Identification of areas of interest during intraoral scans

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017049330-A1
Application number	US-201615347620-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2016
Priority date	May 7, 2014
Publication date	Feb 23, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

During an intraoral scan session, a processing device receives a first intraoral image of a dental site and identifies a candidate intraoral area of interest from the first intraoral image. The processing device receives a second intraoral image of the dental site and verifies the first candidate intraoral area of interest as an intraoral area of interest based on comparison of the second intraoral image to the first intraoral image. The processing device then provides an indication of the intraoral area of interest during the intraoral scan session.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first intraoral image of a dental site; identifying, by the processing device, a first candidate intraoral area of interest from the first intraoral image; receiving a second intraoral image of the dental site; verifying, by the processing device, the first candidate intraoral area of interest as an intraoral area of interest based on comparison of the second intraoral image to the first intraoral image; and providing an indication of the intraoral area of interest.

2 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein verifying the first candidate intraoral area of interest as an intraoral area of interest comprises:
determining an alignment between the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image based on geometric features shared by the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image; and determining that the second intraoral image does not comprise a surface corresponding to the first candidate intraoral area of interest.

3 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
identifying a second candidate intraoral area of interest from the first intraoral image; making a determination that the second candidate intraoral area of interest corresponds to a surface of the second intraoral image based on a comparison of the second intraoral image to the first intraoral image; and concluding that the second candidate intraoral area of interest is not an additional intraoral area of interest responsive to making the determination.

4 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein identifying the first candidate intraoral area of interest comprises:
identifying a plurality of voxels in the first intraoral image that satisfy a criterion; determining a subset of the plurality of voxels that are proximate to one another; and grouping the subset of the plurality of voxels into a volume that comprises the first candidate intraoral area of interest.

5 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein the criterion comprises lack of image data and wherein the first candidate intraoral area of interest comprises a void in the first intraoral image.

6 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 5 , the operations further comprising:
interpolating a shape for the void based on geometric features surrounding the void in at least one of the first intraoral image or the second intraoral image, wherein the indication of the intraoral area of interest comprises the shape of the void.

7 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image are received during an intraoral scan session, and wherein the indication of the intraoral area of interest is provided during the intraoral scan session, the operations further comprising:
computing a virtual model of the dental site after the intraoral scan session is complete based on a plurality of intraoral images, the plurality of intraoral images including the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image.

8 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
receiving a new intraoral image comprising a region corresponding to the intraoral area of interest; determining an alignment between the new intraoral image and at least one of the first intraoral image or the second intraoral image; determining that the intraoral area of interest corresponds to a surface of the region in the new intraoral image; and removing the indication of the intraoral area of interest.

9 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the intraoral area of interest comprises a flag that points to the intraoral area of interest, wherein the intraoral area of interest is hidden in one or more views of the dental site, and wherein the flag is visible in the one or more views.

10 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
providing feedback to a user of an intraoral scanner that generated the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image, wherein the feedback indicates a change in at least one of a motion of the intraoral scanner or a speed of the intraoral scanner that will improve a quality of a scan session.

11 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the intraoral area of interest comprises a conflicting surface between the first intraoral image and the second intraoral image.

12 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein verifying the first candidate intraoral area of interest as an intraoral area of interest further comprises:
determining that the candidate intraoral area of interest has one or more dimensions that violate a geometric criterion.

13 . A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a plurality of intraoral images of a dental site; identifying, by the processing device and based on the plurality of intraoral images, a plurality of voxels satisfying a criterion; determining a subset of the plurality of voxels that are proximate to one another; grouping the subset of the plurality of voxels into an intraoral area of interest; and generating, by the processing device, an indication of the intraoral area of interest.

14 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
determining a classification for the intraoral area of interest; determining at least one of a text, a color or an icon based on the classification; and presenting the classification for the intraoral image in the indication using at least one of the text, the color or the icon.

15 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
generating a first virtual model of the dental site based on a first scan session of the dental site taken at a first time; generating a second virtual model of the dental site based on a second scan session of the dental site taken at a second time, wherein the plurality of intraoral images of the dental site are associated with the second scan session; and determining a change to the dental site based on a comparison of the second virtual model to the first virtual model, wherein the intraoral area of interest comprises the change.

16 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the change comprises at least one of tooth decay, receding gums, tooth wear, a broken tooth, gum disease, gum color, moles, lesions, tooth shade, tooth color, an improvement in orthodontic alignment or degradation in orthodontic alignment.

17 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
generating a virtual model of the dental site based on the plurality of intraoral images, wherein the intraoral area of interest is determined from the virtual model.

18 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
determining an alignment of two or more of the plurality of intraoral images without generation of a virtual model; and identifying the intraoral area of interest based on a comparison of the two or more intraoral images.

19 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13

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

• A61B6/5241

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

• A61B5/0088 Primary

  for oral or dental tissue · CPC title

• A61C9/0053

  Optical means or methods, e.g. scanning the teeth by a laser or light beam · CPC title

• A61B6/469

  for selecting a region of interest [ROI] · CPC title