Automatic selection and locking of intraoral images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE49605-E
Application number	US-202017032366-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Sep 25, 2020
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

A processing device receives an intraoral image of a first intraoral site and determines an identity of the first intraoral site. The processing device then locks the intraoral image and selects a portion of the intraoral image depicting a portion of the first intraoral site based at least in part on the identity of the first intraoral site. The processing device may then generate a model comprising the first intraoral site based at least in part on the locked intraoral image, wherein the portion of the locked intraoral image is used for a first region of the model, and wherein data from one or more additional intraoral images that also depict the portion of the first intraoral site is not used for the first region of the model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving an intraoral image of a first intraoral site; determining an identity of the first intraoral site; algorithmically performing the following by a processing device:
locking the intraoral image; and
selecting, based at least in part on the identity of the first intraoral site, a portion of the intraoral image depicting a portion of the first intraoral site; and
generating a model comprising the first intraoral site based at least in part on the locked intraoral image, wherein the portion of the locked intraoral image is used for a first region of the model, and wherein data from one or more additional intraoral images that also depict the portion of the first intraoral site is not used for the first region of the model.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the intraoral image is a member of a first set of intraoral images, the method further comprising:
locking the first set of intraoral images; and for each intraoral image that is a member of the first set of intraoral images, selecting a portion of that intraoral image depicting the portion of the intraoral site.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving a second set of intraoral images of a second intraoral site, wherein one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images also depict the first intraoral site; and disregarding the one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images when generating the model, wherein the second set of intraoral images does not alter or add noise to the first region of the model as a result of the first set of intraoral images being locked.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
determining an identify of the second intraoral site; locking the second set of intraoral images; and selecting, based at least in part on the identity of the second intraoral site, one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images depicting a portion of the second intraoral site, wherein the model further comprises the second intraoral site, and wherein the second intraoral site in the model is based at least in part on the locked second set of intraoral images.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
stitching the first set of images to the second set of images, the stitching comprising:
identifying one or more discrepancies of overlapping data between the first set of images and the second set of images;
prioritizing the first set of images over the second set of images; and
applying a weighted average of the overlapping data between the first set of images and the second set of images, wherein data from the first set of images has a higher weight than data from the second set of images.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the locked first set of intraoral images comprises a boundary for the selected portions of the first set of intraoral images, wherein the one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images that are inside of the boundary are not applied for the model, and wherein one or more additional portions of the second set of intraoral images that are outside of the boundary are applied for the model.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of the identity of the intraoral site, wherein the identity of the intraoral site is determined based at least in part on the indication.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the locked intraoral image comprises an anomaly within the portion of the locked intraoral image, the method further comprising:
identifying the anomaly; determining a border of the anomaly; receiving an additional image of the first intraoral site; and updating the model based on replacing data within the border from the intraoral image with additional data from the additional image.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the anomaly comprises at least one of a void in the intraoral image, noise in the intraoral image, or unrealistic data in the intraoral image.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the intraoral site comprises a preparation tooth of the intraoral site, the method further comprising:
determining that data for the preparation tooth is incomplete; receiving an additional intraoral image of the preparation tooth; identifying a border for an edge of the preparation tooth where the data for the preparation tooth is incomplete; and updating the model based on replacing data outside the border with additional data from the additional image to expand the model at the edge.

11. A non-transitory storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first set of intraoral images of a preparation tooth and one or more additional intraoral objects, the first set of intraoral images showing a finish line of the preparation tooth, wherein the finish line is a boundary between a ground area of the preparation tooth and an unground area of the preparation tooth; determining an identify of the preparation tooth; performing the following by the processing device without user input:
locking the first set of intraoral images; and
selecting, based at least in part on the identity of the preparation tooth, one or more portions of the set of intraoral images depicting the preparation tooth; and
generating a model comprising the preparation tooth based at least in part on the locked first set of intraoral images, wherein the one or more portions of the locked first set of intraoral images are used for the preparation tooth in the model, and wherein data from one or more additional intraoral images that also depicts the preparation tooth is not used.

12. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:
receiving a second set of intraoral images of a second tooth adjacent to the preparation tooth, wherein one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images also depict the preparation tooth; and disregarding the one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images when generating the model, wherein the second set of intraoral images does not alter or add noise to the preparation tooth in the model as a result of the first set of intraoral images being locked.

13. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:
determining an identify of the second tooth; locking the second set of intraoral images; and selecting, based at least in part on the identity of the second tooth, one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images depicting the second tooth, wherein the model further comprises the second tooth, and wherein the second tooth in the model is based at least in part on the locked second set of intraoral images.

14. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
stitching the first set of images to the second set of images, the stitching comprising:
identifying one or more discrepancies of overlapping data between the first set of images and the second set of images;
prioritizing the first set of images over the second set of images; and
applying a weighted average of the overlapping data between the first set of images and the second set of images, wherein data from the first set of images has a higher weight than data from the second set of images.

15. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the locked first set of intraoral images comprises a boundary for the preparation tooth, wherein the one or more portions of the second set of intraoral images that are inside of the boundary are not applied for

Assignees

• Align Technology Inc

Inventors

• Kopelman Avi
• Sabina Michael

Classifications

• A61C9/0053

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

• G06T2207/10028

  Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds · CPC title

• G06T17/00

  Three-dimensional [3D] modelling for computer graphics · CPC title

• G06T19/20

  Editing of three-dimensional [3D] images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts · CPC title

• G06T2219/2021

  Shape modification · CPC title