Patent Application
20220183800
The present disclosure generally relates to non-recurring or unique, non-repeating surface textures on intra-oral scan bodies, as well as the usage of multiple uniquely textured intra-oral scan bodies during acquisition of digital impressions of an intra-oral cavity.
Dental implants are used in restorative dentistry to affix a dental prosthesis to the dental arches of a patient, such as the mandible or maxilla. A model of the intra-oral structure of a patient is used for designing the dental prosthesis or prosthetics to be affixed within the intra-oral cavity of the patient at implant sites.
Digital impressions are a technology which allows the creation of virtual, computer-generated model of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity of a patient. Digital impressions are generated from three-dimensional (3D) topographic image data acquired from the oral cavity of the patient using optical scanning devices.
Planning the position, height, angle and orientation of the prosthetic within the mouth of a patient includes digital modeling of scan bodies engaged in the implant site. Digital impressions of the intra-oral cavity with the scan bodies mounted within the mouth of the patient relay the position, height, angle and orientation information for planning and positioning of a physical dental implant.
In order to generate a digital impression with the scan bodies engaged, the 3D topographic image data is combined or “stitched” together to create the 3D surface model of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity, including the dental condition of the patient. In the case of digital impressions of intra-oral scan bodies, this reliance on matching of 3D contours to produce a stitched final result is predicated on the concept of the surfaces being sufficiently unique that they can be reliably matched and stitched together.
Scan bodies are typically cylindrical or nearly cylindrical in shape and do not typically include any indicia for mapping intra-oral structures for positioning relative to the scan body. Scan bodies are generally very uniform in shape and appearance and are often mis-stitched due to incorrect matching of stitching data when multiple matches can be made between the uniform surface to be stitched and the existing data. For example, an arc-shaped object would be able to be matched to a cylindrical surface many ways because the cylindrical shape of the scan body is generally uniform around an entire axis thereof.
It therefore desirable to have a means for reducing or potentially eliminating mis-stitching errors between the surface to be stitched and the 3D topographic data when creating a 3D surface model.
The present disclosure generally relates to non-recurring or unique, non-repeating surface textures on intra-oral scan bodies, as well as the usage of multiple uniquely textured intra-oral scan bodies during acquisition of digital impressions of an intra-oral cavity.
In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a scan body member including a body portion having a first end portion and a second end portion opposite the first end portion. A wall portion extends between the first end portion and the second end portion. The wall portion has an exterior surface portion. The scan body member further includes a system of indicia having a non-recurring distribution about the exterior surface portion and recessed within the wall portion. The system of indicia may be scannable by an optical scanning system.
The scan body member may include an oblique wall portion extending from the second end portion and intersecting the wall portion between the second end portion and the first end portion. The system of indicia may be distributed about a surface portion of the oblique wall portion.
The system of indicia may include a plurality of circular depressions extending into the wall portion from the exterior surface portion. In another aspect, the system of indicia may include at least one valley extending at least partially about the wall portion, the valley extending into the wall portion from the exterior surface portion. The at least one valley may vary in depth therealong. The system of indicia may include a plurality of valleys and a plurality of ridges between the valleys. The system of indicia may vary in depth of recess within the wall portion. Variation in depth may be according to a depth gradient.
In another aspect, there is provided a system for generating digital impressions. At least one scan body member has a body portion having a first end portion and a second end portion opposite the first end portion. A wall portion may extend between the first end portion and the second end portion, the wall portion having an exterior surface portion. The system may include a system of indicia having a non-recurring distribution about the exterior surface portion and recessed within the wall portion and at least one optical scanning device for scanning the at least one scan body member with the system of indicia.
The at least one scan body member may include at least one oblique wall portion extending from the second end portion and intersecting the wall portion between the second end portion and the first end portion.
The system of indicia may include a plurality of circular depressions extending into the wall portion from the exterior surface portion. In another aspect, the system of indicia may include at least one valley extending at least partially about the wall portion, the valley extending into the wall portion from the exterior surface portion. The system of indicia may include a plurality of valleys and a plurality of ridges between the valleys.
In another aspect, the at least one scan body member includes a plurality of scan body members and each scan body member of the plurality of scan body members has a unique system of indicia.
The system of indicia may vary in depth of recess within the wall portion. Variation in depth may be according to a depth gradient.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for generating a digital model of an intra-oral cavity comprising the steps of: providing at least one scan body member, each scan body member comprising: a body portion having a first end portion and a second end portion opposite the first end portion; a wall portion extending between the first end portion and the second end portion, the wall portion having an exterior surface portion; and, a system of indicia having a non-recurring distribution about the exterior surface portion and recessed within the wall portion, affixing, within an intra-oral cavity, the at least one scan body member, scanning the at least one scan body member and system of indicia with an optical scanning device to provide image data representing the intra-oral cavity and, generating a model of the intra-oral cavity based on the image data representing the intra-oral cavity.
The step of generating a model may further include the steps of determining the position of the image data in the model relative to the scanned system of indicia of the at least one scan body member, and positioning the image data in the model.
The step of providing at least one scan body member may further include providing a plurality of scan body members, and each scan body member of the plurality of scan body members has a unique system of indicia.
In another aspect, there is provided a system of indicia including a plurality of recessed indicia having a non-recurring distribution about an exterior surface portion of a wall portion of a scan body member and extending into the wall portion. The scan body member may have a body portion having a first end portion and a second end portion. The wall portion may extend between the first end portion and the second end portion. The plurality of recessed indicia may be scannable by an optical scanning system.
The plurality of recessed indicia may be a plurality of circular depressions. In another aspect, the plurality of recessed indicia may include a plurality of valleys each extending at least partially about the wall portion. The plurality of recessed indicia may vary in depth of recess within the wall portion. Variation in depth may be according to a depth gradient.
The system of indicia provides each scan body with a uniquely textured surface or profile. The surface texture provides unique information which is detectable by an oral imaging device. When positioned within an oral cavity, the unique surface texture information of the scan bodies may be used to facilitate modeling of the oral cavity.
Exemplary non-limiting embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The present disclosure generally relates to non-recurring or unique, non-repeating surface textures on intra-oral scan bodies, as well as the usage of multiple uniquely textured intra-oral scan bodies during acquisition of digital impressions of an intra-oral cavity.
In
In
Scan body 100 further includes a system of indicia 114 having a non-recurring distribution about the exterior surface portion 110. Preferably, the indicia are recessed within the wall portion 108. The indicia may, for example, be provided by engraving, molding, additive manufacturing or any other suitable means for forming the indicia. Thereby, the indicia 114 contribute to a texturization of the exterior surface portion 110 of the scan body 100. The system of indicia 114 is scannable by an optical scanning system. A suitable optical scanning system is capable of detecting the depth of the indicia 114 because they are recessed into the wall portion 108.
The indicia 116 in the system of indicia 114 may take any suitable form. As shown in
The indicia 116 may be further distinguishable from one another by applying a depth gradient. For example, an indicia 116 which consists of an elongate valley, such as that modeled in
A model 118 of a scan body 100 according to one aspect of the present invention is shown in
The model 118 of scan body 100 further includes the modeled system of indicia 132. As with the system of indicia 114 of a physical scan body 100, the modeled system of indicia 132 is represented as non-recurring, or as non-repeating, about the exterior surface portion 128. The modeled system of indicia 132 corresponds with the form of the system of indicia 114 on the physical scan body from which the image data was obtained. In the aspect shown in
It should be understood that if the system of indicia 114 were of the circular depression type shown in
When modeling an intra-oral cavity containing one or more scan bodies 100 according to the present invention, the optical scanning device will obtain image information from the system of indicia 114 of each scan body 100 positioned within the intra-oral cavity. The unique information provided by the unique system of indicia of each scan body 100 may be used to stitch the image data more precisely to the correct position in the model of the intra-oral cavity.
A three-dimensional computer-generated model 134 of an intra-oral cavity is shown in
A modeled conventional scan body 138 is shown in greater detail in
The model of the intra-oral cavity shown in
Due to the general uniformity of the exterior surface portion 148 of the modeled conventional scan body 138, any image data obtained from intra-oral scans which does not include the surrounding gingival regions is difficult to stitch. Models of the gingival regions include unique information which may be considered when stitching the model. However, this does not provide any unique information that would assist with relative positioning of image information relating to the scan bodies. Therefore, accurate stitching of image data to complete the model 134 using conventional scan bodies 138 is very challenging.
Typically, the maximum number of implants per dental arch is limited. Currently, a dental arch may accommodate approximately eight implants. So, a set of scan bodies according to this aspect of the invention would contain at least 8 variants for each size and type of scan body, for example. Each unique scan body may be numbered, from 1 to 8, for example, or otherwise identified so that they can be visually distinguishable from one another by a human user. For example, a user affixing the physical scan bodies would know not to use two scan bodies labeled with the number “2”. If the user had to scan 8 implants, they would use 8 different scan bodies. In
In
Moreover, unique topography may be applied by retrofit to any scan body by any manufacturer. For example, a conventional scan body could be engraved with a system of indicia in order to provide the advantages described herein to convention scan bodies. Further, the application of the system of indicia may be made to conventional scan bodies in a manner which permits backward compatibility with the modeling systems of manufacturers while still permitting high quality scanning.
While the invention has been described in terms of specific aspects, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the methods described herein could be performed in a manner which differs from the aspects described herein. The steps of each method could be performed using similar steps or steps producing the same result but which are not necessarily equivalent to the steps described herein. Some steps may also be performed in different order to obtain the same result. Similarly, the apparatuses and systems described herein could differ in appearance and construction from the aspects described herein, the functions of each component of the apparatus could be performed by components of different construction but capable of a similar though not necessarily equivalent function, and appropriate materials could be substituted for those noted. Accordingly, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific aspects described herein. It should also be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed above are for the purpose of disclosing the illustrated aspects, and do not necessarily serve as limitations to the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/123,794 filed Dec. 10, 2020, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63123794 | Dec 2020 | US |
