The application of magnetic resonance microimaging to the visible light curing of dental resins: 3. Stray-field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (STRAFI)

Objective: To investigate the application of stray-field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (STRAFI) to the visible light curing of dental restorative materials. STRAFI can overcome peak broadening associated with the conventional magnetic resonance microimaging (MRM) of glassy polymers, and has the potential to image dental restorative resins at both low and high degrees of conversion. Methods: Cylindrical composite specimens were light-cured from one end to produce some that were fully cured throughout their length and others that were fully cured at one end and uncured at the other. A one-dimensional probe was used to measure the magnetisation in 40 µm thick slices at 100 µm intervals along the length of the specimen. A quadrature pulse sequence was applied and the magnetisation decay recorded in a train of eight echoes. Results: A value for T2 could be obtained only for the polymer (59±16 µs), therefore the echoes were summed to give an approximate indication of the degree of conversion. The echo sum for the monomer was significantly higher than that for the polymer. Differences in composite shade and cure time produced changes in the cure profiles. Significance: STRAFI produced measurements for both monomer and polymer in all stages of conversion that allowed cure profiles to be produced. Summing the decay echoes produced a qualitative measure of the condition of the material in the selected slice. The same data can be used to calculate T2, a quantitative parameter. This first investigation has demonstrated that STRAFI is well suited to polymerisation studies.