US 11,666,223 B2
Apparatus and method for tooth pulp vitality detection
Cha-Min Tang, Wayne, PA (US); and Joseph Schmitt, Cupertino, CA (US)
Assigned to University of Maryland, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD (US); and The United States Government as Represented by the Dept of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC (US)
Appl. No. 16/487,775
Filed by UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE, Baltimore, MD (US); and THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AS REPRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Washington, DC (US)
PCT Filed Feb. 22, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/019164
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 21, 2019,
PCT Pub. No. WO2018/156722, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 30, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/582,518, filed on Nov. 7, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/461,955, filed on Feb. 22, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0237231 A1, Jul. 30, 2020
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/026 (2006.01); A61B 90/00 (2016.01); A61C 3/10 (2006.01); A61C 19/04 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/0088 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0066 (2013.01); A61B 5/0261 (2013.01); A61B 5/4547 (2013.01); A61B 5/682 (2013.01); A61B 2090/3614 (2016.02); A61C 3/10 (2013.01); A61C 19/04 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a probe with a tip configured to engage opposite sides of a sample, said probe including a pair of fiber optic lines passing through an interior of the probe, said pair of fiber optic lines including;
a source line that is single mode and includes a connector at one end, and
a detector line that is multi mode and includes a connector at one end,
an optical source to emit output light with an adjustable bandwidth, wherein the optical source is coupled to the source line connector to transmit the output light into the source line;
a reference path with an adjustable delay line coupled to the optical source to receive the output light from the optical source;
a detector coupled to the adjustable delay line to receive the output light from the reference path and further coupled to the detector line connector to receive scattered light;
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including one or more sequences of instructions,
the at least one memory and the one or more sequences of instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the system to perform at least the following,
adjust the adjustable delay line of the reference path such that a zero delay plane is positioned in a target volume of the sample, wherein the zero delay plane is defined such that an optical path of output light through the reference path to the detector is equal to an optical path of scattered light from the zero delay plane through the detector line to the detector;
adjust the bandwidth of the output light to vary a coherence length of the output light such that scattered light from the target volume and output light through the reference path generate an interference signal at the detector and such that scattered light from outside the target volume and output light through the reference path do not generate an interference signal at the detector; and
determine motion within the target volume based on a Doppler shift between scattered light from the target volume and output light through the reference path, wherein said Doppler shift is based on the generated interference signal.