Volume 8, Number 4     July/August 2000

Advanced Technologies

Laser Could Replace Dentist’s Drill

In the near future, a laser device inspired by NASA may replace the dentist’s drill. Flip a switch and it will also replace the dentist’s razor-sharp scalpel. Best of all, it’s virtually painless and requires no anesthesia for most patients.

Lasers exist today that work on hard tissue to prepare teeth for filling, and on soft tissue for gum treatment and oral surgery.

Buying two laser systems is expensive. Only five percent of approximately 140,000 U.S. dentists use a laser system.

Now, researchers at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, have demonstrated that the two laser wavelengths important to dentists can be produced from a single, easy-to-use system.

“The system is simple because we’ve already done all the complex physics in the lab,” said Langley laser researcher Keith Murray, one of three inventors of the dental laser technology.

The other inventors are Norman Barnes, also of Langley’s Laser Systems Branch, and Ralph Hutcheson of Scientific Materials Corp., Bozeman, Montana.

 

  Work to develop a high power laser for remote sensing of the atmosphere may lead to a laser that will replace both the dentist's drill and scalpel. (Photo provided by Langley Research Center.)

 

Both wavelengths can be produced using the same hardware, dramatically reducing cost and complexity. Dentists can switch between the two by selecting the amount and rate of energy pumped into the specially designed laser system. The resulting hardware, estimated to run about one-half the cost of two distinct laser systems, is about one-half the size of two systems and, unlike typical present-day systems, does not require the laser system to be "tuned" by the operator.

Lantis Laser, Inc., Hewitt, New Jersey, is working with NASA Langley to refine the technology to explore its potential as a commercial dental laser product. Under the terms of a Space Act Agreement, a Lantis scientist will perform research in a Langley laboratory with help from the technology’s inventors. Assuming Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the technology by mid-2001, the goal is to begin sales of the device by the end of 2001.

Dr. Craig Gimbel is a dentist, a co-founder of Lantis and a principal investigator for the FDA clinical trials that led to the May 1997 approval of lasers for hard tissue dentistry. Dr. Gimbel believes both patients and dentists would find much to like about a dual-wave dental laser.

“Filled teeth can be stronger,” according to Dr. Gimbel, “because a laser removes less of the healthy tooth for filling. A dual wavelength laser could also minimize blood flow during surgery by searing the cut. And the dentist feels more comfortable when the patient feels more comfortable. When I don’t have to use a dental drill, or I don’t have to use a scalpel, or I don’t have to use anesthesia in all procedures, I feel better and, of course, so does my patient,” said Gimbel.

The discovery of the two wavelength technology is a spin-off of work to develop high power lasers for remote sensing of the atmosphere, a key element in NASA’s atmospheric sciences mission. The technology has also been used in aeronautics research, including measurements of winds, wind shear and turbulence in-flight, and measurement of wake vortices from the ground in airport terminal areas. Those investigations led to the discovery that it is possible to selectively produce two or more useful wavelengths from a single laser source.

 



Electronic Noise Is Nothing To Sneeze At

NASA scientists are expanding the sensitivity of an electronic nose, while shrinking its size to make it more compact for future space missions, following a Space Shuttle flight that successfully demonstrated the technology.

“The E-Nose was able to determine changes in humidity accurately, which we confirmed using an independent humidity monitor in the shuttle cabin,” said Dr. Amy Ryan, principal investigator for the E-Nose at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Although the E-Nose was able to determine changes in humidity accurately, none of the 10 contaminants the E-Nose was designed to monitor was present. Results of contaminant monitoring were confirmed using air samples brought back from the flight.

The ability to monitor recycled air is very important to the space program, especially in environments such as the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and any future space outpost that features a closed human habitat. Early detection of potentially harmful spills or leaks is essential so crew members can immediately take action to remedy the situation. Even if a human nose could detect every possible odor and identify it, fatigue or a cold would impair the nose’s sensing ability.

“Space crews are very, very busy,” said Ryan. “Anything we can do to automate their tasks and keep the space habitat safe is highly desirable. Now we need to further develop E-Nose’s capability to detect various odors and differentiate between those that signify danger and those that do not. We are working with people at other NASA centers to optimize this technology.”

Since there are limits on size and power requirements in constricted quarters, miniaturization is important. The unit flown on STS-95 is only about the size of a large paperback, weighs 1.4 kilograms (about three pounds) including the operating computer, and uses an average of 1.5 watts of power.

“Our current efforts are directed towards improving the sensitivity of the E-Nose, expanding the compounds we can detect from 12 to 24 and making the unit even smaller,” Ryan said.

A major application that JPL scientists are pursuing is the detection of a fire before the blaze erupts. Fires can smolder in closed areas, such as insulation in paneling or around wires, for some time before flames actually appear. With early detection, the fire can be extinguished safely before much damage occurs.

Potential commercial uses include “sniffing” for unexploded land mines, spills in chemical plants that could contaminate workers, plant ripeness to harvest at the desired point in the agricultural cycle and possible diagnosis of disease, based on odors from human perspiration and breath.

The JPL E-Nose flown on the Space Shuttle used sensor technology from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The project is managed for NASA’s Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications.

For more information, contact Dr. Darrell L. Jan at Jet Propulsion Laboratory 818/354-4542, darrell.l.jan@jpl.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

 

The electronic nose (lower right) is pictured with samples of
some of the contaminants it is designed to monitor. (Photo
provided by Jet Propulsion Laboratory.)

 



For more information, contact Barry Price at Langley Research Center
757/864-7146, b.l.price@larc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA Official: Jonathan Root

Web Designer: Shawn Flowers