This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 100134181, filed Sep. 22, 2011, which is herein incorporated by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a detecting apparatus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for detecting bone defects, and relates also to a dental abutment of the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the overall development in technology, medical apparatuses and related techniques are progressing day by day. Dental implantations have become a common dental surgical technique. Currently, there are two types of dental implantation depending on the dental implant type and surgical method, and they include immediate implantation and two-stage implantation. In immediate implantation, a part of the dental implant is exposed outside the gingiva after the dental implant is implanted in the alveolus bone, after which the crown of a tooth can be disposed in the dental implant. In two-stage implantation, the dental implant is entirely covered in the gingiva, and the crown of a tooth is disposed by making an incision in the gingiva after osseointegration. As a result, in the case of two-stage implantation, the excitation from the environment to the dental implant and the alveolus bone can be alleviated, and the probability of infection can be reduced during the period of osseointegration, so that the dental implant can be fixed in the alveolus bone more stably.
When the dental implant is implanted, the bone newly formed can tightly contact the dental implant when the bone tissue is healed, such that good stability between the dental implant and the bone tissue can be achieved. This process is referred to as osseointegration. Generally speaking, about six months are required for the alveolus bone of the palate to realize an acceptable level of osseointegration, and about three or four months are required for the alveolus bone of the mandible.
The stability of the dental implant plays a very important role in the implantation. The better the osseointegration that takes place, the higher the stability of the dental implant that can be achieved, and thus, implantation surgery can be accomplished more easily. Therefore, evaluating the stability of a dental implant is an important procedure that must be performed, preferably both during and after implantation surgery.
Using current techniques, the stability of a dental implant is determined utilizing vibration. This method is effective and not destructive. However, only the overall stability near the boundary between the dental implant and the alveolus bone can be determined using such a method, and the positions of irregular bone defects when the stability is poor cannot be precisely detected. Further, X-ray detection commonly utilized in a dental clinic may be used to obtain only plane images, that is, two-dimensional images, and the positions of bone defects and the osseointegration of the dental implant cannot be effectively determined. Thus, current techniques to detect the stability of dental implants is lacking for a variety of reasons.
In view of the foregoing, an apparatus for detecting bone defects and a dental abutment of the apparatus are provided in the following disclosure.
In an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for detecting bone defects is disclosed. The apparatus for detecting bone defects includes a detecting device and a dental abutment wirelessly connected to each other.
The dental abutment includes a vibration component, at least one vibration excitation transducer, and at least one response sensor. The vibration component is used for being inserted in a dental implant. The vibration excitation transducer is disposed at one side of the vibration component for exciting the vibration component to vibrate. The vibration excitation transducer is spatially separated from the vibration component. The response sensor is disposed at a side of the vibration component opposite to the vibration excitation transducer for detecting the vibration of the vibration component.
In another aspect of the present invention, a dental abutment for detecting bone defects is disclosed. The dental abutment of the present invention includes a vibration component, at least one vibration excitation transducer, and at least one response sensor. The vibration component is used for being inserted in a dental implant. The vibration excitation transducer is disposed at one side of the vibration component for exciting the vibration component to vibrate. The vibration excitation transducer is spatially separated from the vibration component. The response sensor is disposed at a side of the vibration component opposite to the vibration excitation transducer for detecting the vibration of the vibration component.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
a is a top view of the first embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention;
b is a top view of the second embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention;
c is a top view of the third embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention;
d is a top view of the fourth embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention;
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
In general, one embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for detecting bone defects and a dental abutment of the apparatus. The apparatus for detecting bone defects in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention may detect the stability of a dental implant and the positions of bone defects around the dental implant in a noninvasive and nondestructive manner. The dental abutment for detecting bone defects in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can be exposed outside the gingiva for primary stability detection. The dental abutment can also be covered in the gingiva for secondary stability detection, thereby alleviating the discomfort caused by making an incision in the gingiva when detecting stability. Thus, one embodiment of the present invention can be applied to both immediate implantation and two-stage implantation. It should be noted that the shapes and dimensions disclosed in the following description may be modified or varied depending on the patient because the oral cavity of each person is unique. Hence, the present invention is not limited to the shapes and dimensions disclosed in the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Through the aforementioned configuration, the vibration excitation transducer 120 disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention generates non-contacted vibration excitation, such as a sound wave, a magnetic force, or the like, to excite the vibration component 110, so that the dental implant 300 and the alveolus bone around the vibration component 110 can be excited. The response sensor 130 disposed at a side of the vibration component 110 opposite to the vibration excitation transducer 120 then detects a vibration response and a displacement variation. The detecting result of the response sensor 130 can be analyzed by the detecting device 200 to obtain the resonant frequency and the displacement variation, so that bone defects can be detected more precisely.
In this embodiment, the response sensor 130 is spatially separated from the vibration component 110. For example, the response sensor 130, which is spatially separated from the vibration component 110, may include, but is not limited to, a capacity-type displacement sensor, a doppler velocity sensor, or a ultrasonic sensor.
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, one vibration excitation transducer 120 and one response sensor 130 are arranged in a manner diametrically opposed to each other and separated by the vibration component 110. Further, in some embodiments, pairs of the vibration excitation transducers 120 and the response sensors 130 may surround the vibration component 110 in different orientations. As a result, the vibration response and the displacement of the vibration component 110 can be detected using different orientations, thereby allowing the positions of bone defects to be more precisely determined.
a is a top view of a first embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention. As shown in
b is a top view of a second embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention. As shown in
c is a top view of a third embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention. As shown in
d is a top view of a fourth embodiment of the dental abutment of the present invention. As shown in
In addition to the aforementioned embodiments, the dental abutment may further include N pairs of vibration excitation transducers and response sensors (N is an integer greater than 1), so as to detect the positions of bone defects in more orientations. N can be varied depending on detection requirements.
In this embodiment, the wireless receiving unit 140 is used for receiving the wireless transmitting signals from the detecting device 200 (see
The vibration excitation generation unit 150 is used for operating the vibration excitation transducer 120 and the response sensor 130 in a manner corresponding to the wireless transmission signals. For example, the vibration excitation generation unit 150 may transmit digital signals to the vibration excitation transducer 120 and the response sensor 130, so as to operate these devices, thereby initiating the non-contacted excitation (e.g., through the use of sound waves, a magnetic force, or the like) and detecting the vibration response.
The response receiving unit 160 is used for receiving the detecting results from the response sensor 130, in which the detecting results includes the vibration response and the displacement variation detected by the response sensor 130.
The wireless transmitting unit 170 is used for transmitting the detecting results, which are received from the response sensor 130 by the response receiving unit 160, to the detecting device 200 (see
The power supply unit 180 is used for providing power for the vibration excitation transducer 120, the response sensor 130, the wireless receiving unit 140, the vibration excitation generation unit 150, the response receiving unit 160, and the wireless transmitting unit 170. In some embodiments, when the power supply unit 180 is low on power, the wireless transmitting unit 170 may transmit a wireless transmitting signal to the detecting device 200 (see
In this embodiment, the wireless receiving unit 250 is used for receiving the detecting results from the response sensor 130 (see
In some embodiments, an input control panel 220 (see
The input control unit 222 is used for receiving the commands from the detecting device 200. Moreover, the input control unit 222 may transfer the commands to be executed to the processing and analyzing unit 230, so as to control relevant units to perform corresponding functions.
The processing and analyzing unit 230 is used for analyzing the detecting results from the response sensor 130. In other words, the processing and analyzing unit 230 may compute and analyze the vibration response and the displacement variation detected by the response sensor 130, thereby obtaining the resonant frequency and determining the positions of bone defects. In an embodiment, such as that is shown is
The display unit 212 is used for rendering the analysis results of the processing and analyzing unit 230. In some embodiments, the display 210 (see
The storage unit 270 is used for storing the analysis results of the processing and analyzing unit 230. In some embodiments, the storage unit 270 may transfer the analysis results to the memory of the detecting device 200, such as a flash memory or RAM (random access memory) thereof.
The output unit 260 is used for outputting the analysis results of the processing and analyzing unit 230. In some embodiments, the output unit 260 may transmit the analysis results to a peripheral device, such as a computer, a mobile phone, etc.
The power supply unit 280 is used for providing electric power for the display unit 212, the input control unit 222, the processing and analyzing unit 230, the wireless transmitting unit 240, the wireless receiving unit 250, the output unit 260, and the storage unit 270. In some embodiments, power may be supplied to the power supply unit 280 via an adaptor or a USB (universal serial bus) connector connected to an external device. When there is an insufficient amount of power, the display 210 may show a particular icon to inform the user to charge or replace the power supply unit 280.
Referring back to
In some embodiments, the dental abutment 100 may be made of a polymer material or a biocompatible metal. The biocompatible material may include, but is not limited to including, titanium or an alloy thereof.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
100134181 | Sep 2011 | TW | national |