KR20180032723A - Multimodal imaging system for dental structure/function imaging - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multimodal imaging system for intraoral imaging, capable of providing an optical tomographic image for acquiring a three-dimensional image of teeth and a fluorescent image for early diagnosis of tooth decay, fluorosis, etc. The multimodal imaging system comprises: a housing (101); a MEMS mirror (110) disposed in the housing (101) to reflect light to a test object; an optical fiber (120) disposed in the housing and configured to radiate the light toward the MEMS mirror and receive reflected light from the MEMS mirror; a scan lens (130) configured to condense the light reflected from the MEMS mirror (110) to radiate the light to the test object; an optical tomographic image detection unit (140) connected to the optical fiber (120) and configured to detect a tomographic image through coherent light detected from the test object; a lighting unit (210) provided adjacent to the scan lens (130) to radiate excitation light to the test object; a fluorescent image detection unit (220) disposed in the housing (110) and configured to detect a fluorescent image by detecting light generated from the test object through the lighting unit (210); an image processing unit (310) configured to receive signals detected by the optical tomographic image detection unit (140) and the fluorescent image detection unit (220) to perform image processing; and a composite image output unit (320) configured to combine and output the fluorescent image and a three-dimensional image of the test object processed and transmitted by the image processing unit (310).

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a multimodal imaging system for dental structure / function imaging,

The present invention relates to a composite imaging apparatus for oral cavity, and more particularly, to an optical tomographic image capable of acquiring a three-dimensional image of a tooth and a fluorescent image capable of early diagnosis such as tooth decay and fluorosis, And more particularly,

In the past few years, various diagnostic instruments have been developed to identify the early diagnosis of teeth and the interior of teeth. A typical dental diagnostic device is a diagnostic device using X-ray. However, in the case of X-ray, the harmfulness of radiation has been a problem. Since the resolution is poor, early detection of tooth diseases such as tooth decay and cracks is difficult, and images of the living tissue can not be obtained. However, it was difficult to diagnose the chewing surface of the tooth because it was difficult to diagnose the chewing surface of the tooth. Recently, applying an optical method to the dentist is an imaging device capable of early detection of tooth decay using fluorescence. This allows the early diagnosis of tooth decay and fluorosis by the method of entering the blue light source into the teeth and shaping the cavity and mineral changes using the fluorescence coming out. In addition, the optical tomographic imaging device can confirm the image of the inside of the tooth, not only the tooth cavity but also the crack, etc., as well as the image of the biotissue can be obtained, which is useful for early diagnosis of oral cancer It is expected to be used. It is possible to confirm the chewing surface of the tooth, and it is a new type of tooth diagnostic device. However, in order to detect the image of the inside of the tooth, it is required to develop a composite dental diagnostic device that combines fluorescence image and tomographic image for the development of a light probe that transmits light into the teeth and early detection of dental lesion on the tooth surface .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2014-0077633 (publication date: 2014.06.24)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical tomographic image capable of acquiring a three-dimensional image of a tooth and a fluorescence image capable of early diagnosis such as tooth decay, fluorosis, And to provide a composite image device having the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / functional image, comprising: a housing; A MEMS mirror housed in the housing to reflect light to a test object; An optical fiber housed in the housing and irradiated with light in the MEMS mirror direction and receiving reflected light from the MEMS mirror; A scan lens for condensing light reflected from the MEMS mirror and irradiating the light onto an object to be inspected; An optical tomographic image detector coupled to the optical fiber for detecting a tomographic image through interference light detected from an examination object; An illumination unit provided adjacent to the scan lens for irradiating excitation light to the object to be inspected; A fluorescent image detector for detecting fluorescence images stored in the housing and detecting light emitted from the inspection object through the illumination unit; An image processor for receiving the signals detected by the optical tomographic image detector and the fluorescence image detector and for image processing; And a complex image output unit for outputting the three-dimensional image of the inspection target object processed and transmitted by the image processing unit and the fluorescence image.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / functional image, comprising: a housing; A reflection mirror provided at an inner end of the housing; A scan lens provided at a front end of the reflection mirror for focusing the irradiation light; An illumination unit provided adjacent to the scan lens for irradiating excitation light to the object to be inspected; An optical fiber accommodated in the housing and irradiated with light and receiving reflected light generated in the inspection object; A fluorescence image detecting unit housed in the housing and detecting a fluorescence image generated in the examination subject by excitation light by the illumination unit; A dichroic mirror having a transmissive property with respect to light transmitted to the fluorescent image detecting unit and reflecting light transmitted to the optical fiber; A MEMS mirror housed in the housing for reflecting light between the optical fiber and the dichroic mirror; An optical tomographic image detector coupled to the optical fiber for detecting a tomographic image through interference light detected from an examination object; An image processor for receiving the signals detected by the optical tomographic image detector and the fluorescence image detector and for image processing; And a composite image output unit that combines and outputs a three-dimensional image and a fluorescent image of the inspection object processed and delivered by the image processing unit.

Preferably, the optical tomographic image detecting unit comprises: a wavelength variable light source unit for generating a wavelength variable light source; A first coupler for branching the light generated from the wavelength tunable light source; A reference light generator for converting the light split by the first coupler into reference light; A reflected light transmission unit that transmits the light split by the first coupler to the optical fiber and receives the reflected light generated from the inspection object through the optical fiber; And a second coupler for receiving light transmitted from the reference light generating unit and the reflected light transmitting unit to generate interference light.

More preferably, the reference light generator includes: a reference mirror; And a first circulator for receiving a part of the output light of the first coupler, transmitting the output light to the reference mirror, and transmitting the reflected reference light to the second coupler.

More preferably, the reflected light transmission unit includes a second circulator for receiving a part of the output light of the first coupler, transmitting the output light to the optical fiber, and transmitting the reflected light transmitted through the optical fiber to the second coupler do.

Preferably, the fluorescence image detecting unit includes a band-pass filter that transmits only the self fluorescence generated in the examination subject.

Preferably, the optical fiber has a collimator for converting emitted light into parallel light at a tip end thereof.

The composite imaging device for a tooth structure / functional image according to the present invention includes a miniaturized probe unit capable of acquiring a tomographic image and a fluorescence image at a position of the same inspection object and acquiring a tomographic image and a fluorescence image, It is possible to simultaneously provide information on functional images in which lesions can be found.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an optical tomographic image detecting unit in a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / functional image according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent image detecting unit in a compound imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image according to the present invention.
4 (a), (b) and (c) illustrate an image obtained by using a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / functional image according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
6 (a) and 6 (b) illustrate an operation example of a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The specific structure or functional description presented in the embodiment of the present invention is merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment according to the concept of the present invention, and embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. And should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the terms first and / or second etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited to the terms. The terms may be referred to as a second element only for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, for example, to the extent that it does not depart from the scope of the invention in accordance with the concept of the present invention, Similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

Whenever an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but it should be understood that other elements may be present in between something to do. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that an element is "directly connected" or "directly contacted" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. Other expressions for describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to" should also be interpreted.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms " comprises ", or "having ", and the like in the specification are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, But do not preclude the presence or addition of steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1, a composite imaging apparatus (hereinafter also abbreviated as "composite imaging apparatus") for a tooth structure / function image of the present invention includes a housing 101, a MEMS mirror 110 A scan lens 130, an illumination unit 210, and a fluorescence image detection unit 220. The probe unit 120 includes a probe unit 120,

The MEMS mirror 110 and the optical fiber 120 are accommodated in a hollow shape of the housing 101. The scan lens 130 and the illumination unit 210 are disposed at one end of the tip, .

The MEMS mirror 110 is an analog type micromirror or micromirror array formed by micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and is composed of a two-axis rotatable mirror including a control board So that a high-speed rotation (tilting) is possible with a large rotation angle, thereby obtaining a three-dimensional image.

The optical fiber 120 is accommodated in the housing 101 and is fixed to the housing 101. A separate fixing structure (not shown) for fixing the optical fiber 120 in the housing 101 may be provided. The optical fiber 120 is disposed so as to be irradiated in the direction of the MEMS mirror 110, and is connected to the optical tomographic image detector 140 to perform optical transmission.

A collimator 121 is provided at the tip of the optical fiber 120 so that the emitted light of the optical fiber 120 is converted into parallel light and the MEMS mirror 110 is irradiated with the collimated light.

The scan lens 130 focuses the light reflected from the MEMS mirror 110 and irradiates the inspection object (for example, the teeth) 1 and the reflected light from the inspection object 1 passes through the scan lens 130, And the MEMS mirror 110 to the optical fiber 120 and transmitted to the optical tomographic image detector 140.

The optical tomographic image detector 140 is connected to the optical fiber 120, and tomographic images are detected through the interference light detected from the inspection object. Preferably, the optical fiber 120 and the optical tomographic image detector 140 are connected by a detachable connector so that the probe unit and the optical tomographic image detector 140 can be separated from each other.

2 is a block diagram of an optical tomographic image detecting unit in a compound imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / functional image according to the present invention.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 2, the optical tomographic image detector 140 includes a wavelength variable light source 141 for generating a variable wavelength swept source, A first coupler 142 and a reference coupler 142. The coupler 142 includes a reference light generator for transmitting the light split by the first coupler 142 to the reference end to generate reference light, And a second coupler 143 for receiving the light transmitted from the reference light generating unit and the reflected light transmitting unit to generate interference light.

In this embodiment, the reference light generator includes a first circulator 144 which receives a part of the output light of the first coupler 142 and transmits the same to the reference end and transmits the reference light generated in the reference end to the second coupler 143 And a reference mirror 145 for totally reflecting the output light of the first circulator 144. A lens 145a for condensing parallel light may be provided at the front end of the reference mirror 145. [

The first circulator 144 is provided with an isolator therein so that the reference light reflected by the reference mirror 145 is transmitted to the second coupler 143 without being transmitted to the first coupler 142.

The reflected light transmission unit includes a second circulator 146 that receives part of the output light of the first coupler 142 and transmits the light to the sample stage and transmits the reflected light transmitted from the sample stage to the second coupler 143 .

The sample stage in this embodiment includes a collimator 121, a MEMS mirror 110 and a scan lens 130. The collimator 121 is connected to the second circulator 146 through the optical fiber 120 121 are irradiated to the inspection object 1 by the MEMS mirror 110 and the scanning lens 130 and reflected light of the inspection object 1 is transmitted through the optical fiber 120 to the second circulator 146 ). The second circulator 146 is provided with an isolator and the reflected light transmitted through the optical fiber 120 is transmitted to the second coupler 143 without being transmitted to the first coupler 142.

The reference light generated in the reference light generating part and the reflected light transmitted from the reflected light transmitting part are transmitted to the second coupler 143 to generate interference light, and the interference light output from the second coupler 143 is transmitted to the balanced optical detector photodetector 149 and then converted into digital data by the digitizer 147. [

Reference numeral 148 denotes a function generator which generates a synchronous signal for synchronizing the wavelength variable light source unit 141 and the digitizer 147.

1, the illumination unit 210 is provided at an opening of the housing 101, and is preferably provided adjacent to the scan lens 130 to irradiate an exciting light to the object 1 . At this time, the illumination unit 210 may include one or a plurality of illumination units 210 and may be disposed around the scan lens 130, and may be provided by an LED for irradiating excitation light having a predetermined wavelength.

The fluorescent image detector 220 is housed in the housing 110 and detects autofluorescence generated in the inspection object 1 through the illumination unit 210 to detect a shape image.

The fluorescent image detecting unit 220 housed in the housing 101 is connected to an image processing unit 310 disposed outside the housing 101 through a cable and is preferably connected to the fluorescent image detecting unit 220 and the image processing unit 310 are connected by detachable connectors so that the probe unit and the image processing unit 310 can be separated from each other. Therefore, only the probe unit inserted into the oral cavity of the patient can be separated and disinfected.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a fluorescent image detecting unit in a composite image matching for a tooth structure / function image according to the present invention.

3, the fluorescence image detecting unit 220 detects the fluorescence of a predetermined wavelength generated in the inspection object 1 by the excitation light? 0 emitted from the illumination unit 210 to the inspection target object 1 And can be provided by a CMOS camera 222 for detecting the self fluorescence passing through the band-pass filter 221, and can be provided by a CMOS A lens 223 for condensing light may be added to the front end of the camera 222.

For example, when the illumination unit 210 irradiates the teeth with excitation light of 405 nm, autofluorescence is emitted in the 520 nm band on a healthy tooth surface. Therefore, the state of the teeth can be confirmed by blocking the excitation light by the band-pass filter 221 and detecting only the emitted light in the self-fluorescence band. For reference, the mark of the lesion may be as shown in the photograph shown in Fig. 3 in the portion where the fluorescence image is not emitted.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the image processing unit 310 receives the signals detected by the optical tomographic image detecting unit 140 and the fluorescence image detecting unit 220, and performs image processing.

Specifically, the image processor 310 performs a Fourier transform (FFT) on the interference optical signal transmitted from the optical tomographic image detector 140 to acquire a tomographic image, and performs a scan by two-axis rotation of the MEMS mirror 110 A three-dimensional image can be obtained from tomographic images by manipulation.

The composite image output unit 320 combines and outputs a three-dimensional image and a fluorescence image of the inspection object processed and delivered by the image processing unit 310. [

4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c) illustrate an image obtained by using a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image of the present invention, in which FIG. 4 (a) 3 shows a three-dimensional image of the test object obtained through the fluorescence image detecting unit 140, and FIG. 3 (b) shows a fluorescence image obtained through the fluorescence image detecting unit 220 (yellow image shows cavity). In particular, as shown in (c), the compound image output unit 320 may provide a combined image of a three-dimensional image and a fluorescence image of a test object to provide a dental structure / function image at the same time.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image according to another embodiment of the present invention, and a description thereof will be omitted.

5, the composite imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a housing 401, a reflection mirror 410 housed in the housing 401, a scan lens 420, an illumination unit 430, an optical fiber 440 ), A fluorescent image detecting unit 450, a dichroic mirror 460, and a MEMS mirror 470.

The housing 401 has a hollow shape so that it can be inserted into a narrow mouth cavity. An opening end is formed at one end of the housing 401 and a reflecting mirror 410 is fixed. Light guided along the housing 401 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 410 And is irradiated to the object to be inspected through the open mouth.

The scan lens 420 is provided perpendicularly to the axial direction of the housing 401 and includes one or more illumination units 430 for generating excitation light in the periphery of the scan lens 420.

The optical fiber 440 and the fluorescence image detecting unit 450 are arranged in parallel to the inside of the housing 401 so that the optical fiber 440 is connected to an optical tomographic image detector unit to transmit the interference light generated from the examination target. The fluorescence image detecting unit 450 includes a band pass filter 451 capable of transmitting only a predetermined wavelength of autofluorescence and a CMOS camera 452 for detecting magnetic fluorescence passing through the band pass filter 451, The detection of the self fluorescence generated in the test object 1 is performed by the excitation light generated by the excitation light source 430. A lens 453 for condensing light may be disposed at the front end of the band-pass filter 451.

Particularly, this embodiment is characterized in that light is transmitted between the optical fiber 440 and the fluorescence image detecting unit 450 by using the dichroic mirror 460 disposed in the housing 401. Preferably, a collimator 441 is provided at the tip of the optical fiber 440 so that the emitted light of the optical fiber 440 is converted into parallel light and irradiated.

In this embodiment, the dichroic mirror 460 reflects light that is transmissive to the light transmitted to the fluorescent image detecting unit 450 and is transmitted to the optical fiber 440.

For example, the dichroic mirror 460 is reflected at the light wavelength band (1310 nm, 1550 nm or 1060 nm) used for optical tomographic image detection, and is reflected at a wavelength (autofluorescence band) Respectively.

The MEMS mirror 470 is composed of a two-axis rotatable mirror including a control board so that the MEMS mirror 470 can be tilted at a large angle of rotation so that the light reflection between the optical fiber 440 and the dichroic mirror 460 .

In the composite imaging apparatus having the probe unit constructed as described above, the reflected light transmitted through the optical fiber is transmitted to the optical tomographic image detecting unit to generate interference light to obtain the optical tomographic image, The tomographic image is combined with the fluorescence image obtained from the fluorescence image detector 450 and output through the complex image output unit.

6 (a) and 6 (b) are views for explaining an operation example of a composite imaging apparatus for a tooth structure / function image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6A shows a light path for obtaining an optical tomographic image in the probe unit. Light transmitted through the optical fiber 440 is converted into a balanced beam from the collimator 441, The inspection object 1 is irradiated via the scan lens 420 and the reflection mirror 410 after being reflected by the dichroic mirror 460 and the dichroic mirror 460. The reflected light generated from the surface of the inspection object 1 is transmitted to the optical tomographic image detector through the optical fiber 440 along the same path.

6 (b) shows an optical path for obtaining a fluorescence image in the probe unit. The excitation light? 0 generated in the illumination 430 is reflected by the reflection mirror 410 and reflected by the inspection object 1 And the fluorescent light lambda 1 generated in the inspection object 1 passes through the dichroic mirror 460 after being reflected by the reflection mirror 410 and can be detected by the shape image detection unit 450.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

101, 401: housing 110: MEMS mirror
120, 440: optical fiber 130, 420: scan lens
140: optical tomographic image detection unit 141: wavelength variable light source unit
142: first coupler 143: second coupler
144: First Circulator 145: Reference Mirror
146: second circulator 210, 430: illuminator
220, 450: Fluorescent image detecting unit 221, 451: Bandpass filter
222, 452: CMOS camera 310:
320: composite image output unit 410: reflection mirror
460: Dichroic mirror

Claims (7)

A housing;
A MEMS mirror housed in the housing to reflect light to a test object;
An optical fiber housed in the housing and irradiated with light in the MEMS mirror direction and receiving reflected light from the MEMS mirror;
A scan lens for condensing light reflected from the MEMS mirror and irradiating the light onto an object to be inspected;
An optical tomographic image detector coupled to the optical fiber for detecting a tomographic image through interference light detected from an examination object;
An illumination unit provided adjacent to the scan lens for irradiating excitation light to the object to be inspected;
A fluorescent image detector for detecting fluorescence images stored in the housing and detecting light emitted from the inspection object through the illumination unit;
An image processor for receiving the signals detected by the optical tomographic image detector and the fluorescence image detector and for image processing;
And a composite image output unit for matching and outputting the three-dimensional image and fluorescent image of the inspection object processed and delivered by the image processing unit. A housing;
A reflection mirror provided at an inner end of the housing;
A scan lens provided at a front end of the reflection mirror for focusing the irradiation light;
An illumination unit provided adjacent to the scan lens for irradiating excitation light to the object to be inspected;
An optical fiber accommodated in the housing and irradiated with light and receiving reflected light generated in the inspection object;
A fluorescence image detecting unit housed in the housing and detecting a fluorescence image generated in the examination subject by excitation light by the illumination unit;
A dichroic mirror having a transmissive property with respect to light transmitted to the fluorescent image detecting unit and reflecting light transmitted to the optical fiber;
A MEMS mirror housed in the housing for reflecting light between the optical fiber and the dichroic mirror;
An optical tomographic image detector coupled to the optical fiber for detecting a tomographic image through interference light detected from an examination object;
An image processor for receiving the signals detected by the optical tomographic image detector and the fluorescence image detector and for image processing;
And a composite image output unit for combining and outputting the three-dimensional image and fluorescence image of the inspection object processed and delivered by the image processing unit. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the optical tomographic image detector comprises:
A wavelength variable light source unit for generating a wavelength variable light source;
A first coupler for branching the light generated from the wavelength tunable light source;
A reference light generator for converting the light split by the first coupler into reference light;
A reflected light transmission unit that transmits the light split by the first coupler to the optical fiber and receives the reflected light generated from the inspection object through the optical fiber;
And a second coupler for receiving light transmitted from the reference light generating unit and the reflected light transmitting unit to generate interference light. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the reference light generator comprises:
A reference mirror;
And a first circulator for receiving a part of the output light of the first coupler and transmitting the reflected light to the reference mirror and transmitting the reflected reference light to the second coupler. 5. The method of claim 4,
And a second circulator for receiving a part of the output light of the first coupler and transmitting the reflected light to the optical fiber and transmitting the reflected light transmitted through the optical fiber to the second coupler, Composite video device for video. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fluorescent image detecting unit comprises:
A composite imaging device for a tooth structure / functional image comprising a bandpass filter which transmits only autofluorescence generated from an object to be inspected. [3] The compound imaging apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the optical fiber has a collimator for converting emitted light to parallel light at a tip thereof.

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