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Significance: In the analysis of two-layered turbid dental tissues, the outer finitethickness layer is modeled by an optical transport coefficient distinct from its underlying semi-infinite substrate layer. The optical and thermophysical parameters of healthy and carious teeth across the various wavelengths were measured leading to the determination of the degree of reliability of each of the fitted parameters, with most reliable being thermal diffusivity and conductivity, enamel thickness, and optical transport coefficient of the enamel layer. Quantitative pixel-by-pixel images of the key reliable optical and thermophysical parameters were constructed. Aim: We introduced a theoretical model of pulsed photothermal radiometry based on conduction-radiation theory and applied to quantitative photothermal detection and imaging of biomaterials. The theoretical model integrates a combination of inverse Fourier transformation techniques, avoiding the conventional cumbersome analytical Laplace transform method. Approach: Two dental samples were selected for analysis: the first sample featured controlled, artificially induced early caries on a healthy tooth surface, while the second sample exhibited natural defects along with an internal filling. Using an Nd:YAG laser and specific optical parametric oscillator (OPO) wavelengths (675, 700, 750, and 808 nm), photothermal transient signals were captured from different points on these teeth and analyzed as a function of OPO wavelength. Measurements were also performed with an 808-nm laser diode for comparison with the same OPO wavelength excitation, particularly for the second sample with natural defects. Results: The findings demonstrated that the photothermal transient signals exhibit a fast-decaying pattern at shorter wavelengths due to their higher scattering nature, while increased scattering and absorption in the carious regions masked conductive and radiative contributions from the underlayer. These observations were crossvalidated using micro-computed tomography, which also enabled the examination of signal patterns at different tooth locations. Conclusions: The results of our study showed the impact of optical and thermal characteristics of two-layered turbid dental tissues via an inverse Fourier technique, as well as the interactions between these layers, on the patterns observed in depth profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noninvasive dental diagnostics is a growing discipline since it has been established that early detection and quantification of tooth mineral loss can reverse caries lesions in their incipient state. A theoretical coupled diffuse photon density and thermal-wave model was developed and applied to photothermal radiometric frequency responses, fitted to experimental data using a multiparameter simplex downhill minimization algorithm for the extraction of optothermophysical properties from artificially demineralized human enamel. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and robustness of the advanced fitting algorithm. The results showed a select group of optical and thermal transport parameters and thicknesses were reliably extracted from the computational fitting algorithm. Theoretically derived thicknesses were accurately predicted, within about 20% error, while the estimated error in the optical and thermal property evaluation was within the values determined from early studies using destructive analyses. The high fidelity of the theoretical model illustrates its efficacy, reliability, and applicability toward the nondestructive characterization of depthwise inhomogeneous sound enamel and complex enamel caries lesions. [c] 2010 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 170.1850, 170.7050, 160.4760, 170.5270, 170.6935, 190.4870.

The thermal and optical properties of multilayered dental tissue structure, the result of the surface-grown prismless layer on enamel, were evaluated simultaneously using multiparameter fits of photothermal radiometry frequency responses. Tim photothermal field generated in a tooth sample with near-infrared laser excitation was described using a coupled diffuse-photon-density and thermal wave model. The optical (absorption and scattering) coefficients and thermal parameters (spectrally averaged infrared emissivity, thermal diffusivity and conductivity) of each layer, as well as the thickness of the upper prismless enamel layer, were fitted using a multiparameter simplex downhill minimization algorithm. The results show that the proposed tilting approach can increase robustness of the multiparameter estimation of tissue properties in the case of ill-defined multiparameter fits, which are unavoidable in in vivo tissue evaluation. The described method can readily be used for noninvasive in vitro or in two characterization of a wide range of layered biological tissues. of America OCIS codes: 170.1850, 170.7050, 160.4760, 170.5270, 170.6935.

Photoacoustic (more precisely, photothermoacoustic) signals generated by the absorption of photons can be related to the incident laser fluence rate. The dependence of frequency domain photoacoustic (FD-PA) signals on the optical absorption coefficient ([[mu].sub.a]) and the effective attenuation coefficient ([[mu].sub.eff]) of a turbid medium [polyvinyl chloride-plastisol (PVCP)] with tissuelike optical properties was measured, and empirical relationships between these optical properties and the photoacoustic (PA) signal amplitude and the laser fluence rate were derived for the water (PVCP system with and without optical scatterers). The measured relationships between these sample optical properties and the PA signal amplitude were found to be linear, consistent with FD-PA theory: [[mu].sub.a] = a(A/[PHI]) - b and [[mu].sub.eff] = c(A/[PHI]) + d, where [PHI] is the laser fluence, A is the FD-PA amplitude, and a, ..., d are empirical coefficients determined from the experiment using linear frequency-swept modulation and a lock-in heterodyne detection technique. This quantitative technique can easily be used to measure the optical properties of general turbid media using FD-PAs. OCIS codes: 120.0120, 110.5125.

Modulated (frequency-domain) infrared photothermal radiometry (PTR) is used as a dynamic quantitative dental inspection tool complementary to modulated luminescence (LM) to quantify sound enamel or dentin. A dynamic high-spatial-resolution experimental imaging setup, which can provide simultaneous measurements of laser-induced modulated PTR and LM signals from defects in teeth, has been developed. Following optical absorption of laser photons, the experimental setup can monitor simultaneously and independently the nonradiative (optical-to-thermal) energy conversion by infrared PTR and the radiative deexcitation by LM emission. The relaxation lifetimes ([[tau].sub.1], [[tau].sub.2]) and optical absorption, scattering, and spectrally averaged infrared emission coefficients ([[micro].sub.[alpha]], [[micro].sub.s], [[micro].sub.IR]) of enamel are then determined with realistic three-dimensional LM and photothermal models for turbid media followed by multiparameter fits to the data. A quantitative band of values for healthy enamel with respect to these parameters can be generated so as to provide an explicit criterion for the assessment of healthy enamel and, in a future extension, to facilitate the diagnosis of the onset of demineralization in carious enamel. OCIS codes: 260.3060, 260.3800.

Photopyroelectric spectroscopy (PPES) has been used to determine bulk and surface nonradiative energy conversion process, but photothermal radiometry (PTR) is a more optimal technique. PTR has been used for laser material diagnostics using a time-domain approach and a time-domain theoretical treatment of the IR radiative emission signal. This determined that nonradiative surfaces and bulk processes can be probed by monitoring different time ranges.

Lifetime and radiative quantum efficiency of a ruby laser rod was obtained from the amplitude slope versus the excitation laser beam modulation frequency curves and the photothermal phase. This method enhances the measurement range of lifetimes, and also ensures a unique measured quantity, in relation to other techniques of photothermal detection. Industrial quality control can be monitored by this technique.

A contact-free, nondestructive laser photothermal radiometric instrumentation technique was developed to meet industrial demand for on-line steel hardness inspection and quality control. A series of industrial steel samples, flat or curvilinear, with different effective hardness case depths ranging between 0.21 and 1.78 mm were measured. The results demonstrated that three measurement parameters (metrics) extracted from fast swept-sine photothermal excitation and measurements, namely, the phase minimum frequency [f.sub.min], the peak or trough frequency width W, and the area S, are complementary for evaluating widely different ranges of hardness case depth: [f.sub.min] is most suitable for large case depths, and W and S for small case depths. It was also found that laser beam angular inclination with respect to the surface plane of the sample strongly affects hardness measurement resolution and that the phase frequency maximum is more reliable than the amplitude maximum for laser beam focusing on the sample surface. OCIS codes: 120.0280, 120.4290, 160.3900, 350.5340.

Intravascular photoacoustics (IV-PA) is an emerging atherosclerosis imaging modality that provides chemical-specific optical information of arterial walls with acoustic depth penetration and resolution. As lipid composition of atherosclerotic plaques is considered to be one of the primary indicators for plaque vulnerability, many IV-PA applications are calibrated so as to target plaque necrotic cores. Based on the mode of optical excitation and the corresponding signal processing technique, IV-PA is categorized into two different modalities. The pulse-based IV-PA has been the universal IV-PA imaging mode with its high peak power and straightforward time-domain signal processing technique. As an alternative, the low power continuous-wave (CW)-based IV-PA has been under intense development as a radar-like frequency-domain signal processing modality. The two state-of-the-art types of IV-PA are reviewed in terms of their physics and imaging capabilities, with major emphasis on frequency-swept CW-based IV-PA that has been recently introduced in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]