In this study we demonstrate the use of third harmonic (TH) and second harmonic (SH) generation in imaging dental sections. Teeth are the hardest and most indestructible part in human body. The TH and SH greatly facilitate observation of porous structures and collagen within the dental sections, respectively.
Strong SH has been found on various biological specimens, such as collagen, potato starch, and skeletal muscles. These materials all possess periodical nano-structures that are often referred as (nonlinear) bio-photonic structures. In particular, collagen is an extra-cellular structural protein and is a major component of bone, cartilage, skin, and other tissues. Collagen fibrils have a triple-helical structure and it is believed that this structure enables collagen to generate SH signal from a wide range of wavelengths in the infrared region. For comparison, microtubule structures within dentin, due to its large index mismatch with surrounding, can be clearly seen with THG imaging. The THG also facilitate observation of prismatic structures in enamel.
The successful construction of a multi-photon laser scanning microscope that can operate in both reflection and transmission modes is the key for this study. A femtosecond, sync-pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is used to generate second and third harmonics from dental sections. Dental sections have large index of refraction¡]n~1.68¡^and scatter visible light severely. The employment of excitation wavelength at 1260 nm greatly reduces scattering and absorption within the sample. Its corresponding SH and TH wavelengths are at 630 nm and 420 nm, respectively. Additionally, 3-D structural views are also reconstructed from the optically sectioned images by the use of specialized 3D image processing software.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0706103-142148 |
| Date | 06 July 2003 |
| Creators | Lin, Chin-Jen |
| Contributors | Arthur Chiou, Chien Chou, Fu-Jen Kao, Sheng-Lung Huang, Wood-Hi Cheng |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0706103-142148 |
| Rights | unrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive |
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