IADR Abstract Archives
DenTiUS Plaque: A Web-Based Tool for Quantifying Dental Plaque Levels
Objectives: In line with the trend of developing computerized technologies for application in the dental field, the objective of this work was to develop a new software tool, DenTiUS Plaque, that helps the researchers to automatically analyze and quantify the dental plaque levels based on image analysis techniques.
Methods: The development of the application called DenTiUS Plaque implied the following phases: 1) Development of an image processing algorithm to analyze dental images and compute the relationship between the dental area and the plaque area. To implement the algorithm, the OpenCV computer vision library was used; 2) Development of the web tool, which allowed the user to access all features of the plaque analysis algorithm. JavaScript and Java languages were used to develop the client application and the server logic, respectively. Web application layout was built with HTML and CSS; 3) Design and development of a data model for the application. For the implementation and maintenance of the application database, a database management system (PostgreSQL) was applied; 4) Inclusion of advanced elements of analysis and visualization of results.
Results: DenTiUS Plaque is a web-based tool, so it runs on most of the internet-connected devices. It can perform exhaustive plaque analysis on photographic images, provide several analytical graphs and calculate a great variety of clinical indices, some of which have been explicitly defined for this platform. The tool is also a complete content management system that lets the researchers store their patients' information, as well as their dental plaque images, so the tracking of plaque level over time is a fact.
Conclusions: DenTiUS Plaque is a web-based application which includes different automated methods to analyze and quantify the dental plaque levels. This tool can facilitate the researchers’ work and avoid potential errors in the analysis of dental plaque through standard clinical indices
Methods: The development of the application called DenTiUS Plaque implied the following phases: 1) Development of an image processing algorithm to analyze dental images and compute the relationship between the dental area and the plaque area. To implement the algorithm, the OpenCV computer vision library was used; 2) Development of the web tool, which allowed the user to access all features of the plaque analysis algorithm. JavaScript and Java languages were used to develop the client application and the server logic, respectively. Web application layout was built with HTML and CSS; 3) Design and development of a data model for the application. For the implementation and maintenance of the application database, a database management system (PostgreSQL) was applied; 4) Inclusion of advanced elements of analysis and visualization of results.
Results: DenTiUS Plaque is a web-based tool, so it runs on most of the internet-connected devices. It can perform exhaustive plaque analysis on photographic images, provide several analytical graphs and calculate a great variety of clinical indices, some of which have been explicitly defined for this platform. The tool is also a complete content management system that lets the researchers store their patients' information, as well as their dental plaque images, so the tracking of plaque level over time is a fact.
Conclusions: DenTiUS Plaque is a web-based application which includes different automated methods to analyze and quantify the dental plaque levels. This tool can facilitate the researchers’ work and avoid potential errors in the analysis of dental plaque through standard clinical indices