Claims
- 1. An imaging device, comprising:
an illumination source for illuminating a surface with light whereby glare is generated from said surface; an image sensor adapted to capture an image of the surface including the glare, said image sensor in an angular orientation relative to said surface; a display coupled to the image sensor and adapted to display the image; a processor adapted to highlight a glare artifact generated by the glare on the display thereby providing information about the angular orientation.
- 2. The imaging device of claim 1 wherein said illumination source is a directional illumination source.
- 3. The imaging device of claim 2 comprising at least one of a diffuse illumination source and another directional source.
- 4. The imaging device of claim 2 wherein the directional illumination source illuminates the surface momentarily before the image is captured.
- 5. The imaging device of claim 2 wherein the directional illumination source has a time-varying relationship to the surface to generate a plurality of glare artifacts.
- 6. The imaging device of claim 1 wherein the processor provides steering instructions on said display to direct a user in repositioning the image sensor relative to the surface.
- 7. The imaging device of claim 1 wherein the illumination source is time-varying.
- 8. The imaging device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the light and the glare is colored so that the glare artifact is colored.
- 9. A method for adjusting an imaging device relative to an object comprising:
positioning an image sensor at a distance from the surface; illuminating said object to create glare; detecting the glare with the image sensor; adjusting the position of the image sensor relative to the object based on said detecting.
- 10. The method of claim 9 comprising displaying the glare to a user on a display.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the imaging device instructs the user to perform said adjusting.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the display displays arrows to direct a user in said adjusting.
- 13. The method of claim 9 comprising highlighting said glare on said display.
- 14. The method of claim 9 wherein said illuminating is performed with a source at a position distanced from the object and said image sensor, and wherein said position is time-varied relative to at least one of said image sensor and the object.
- 15. The method of claim 9 wherein the object is at least one of a human tooth and a shade guide tab, including a cervical edge and an incisal edge, the cervical edge disposed a distance from said incisal edge.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the position of the image sensor is adjusted relative to the at least one of the human tooth and the shade guide tab to ensure that the glare is located at a predefined position.
- 17. The method of claim 9 comprising repeating said aforementioned steps to identify a desired location of the glare in the image, the desired location corresponding to an optimal angular orientation of the imaging device.
- 18. An imaging device comprising:
imaging means for capturing an image of an object, the image including a region of interest and a glare artifact, the glare artifact disposed in a first location in the image; comparing means for comparing the first location to a preferred glare artifact location; and determining means for determining when said first location substantially coincides with said preferred glare artifact location.
- 19. The imaging device of claim 18 wherein said imaging means captures the image of the object when said first location coincides with said preferred glare artifact location.
- 20. The imaging device of claim 18 comprising steering means for steering a user to adjust said imaging means to a predefined orientation relative to the object for capturing the image of the object.
- 21. The imaging device of claim 18 comprising display means for displaying the image of the object.
- 22. The imaging device of claim 18 wherein the imaging means is adapted to capture images at a bandwidth selected from the group consisting of visible, infrared, near-infrared and ultraviolet bandwidths.
- 23. A method for steering an imaging device disposed in a first orientation relative to an object, the object illuminated such that a glare artifact is visible in a first location on the object, comprising:
sensing the glare artifact; providing instructions to move the glare artifact to a second location based on said sensing, whereby the imaging device is adjusted to a second orientation.
- 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the instructions are provided to a user.
- 25. The method of claim 24 where the imaging device includes a display and the instructions are provided to the user via an arrow on the display.
- 26. The method of claim 23 wherein the detected glare artifact is displayed in an image including at least a portion of the object.
- 27. The method of claim 26 comprising highlighting the glare artifact in the first location.
- 28. The method of claim 27 comprising indicating when the glare artifact is in the preferred location.
- 29. The method of claim 23 wherein the object includes a non-planar surface.
- 30. The method of claim 23 wherein the object is at least one of a human tooth and a shade guide tab including a cervical edge, an incisal edge, and a region representative of the reflectance characteristics of the at least one of the human tooth and the shade guide tab, the cervical edge disposed a distance from the incisal edge, and wherein the imaging device includes an image sensor having an optical axis.
- 31. The method of claim 28 wherein the second orientation provides alignment of the optical axis so that the optical axis is substantially normal to the region.
- 32. The method of claim 29 wherein the second location substantially corresponds to one-third of the distance away from the cervical edge of the tooth.
- 33. A method for obtaining a preferred measurement of a reflectance characteristic of an object, comprising:
providing a glare-generating light; time-varying a position of at least one of the object and the light to create a plurality of glare artifacts on the object; obtaining a plurality of images of the object, each including at least one of said plurality of glare artifacts in a corresponding location in the image; analyzing the location of the at least one of said plurality of glare artifacts relative to a preferred location in the image; and selecting a preferred image based on said analyzing.
- 34. The method of claim 33 wherein the plurality of images are acquired with an image sensor having an optical axis.
- 35. The method of claim 34 wherein the preferred image is an image obtained when the optical axis is substantially normal to a region of interest on the object.
- 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the object is moved along a production line and the preferred image is analyzed to monitor the quality of the object.
- 37. The method of claim 33 wherein the object includes a curved surface.
- 38. The method of claim 33 wherein a plurality of glare-generating lights are projected onto the object.
- 39. A method for acquiring a measurement of an object, comprising:
providing a glare-generating light; time-varying a position of at least one of the object and the light to create a plurality of orientations of glare artifacts on the object; monitoring the plurality of orientation of the glare artifacts on the object; measuring the object based on said monitoring.
- 40. The method of claim 39 wherein each of the plurality of glare artifacts is disposed at a corresponding plurality of locations relative to said object.
- 41. The method of claim 40 wherein said monitoring step includes comparing the corresponding plurality of locations to a preferred artifact location that is indicative of desired orientation of the object relative to the light.
- 42. The method of claim 39 wherein the light is a provided by a directional illumination source.
- 43. The method of claim 42 wherein the directional illumination source is turned-off during said measuring.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/291,446, filed May 16, 2001 and entitled GLARE POSITIONING TECHNIQUES FOR IMAGING OF SAMPLES WITH REFLECTANCE MEASURING INSTRUMENTATION.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60291446 |
May 2001 |
US |