Patent Grant
12137881
The present disclosure relates to systems, apparatuses, and related methods for visualizing an operative field in the context of a dental operating theater, and more specifically, to a portable, modular, multifunctional intraoral imaging system to assist a medical practitioner (e.g., surgeon, dentist, doctor, dental hygienist, etc.) in performing a medical or dental procedure (e.g., dental surgery, dental procedure etc.) in a confined space (e.g., intraoral cavity or mouth of a patient) to reduce or eliminate any contorting required by the medical practitioner's body during the imaging or during the procedure.
The conventional dental operating theater is arranged such that the patient is placed in a comfortable, fully reclining chair with articulating headrest while the dentist sits on a stool at the three-six-twelve o'clock position (if right-handed or, the opposite if left-handed). Throughout treatment, the patient remains recumbent as the dental professional seeks to visualize the operative field by either contorting themselves to achieve direct vision or through the manipulation of a dental hand mirror of approximately 25 mm diameter. The Dentist routinely utilizes a Dental Assistant, who sits on a specifically designed stool that allows arms to rest upon a padded bar, usually at the dentist's non-working side. The Dental Assistant's role is to provide adequate cheek/tongue retraction and water/saliva control.
Dentistry is a crippling profession that places unfathomable physical stress upon the cervical and lumbar spines and the pectoral and pelvic girdles of the dental professional. The difficulty relates to the contortions that the practitioner must adopt to adequately visualize the operative field, all while performing micro-surgical procedures that demand the utmost in hand-eye coordination, dexterity and physical stability, often for hours on end. During a decades-long career, musculo-skeletal pathology is inherent and practically unavoidable.
An otoscope is useful to illuminate an ear, and endoscope a body cavity such as mouth or rectum, a laparoscope the organs of the abdomen and a arthroscope joints between bones. However, there is not an illumination source for intraoral imaging that addresses the unique problems experienced by a dentist as described herein.
Therefore, a need exists to create a multifunctional intraoral imaging system that is portable, modular, and interactive to assist a medical practitioner (e.g., surgeon, dentist, doctor, dental hygienist, etc.) in performing a medical or dental procedure (e.g., dental surgery, dental procedure etc.) in a confined space (e.g., intraoral cavity or mouth of a patient) without contorting their body.
To overcome and mitigate the deficiencies noted above with commercially available dental imaging devices, this disclosure presents an ergonomic solution that provides a dental practitioner with a superior range of vision without requiring the practitioner to contort themselves to properly visualize the operative field.
If an apparatus could be developed that would project an active image of the operative field to a high-resolution screen directly in front of the practitioner, then there would be no need for the individual to contort themselves to provide patient care. No hand mirror. No bending, twisting, torquing of the cervical- or lumbar-spine. Simple operation in a comfortable, ergonomically idealized environment would be possible.
The present disclosure describes embodiments of an apparatus to address the above-identified concerns. The embodiments described herein permit micro-surgical procedures in a confined operative area with less-than-ideal visibility and access, without the present, though generally accepted, physical difficulties and limitations.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to, among other things, systems, apparatuses, and related methods for visualizing an operative field in the context of a dental operating theater. More specifically, to portable, modular, multifunctional intraoral imaging systems configured to assist a medical practitioner (e.g., surgeon, dentist, doctor, dental hygienist, etc.) in performing one or more medical or dental procedure(s) (e.g., dental surgery, dental procedure etc.) in a confined space (e.g., intraoral cavity or mouth of a patient) without the practitioner contorting their body or otherwise inducing back and/or neck pain while conducting the procedure(s).
In one exemplary embodiment, the embodiment is a system. This exemplary system may include a moveable imaging and display system comprising a moveable base; an adjustable stand mounted to the base, wherein the stand includes three sections: a first section having an upper end and a lower end, wherein the lower end is mounted to the movable base; a second section having a curved upper end and a lower end, wherein the lower end of the second section is rotatably mounted to the upper end of the first section; and a third section having a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the proximal end of the third section is rotatably mounted to the upper end of the second section; a tray unit rotatably mounted by way of a laterally extending arm to the first section of the adjustable stand; a camera module mounted to the tray unit, wherein the camera module includes an articulating neck having a proximal end mounted to the tray unit and a distal end to which is mounted a camera unit; and a display holder rotatably mounted to the distal end of the third section of the adjustable base.
In another exemplary embodiment, the embodiment is a system. This exemplary system may include a moveable intraoral imaging and display system, comprising: a movable base having a top and a bottom, the base having a plurality of wheels attached to the bottom of the base; a power cable attached to a side of the base; an adjustable telescoping vertical stand attached to a top of the base, wherein the adjustable telescoping vertical stand includes: a first tube section attached to the top of the base; a second tube section attached to a top of the first tube section via a first rotatable collar; and a third tube section attached to a top of the second tube section via a second rotatable collar; a first curved tubular section attached to a top of the third tube section via a third rotatable collar; a second curved tubular section attached to a distal end of the first curved tubular section via a fourth rotatable collar; fourth tube section attached to a distal end of the second curved section via a fifth rotatable collar, wherein a display holder unit is mounted to a distal end of the fourth tube section; a transverse tube section attached to the second rotatable collar of the adjustable section; a tray unit attached to a distal end of the transverse tube section; a camera module attached to a distal end of the tray unit, wherein the camera module includes a base to which the tray unit is attached, an articulating neck to which the base is attached, and a camera unit to which the articulating neck is attached, wherein the articulating neck includes a bend-and-stay wire.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. In the figures:
While the present disclosure is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. Other embodiments are possible, and modifications can be made to the described embodiments within the spirit and scope of the teachings herein, as they may be applied to the above-noted field of the present disclosure or to any additional fields in which such embodiments would be of significant utility. For example, embodiments described herein can be used with any good and/or service related to imaging in a medical procedure in order to reduce or remove stresses or painful, or otherwise uncomfortable contouring of a practitioner's body.
In the detailed description herein, references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
These embodiments, which are also referred to herein as “examples,” are described in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. The embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, or structural, logical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all publications, patents, patent documents, whitepapers, and technical papers referred to in this document or in the attached appendices are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein, as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to, among other things, systems, apparatuses, and related methods for visualizing an operative field in the context of a dental operating theater. More specifically, to portable, modular, multifunctional intraoral imaging systems configured to assist a medical practitioner (e.g., surgeon, dentist, doctor, dental hygienist, etc.) in performing one or more medical or dental procedure(s) (e.g., dental surgery, dental procedure etc.) in a confined space (e.g., intraoral cavity or mouth of a patient) without the practitioner contorting their body or otherwise inducing back and/or neck pain while conducting the procedure(s).
The term “distal”, as used herein, may refer to a section closer to a patient. The term “proximal”, as used herein, may refer to a section closer to a practitioner (e.g., a dentist, a surgeon, or any other medical/dental professional).
In an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure describes an active, portable, multifunctional intraoral imaging system 100 which, through alleviating physical difficulties encountered by the dental practitioner while working in a confined operative area with less-than-ideal visibility and access, represents a paradigm shift in the practice of dentistry. It can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the benefits of this exemplary multifunctional intraoral imaging system may be used in non-dental procedures (e.g., by an oral maxillofacial surgeon, or other physician, or any other suitable medical practitioner).
As will be explained in greater detail below, the multifunctional intraoral imaging system 100, as depicted in
With detailed reference now to the Figures,
In an exemplary embodiment, the base unit 102 may be a one-foot cast-metal square that incorporates four 2.5-inch, locking casters. In another embodiment, the rolling stand 102 may be comprised of a rolling or slidable base. In doing so, the imaging system 100 is portable and may be moved by a practitioner (e.g., dentist, doctor, surgeon, etc.) or by the practitioner's assistant (e.g., dental assistant, dental hygienist, physician assistant, etc.) between one operating/patient's room to another operating/patient's room. The imaging system 100 may be powered by a power cable 106, and may utilize a standard medical grade power cable to power the imaging system 100. The power cable 106 may be part of medical-grade power supplies that may have been specially designed to meet the IEC60601 medical equipment safety standard. IEC60601-rated power supplies must have effective and reliable isolation between the AC input to the power supply, the internal high voltage stages, and the DC output. In an exemplary embodiment, the imaging system 100 may be operated using a foot-operated controller that allows for hands-free operation of the system 100.
The imaging system 100 may also include an adjustable section 108 (e.g., a telescoping primary, height-adjustable, tube with a 90° L-bend connecting to a length-adjustable telescoping arm) of the imaging system 100 to permit a practitioner to adjust (e.g., increase or decrease) the height of the display holder unit 130 relative to the practitioner's eyes such that the practitioner may avoid having to look down or up by adjusting the height of the imaging system 100. The adjustable section 108 may be formed with sections 110, 112, and 114, as shown, and connected at rotatable collars 116, 118, and 120. The adjustable section may be configured and dimensioned to allow the imaging system to height adjust along a Z-axis, and rotate a lower arm 140, via rotatable collar 118, to rotate the lower arm 140 about the Z-axis. Attached to a top end of section 114, via rotatable collar 120, is L-shaped section 122, which may also be configured and dimensioned to be height adjustable along the Z-axis. The L-shaped section 122 (or curved section 122) may also be configured to rotate, via the rotatable collar 120, about the Z-axis. Extending from a top section of the L-shaped section 122, as shown, may be an upper arm 126. Similar to the lower arm 140, the upper arm 126 (or curved section 126) may be rotatably attached to L-shaped section 122, via a rotatable collar 124, to permit the upper arm 126 to rotate about the Z-axis. Extending yet further from upper arm 126, is the display unit arm 128, as shown. The display unit arm 128 may be rotatably connected to the upper arm 126 via a rotatable collar 127, such that the display unit arm 128 may rotate about the X-axis. A portable display 132 (e.g., computer tablet, or similar tablet PC) may be detachably mounted within a display holder 130 of the imaging system 100, as shown in
The primary tube of the adjustable section 108 of the imaging system 100 may include two height adjusters, as shown. In its collapsed state, the primary tube may be approximately 39 inches in height. The two rotatable collars 116 and 120 may be adjustment rings, may be sealed, and may be twist locks that may be loosened/tightened by hand. This may permit the extension of the base unit 102 by an additional 24 inches. An instrument tray 142, which may house a power junction, a Bluetooth® module and assorted software, may be disposed between the two sealed, twist-lock adjustment rings 116 and 120, may rotate 360° in the X-Y plane, and the rotatable collar 118 to which the tray 142 is attached may incorporate internal stop-clicks every 30° for a total of 12 stops.
The secondary length-adjustable tube (e.g., upper arm 126) may connect to the terminus of the 90° L-shaped section 122, by way of rotatable collar 124, and may rotate 360° in the Y-Z plane in its socket, incorporating internal stop-clicks every 30° for a total of 12 stops. When collapsed, the secondary length-adjustable tube (e.g., upper arm 126) is 18 inches in length. Rotatable collar 127 may be configured to also incorporate a sealed, twist-lock adjustment ring that permits a further 12-inch extension of the display unit arm 128 outward from the secondary length-adjustable tube (e.g., upper arm 126). With this extension, the rotatable collar 127 may be configured to allow for 360° rotation of the display holder 130 with internal stop-clicks every 30° for a total of 12 stops.
The display screen 132 of the imaging system 100 may be a HiDef Video Screen that may be attached via an adjustable, telescoping arm to the rolling stand unit 102 of the imaging system 100. A junction box within the tray 142 of the imaging system 100 may serve to connect the imaging system's 100 HiDef video screen as the primary camera 150 to a power source. Initial power-up is enabled through a sealed switch on the side of the HiDef video screen. Actuation may then occur via proximity sensor (not shown), which may also activate or awaken the imaging system 100 from a sleep mode. The proximity sensor may also enable the display of the imaging system's 100 controls, which may appear at the bottom of the HiDef Video Screen. The display screen controls may include video/freeze-frame, f/stop (depth-of-field), ring-light, white balance, brightness, contrast, clarity, and color saturation. The Hi-Def video screen may also incorporate dual SD video card slots, which may be located on the same side of the device as the sealed power switch, behind a sealed door. The SD cards may enable recording of procedures performed by the primary camera module 150 of the imaging system 100 and/or the secondary imaging device 230. The primary camera 150, the secondary camera 230, and the HiDef video screen may communicate via Bluetooth®. The Bluetooth® module may reside within the tray 142 of the imaging system 100.
The tubular-shaped sections 110, 112, 114, 122, 126, 128, and/or 140 of the imaging system 100 may be formed from any suitable plastic or metal. Similarly, the rotatable collars 116, 118, 120, 124, and 127 of the imaging system 100 may also be formed from any suitable plastic or metal. In an exemplary embodiment, this plastic or metal may be of medical grade and/or may possess material properties to withstand the rigors of autoclave sterilization.
With continuing reference now to the lower arm 140 of the imaging system 100, the tray 142 may be mounted to an end of the lower arm 140, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, and in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, during operation of the system 100, a practitioner (e.g., dentist, doctor, etc.) may take or capture an image of the intraoral cavity or mouth etc. and a fiber optic cable talks or is in electrical communication with the controller, as described above. The system may include a CPU and/or signal processing capabilities in the controller stored in the tray unit housing 142. Then, the tray unit 142 may be configured to communication the signal (i.e., image) captured by the camera to a display screen 132. In another embodiment, the camera may wireless transmit the signal directly from the primary camera module to the display screen 132, via wireless communication, via Bluetooth®, or over a cloud computing uplink/downlink.
The tray 142 may also be formed with one or more hangers 144, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the primary camera module 150 may include a proximal connection section 152 that may be used to mount or connect the primary camera module 150 to the tray unit 142 of the imaging system 100, as shown, for example, in additional detail in
In an exemplary embodiment, the primary camera 155, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the imaging system's 100 primary camera 150 may include a body/lens unit sealed against water and dust penetration. The primary camera module 150 housing may also be hermetically sealed. The primary camera body/lens unit may be approximately 40 mm (width)-X-40 mm (height)-X-80 mm (length). The primary camera 150 may utilize an approximately 24.0 mm×16.0 mm, 24-26-megapixel, APS-C-sized, CMOS sensor that may incorporate a 5-axis stabilization system and an ultrasonic vibration cleaning system. The primary camera sensor may have a non-detachable low pass filter and may also utilize RGB primary color filters. The primary camera 150 CMOS sensor may provide for Auto-Focus with a detection range of approximately 90% vertical and 90% horizontal of the field-of-view. The primary camera 150 CMOS sensor may operate on an automatic ISO with a range of approximately 160 to 25,600 and may utilize automatic white balance featuring ambiance priority or white priority and is further adjustable for tungsten and fluorescent lighting; light is metered via a center-weighted average. The primary camera 150 CMOS sensor may provide for continuous auto-focus as well as freeze-frame (single-frame) autofocus with continuous subject tracking-once a focus-point is selected via the HiDef Video Screen, the system may automatically re-center the image on the HiDef Video Screen (e.g., portable display 132) to represent the focus point; utilizing pinch and spread hand motions, the practitioner 190 (e.g., the dentist, his assistant, or other suitable medical practitioner) zooms the focus point to the appropriate scale per procedure. The primary camera 150 body may be equipped with an electronic shutter for both single frame and/or video imaging. The primary camera may record in 4K Ultra High-Definition video.
The primary camera 150 lens may be set at a fixed 41°/65° field-of-view (approximately 50 mm-35 mm lens equivalent in 35 mm format). The lens may provide for f-stops from 5.6-28, providing for adequate depth-of-field and macro-level detail for all dental procedures. The primary camera 150 lens may incorporate an LED ring-light to enhance visualization.
As shown in
With initial reference to
As depicted on the screen of the portable display 132, during imaging and/or the surgical procedure, the patient's intraoral image may be relayed to be viewed by the practitioner 190 by looking straight ahead into the portable display 132 instead of down into the patient's mouth 182. In an exemplary embodiment, the portable display 132 of the imaging system 100 may be positioned in the dental operating theater 300 such that a plane of the portable display 132 is aligned with a plane of the patient's navel or a plane of the patient's waist (as shown). During an exemplary operation of the imaging system 100, the lower arm 140 (
With reference now to
In another embodiment, the camera may wireless transmit the signal directly from the secondary camera module to the display screen 132, via wireless communication, via Bluetooth®, or over a cloud computing uplink/downlink.
The secondary camera housing 239 may be mounted or otherwise attached to the high-volume suction tube 236 via one or more mounting brackets 238, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the secondary camera module 230 may be mounted in a tube that may be permanently attached to a dental high-volume suction evacuator (HVE). The purpose of the secondary camera may be to provide a different, lateral perspective of the operating area to the dentist without altering the position of the primary camera. The secondary camera tube 239 and the high-volume suction evacuator 236 may be fabricated of a sterilizable metal (stainless steel). The secondary camera tube 239 may be seated approximately 5-10 mm above the high-volume evacuator tube 236 and may be approximately two-thirds its size. The front or distal end 272 of the secondary camera tube 239 may also be sealed with a scientific-grade glass 0-diopter lens that permits visualization of the working area (lateral perspective) by the secondary camera.
The secondary camera may be housed within an approximately 20 mm diameter X 80 mm long tube (e.g., tube 239) incorporating a lens set 272 at one end and a power input 232 at the other. The secondary camera may utilize a sensor of approximately 15 mp with an electronic shutter and may be stabilized against vibration and sudden movement. The sensor may provide continuous autofocus around a central, discriminating focus area that is continuously tracking a subject. The lens set may produce a 28-to-35 mm (equivalent) field of view at a constant f22. The secondary camera may be inserted within the tube atop the HVE, may be secured intimately with a machined fit, and may be sealed in place by securing the watertight (rubber) power source 274 at the rear, proximal end 271 of the tube 239.
The imaging system 100 may also require data processing or software functionality and capability. The software may be stored in a digital storage medium (e.g., RAM) housed within the tray unit 142 of the imaging system 100. The software may also be uploaded to a cloud computing storage device or a central server and may be accessed via the controller, as taught herein, using either a wireless or wired Internet connection, or some other similar medium of digital data transfer. The imaging system 100, and/or the secondary camera module, may require any of the following software requirements:
Apart from the requirements above, it can be appreciated that other examples of such software libraries and/or services may be used by the imaging system 100.
While principles of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, embodiments, and substitution of equivalents all fall within the scope of the embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description.
This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/876,516 filed on Jul. 28, 2022, which claims the benefit of priority based on the U.S. national phase entry of PCT Application No. PCT/US2022/018051, filed Feb. 26, 2022, which itself claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/154,074, filed Feb. 26, 2021. All of these prior applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20230309811 A1 | Oct 2023 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 63154074 | Feb 2021 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17876516 | US | |
| Child | 18205323 | US |
