Wavelet Imaging of Temporomandibular Joint in Motion for Real‐time Diagnosing System

The new inexpensive method of diagnosing the temporomandibular joint by analyzing acoustic emission signals generated by the joint in motion was presented previously [W. Lis et al., ‘‘Application of processed acoustic emission data for investigation of temporomandibular joint pathology,’’ Proc. of 47th ICB Seminar on Ultrasound in Biomeasurements, Diagnostics and Therapy (1998)]. Moreover, the advantages of wavelet techniques over classical Fourier analysis were observed for this case. The time-frequency imaging of such signals has clear anatomic interpretation of pathological diseases. The paper presents the adaptation of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for analysis of signals acquired from the temporomandibular joint in a real-time system. Additionally, it is shown that common PC hardware is sufficient for collecting data and real-time display. Specially designed software for acquisition and analysis of acoustic emission of this joint was developed and results of its use are presented. The software package was equipped in small database for managing the measurements of clinical cases.