Identification of intraoral areas of interest

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10898077-B2
Application number	US-202016923990-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2020
Priority date	May 7, 2014
Publication date	Jan 26, 2021
Grant date	Jan 26, 2021

Abstract

In embodiments, a first 3D model of a patient's teeth based on first intraoral scan data taken at a first time is processed to recognize the teeth in the first 3D model. A second 3D model of the patient's teeth based on second intraoral scan data taken at a second time is processed to recognize the teeth in the second 3D model. The first 3D model is compared to the second 3D model and a plurality of AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling are determined based on the comparison. The teeth recognized in the first 3D model are compared to the teeth recognized in the second 3D model, and one or more AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage are determined based on the comparison.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations for identifying intraoral areas of interest (AOIs), the operations comprising:
receiving or generating a first virtual three-dimensional (3D) model comprising teeth of a patient, wherein the first virtual 3D model is based on a first intraoral scan of the patient taken at a first time;
processing the first virtual 3D model to recognize the teeth in the first virtual 3D model;
receiving or generating a second virtual 3D model comprising the teeth of the patient, wherein the second virtual 3D model is based on a second intraoral scan of the patient taken at a second time;
processing the second virtual 3D model to recognize the teeth in the second virtual 3D model;
comparing, by the processing device, the first virtual 3D model to the second virtual 3D model;
determining, as a result of comparing the first virtual 3D model to the second virtual 3D model, a plurality of AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling;
comparing the teeth recognized in the first virtual 3D model to the teeth recognized in the second virtual 3D model; and
determining, as a result of comparing the teeth recognized in the first virtual 3D model to the teeth recognized in the second virtual 3D model, one or more AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
determining, for each AOI of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling, an importance rank of the AOI;
receiving a user selection of a threshold value; and
displaying indications of AOIs having ranks that meet or exceed the threshold value.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 , the operations further comprising:
suppressing indications of AOIs having ranks that are below the threshold value.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 , the operations further comprising:
keying the displayed indications of AOIs having ranks that meet or exceed the threshold value using color.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
displaying at least one of a) one or more indications of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling orb) an indication of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , the operations further comprising:
keying at least one of a) the indications of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling orb) the indication of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage using color, wherein the color indicates importance rank.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein an AOI of the plurality of AOIs or of the one or more AOIs is hidden in one or more views, and wherein the indication of the AOI is visible in the one or more views.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage corresponds to one of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling.

9. A system comprising:
a memory; and
a processing device operatively coupled to the memory, the processing device to:
receive or generate a first virtual three-dimensional (3D) model comprising teeth of a patient, wherein the first virtual 3D model is based on a first intraoral scan of the patient taken at a first time;
process the first virtual 3D model to recognize the teeth in the first virtual 3D model;
receive or generate a second virtual 3D model comprising the teeth of the patient, wherein the second virtual 3D model is based on a second intraoral scan of the patient taken at a second time;
process the second virtual 3D model to recognize the teeth in the second virtual 3D model
compare the first virtual 3D model to the second virtual 3D model;
determine, as a result of comparing the first virtual 3D model to the second virtual 3D model, a plurality of AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling;
compare the teeth recognized in the first virtual 3D model to the teeth recognized in the second virtual 3D model; and
determine, as a result of comparing the teeth recognized in the first virtual 3D model to the teeth recognized in the second virtual 3D model, one or more AOIs in the second virtual 3D model representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage corresponds to one of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processing device is further to:
determine, for each AOI of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling, an importance rank of the AOI;
receive a user selection of a threshold value; and
output to a display indications of AOIs having ranks that meet or exceed the threshold value.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing device is further to:
suppress indications of AOIs having ranks that are below the threshold value.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing device is further to:
key the displayed indications of AOIs having ranks that meet or exceed the threshold value using color.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processing device is further to:
output to a display at least one of a) one or more indications of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling orb) an indication of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the processing device is further to:
key at least one of a) the indications of the plurality of AOIs representative of at least one of tooth wear, tooth breakage, tooth movement, gingival recession or gingival swelling orb) the indication of the one or more AOIs representative of tooth wear or tooth breakage using color, wherein the color indicates importance rank.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein an AOI of the plurality of AOIs or of the one or more AOIs is hidden in one or more views, and wherein the indication of the AOI is visible in the one or more views.

17. A method comprising:
receiving or generating a first virtual three-dimensional (3D) model comprising teeth of a patient, wherein the first virtual 3D model is based on a first intraoral scan of the patient taken at a first time;
processing the first virtual 3D model to recognize the teeth in the first virtual 3D model;
receiving or generating a second virtual 3D model comprising the teeth of the patient, wherein the second virtual 3

Assignees

• Align Technology Inc

Inventors

• Kopelman Avi
• Sabina Michael
• Levin Adi
• Minchenkov Mikhail
• Anufrienko Maria

Classifications

• A61B5/4552

  Evaluating soft tissue within the mouth, e.g. gums or tongue · CPC title

• A61B1/24

  for the mouth, i.e. stomatoscopes, e.g. with tongue depressors; Instruments for opening or keeping open the mouth · CPC title

• A61B6/5241

  combining overlapping images of the same imaging modality, e.g. by stitching · CPC title

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61C7/002

  Orthodontic computer assisted systems · CPC title