Title :
Application of microwaves and millimeter waves for the characterization of teeth for dental diagnosis and treatment
Author :
Hoshi, Naoya ; Nikawa, Yoshio ; Kawai, Keiji ; Ebisu, Shigeyuki
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Commun. Eng., Nat. Defense Acad., Yokosuka, Japan
fDate :
6/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
This paper presents applications of microwaves and millimeter waves for the characterization of teeth. This is done by measuring the complex permittivity over the frequency range from 0.04 to 40 GHz. These measurements have revealed that dental caries are significantly more lossy to microwaves and millimeter waves than the healthy tooth, and this difference can be used for dental diagnosis. The experimental results have been confirmed by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. In addition, millimeter-wave heating of the lossy dental caries can be used as a sterilization treatment. It is concluded that millimeter waves can be used for dental medical diagnosis as well as dental medical treatment
Keywords :
biomedical measurement; finite difference time-domain analysis; microwave heating; microwave measurement; millimetre wave measurement; patient diagnosis; permittivity measurement; radiation therapy; 0.04 to 40 GHz; FDTD method; characterization; complex permittivity; dental caries; dental medical diagnosis; dental medical treatment; finite-difference time-domain method; microwaves; millimeter waves; millimeter-wave heating; sterilization treatment; teeth; Dentistry; Electromagnetic heating; Finite difference methods; Frequency measurement; Microwave measurements; Millimeter wave measurements; Millimeter wave technology; Permittivity measurement; Teeth; Time domain analysis;
Journal_Title :
Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on