# Periodontal Ultrasound/Photoacoustic Imaging (PUPI)

> **NIH NIH R43** · STYLOSONIC LLC · 2021 · $281,523

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The objective of this proposal is to design and validate a Periodontal Ultrasound/Photoacoustic Imaging (PUPI)
device which can non-invasively measure periodontal pocket depth, clinical attachment loss based on
cementoenamel junction (CEJ) location, gingival biotype and inflammation. Current periodontal evaluation
methods are inaccurate because they are based on visual inspection and periodontal probing. While radiography
offers detailed information about hard tissues such as bone and teeth, more detailed information about soft tissue
is usually missed in radiography. Ultrasound/photoacoustic approach has been used in soft tissue imaging but
rarely in dentistry because they have a large size transducer which limits the entire oral cavity scan. This is a
fundamental limitation of existing technology. To solve this problem, StyloSonic LLC will construct and validate
a miniaturized handpiece with a compact laser diode for ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging to provide key
periodontal metrics. PUPI offers real-time, accurate, and repeatable measurements with utility in diagnosis and
therapy monitoring. That is the value of this proposal. The workflow will include two parts:
Aim 1 will design and fabricate the PUPI prototype and Aim 2 will evaluate the fundamental functionality of the
device and confirm the validation in a pilot clinical study in collaboration with Dr. Casey Chen at University of
Southern California. 100 teeth (5-10 patients) with moderate periodontitis (pocket depth: 4-6 mm) will be
evaluated with PUPI and manual probing method before and 4-week after the nonsurgical treatment (i.e., scaling
and root planning). That will give us 80% statistical power assuming an alpha of 0.05 based on our preliminary
data. Our goal is to build a handpiece that can easily scan the entire oral cavity. We will test the designed
miniaturized handpiece using an oral care manikin. We hypothesize that the correlation coefficient between
probing and PUPI is R2 > 0.8. We also hypothesize that the PUPI will show a significant difference in pocket
depth, clinical attachment loss, gingival biotype and inflammation before and four weeks after treatment (p
<0.05).
This approach is innovative because for the first time, the miniaturized handpiece of PUPI will provide anatomical
and functional information of the entire gingiva architecture. In addition, PUPI will enable accurate diagnostics
and therapy monitoring which add enormous value for recommended treatment and ensure best outcomes. The
clinical impact is the proposed device will assist dentists and periodontists to accurately diagnose gingivitis in
the early stage and reduce the rate of advanced periodontitis. This work will introduce a non-invasive and non-
ionizing dual modality imaging technique which has significant impacts on oral health care.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10323593
- **Project number:** 1R43DE031196-01
- **Recipient organization:** STYLOSONIC LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** ALI HARIRI
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $281,523
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10323593

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10323593, Periodontal Ultrasound/Photoacoustic Imaging (PUPI) (1R43DE031196-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10323593. Licensed CC0.

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