From the ArcaMax Publishing, Science & Technology Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/technology/s-399708-733267
TAMIL NADU, India (UPI) -- Scientists in India say they have developed
an X-ray technique that can detect very early signs of dental caries.
R. Siva Kumar and colleagues at RMK Engineering College in Tamil Nadu,
say dental caries, known colloquially as tooth decay or dental
cavities, is an infectious disease that damages teeth, causes
toothache, tooth loss, infection and, in severe cases, death.
Detecting caries in the early stages of development is difficult. But
researchers have developed an X-ray image software that reveals the
pixel intensities at different X-ray wavelengths, much like the
histogram analysis of images by a high-specification digital camera.
Kumar said the newly developed software reveals the X-ray histogram
and spectrum are very different depending on whether the teeth X-rayed
are normal or exhibiting the early stages of decay. The researchers
found that, in the X-ray histogram, the pixel intensities are
concentrated in different ranges depending on degree of decay.
The scientists say their new technique could be very useful for dental
clinicians and could be extended using neural networks to
automatically identify the different stages of dental caries.
The research is reported in the International Journal of Biomedical
Engineering and Technology.