaging; and (it is hoped), characterise dental caries ('tooth decay').