QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF GINGIVAL INFLAMMATION USING HIGH-RESOLUTION ULTRASOUNDEX-VIVO

This study investigates the feasibility of using high-resolution ultrasound imaging echogenicity to quantitatively diagnose gingival inflammation. Gingival samples were extracted from the study participants during gingivectomy procedures. Ultrasound mechanical scanning of the samples was immediately conducted ex-vivo to render cross-sectional images of high resolution, at different locations. Samples’ histological preparation and analysis was followed after performing ultrasound imaging. Histological sections were then matched with ultrasound images at different sections for each gingival sample. The matched image pairs were used to estimate two quantitative measures; relative inflammation area and ultrasound image echogenicity. These parameters were employed to judge the diagnostic potential of gingival ultrasound imaging. The results show that ultrasound images exhibited low intensity levels at the inflamed gingival regions, while healthy layers showed higher intensity levels. The relative area parameter implied a strong relationship between ultrasound and histological images. Ultrasound echogenicity was found to be statistically significant in differentiating between some inflammation degrees in the studied gingival samples. In summary, ultrasound imaging has the potential to be a noninvasive adjunct diagnostic tool for gingival inflammation, and may help assess the stage of the disease and ultimately limit periodontal disease occurrence; taking into consideration the limits of this study.