Oral cavity scanner system

Abstract

The present application relates to an oral scanner system having: an oral scanner constructed and / or arranged for performing a scanning procedure on at least a portion of an oral cavity; the processor is coupled with the memory; oral health sensor data and / or oral health data relating to at least one previous scanning procedure performed with the oral scanner and / or oral care activity data relating to at least one previous oral care activity procedure performed with the oral care device are stored in the memory. Wherein the processor is constructed and / or arranged to determine at least one scan program parameter for influencing a next scan program from the stored data, and / or to determine at least one scan program guidance from the stored data, wherein the scan program guidance comprises at least one automatic feedback provided to the user by a feedback unit immediately before and / or during the next scan program.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an oral scanner system that includes an oral scanner and a processor connected or coupled to a memory storing data. Background Art

[0002] Various professional and home oral scanner systems are known to those skilled in the art.

[0003] Of general interest (especially for home oral scanner systems) is to provide an oral scanner system that can improve usability or guidance through an oral scanning procedure, and / or enable a more general and preferably intuitive and understandable communication of oral health data related to at least one oral health condition in the context of continuous oral care treatment. According to some aspects, it is desirable to provide at least one alternative oral scanner system. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to at least one aspect, there is provided an oral scanner system that includes: an oral scanner configured and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure on at least a portion of an oral cavity; a processor coupled to a memory in which oral health sensor data and / or oral health data related to at least one previous scanning procedure performed using the oral scanner and / or oral care activity data related to at least one previous oral care activity procedure performed using an oral care device are stored, wherein the processor is configured and / or arranged to determine at least one scanning procedure parameter for influencing a next scanning procedure based on the stored data, and / or to determine at least one scanning procedure guidance based on the stored data, wherein the scanning procedure guidance includes at least one automatic feedback provided to the user by a feedback unit immediately before and / or during the next scanning procedure.

[0005] The above aspects, discussed in more detail below, assist the user in using the oral scanner system through continuous and / or guided human-machine interaction. The feedback related to the scanning procedure guidance optimizes the utilization of the device. In addition to the oral scanner system as discussed herein, a method of using an oral scanner system to scan at least a portion of an oral cavity is also contemplated. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] The present disclosure will be further clarified by a detailed description of example embodiments and reference to the drawings. In the drawings,

[0007] Figure 1 is a schematic depiction of an example oral scanner system that includes an oral scanner and a processor disposed within the oral scanner;

[0008] Figure 2 is a schematic depiction of an example oral scanner system that includes an oral scanner and a separate device implementing or including a processor;

[0009] Figure 3 is a schematic depiction of basic components enabling determination of the position or orientation of an oral scanner, where the result of the position or orientation determination is the position or orientation in the oral cavity where the head of the oral scanner is currently performing a scanning procedure;

[0010] Figure 4 is a schematic depiction of another example oral scanner system that includes an oral scanner and an oral care device and additional optional components (such as a charger), and where the oral scanner system can be configured and / or arranged to communicate data between its various components and to a remote computing instance;

[0011] Figure 5 is a depiction of an example feedback screen as may be visualized on a display forming part of an oral scanner system, where the feedback screen includes a visualization of live or saved images taken during a scanning procedure and an abstract visualization of the dentition with scanning progress data and oral health data superimposed thereon in a live manner;

[0012] Figure 6 is a depiction of another feedback screen as may be visualized on a display forming part of an oral scanner system, where the feedback screen shows a summary of oral health data superimposed on an abstract depiction of the dentition, and a further trend of the temporal development of the oral health condition is visualized in the center of the screen; and

[0013] Figure 7 is a depiction of another feedback screen as may be visualized on a display forming part of an oral scanner system, where various oral health data are visually superimposed on an abstract depiction of the dentition and a classification of the relevant oral health condition is further provided visually. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The following is a general disclosure of an exemplary oral scanner system that includes an exemplary oral scanner and an exemplary processor, as well as additional optional components, such as a separate device that implements at least a portion of a feedback unit (e.g., including a display) and / or an oral care device. The phrase "structured and / or arranged" as used in this disclosure refers to the structure and / or computer-implemented features of the corresponding component, and this will mean that the corresponding feature or component is not only suitable for something, but is structured and / or arranged in software to actually perform as expected in operation. It is emphasized here that an oral scanner according to this disclosure is understood to be an oral scanner that does not provide any oral care activities, in particular does not include any oral cleaning elements, i.e., does not contain oral cleaning elements or other oral treatment or care elements and does not provide any oral cleaning or oral treatment or oral care. In other words, this disclosure relates to an oral scanner having at least one oral health sensor without any additional oral cleaning / treatment / care features. As will be discussed, such a separate oral scanner device can cooperate directly or indirectly with an oral care device that is constructed and / or arranged to provide oral care activities. In such a system, the oral scanner and the oral care device are dedicated devices optimized for individual tasks and can benefit from information previously recorded by one or the other device. For example, the oral scanner can scan areas and / or segments of low oral activity of the oral care device, and vice versa, the oral care device can provide feedback to the user to increase oral care activities in areas and / or segments where the oral scanner has determined that there are oral health problems.

[0015] General Discussion

[0016] The present disclosure relates to an oral scanner system including at least an oral scanner and a processor, where the processor can be physically located at or inside the oral scanner or can be implemented as a processor separate from (i.e., remote from) the oral scanner. As will be discussed in more detail below, the processor can also be implemented in a distributed manner. The oral scanner system can specifically include at least one separate or remote device that implements at least a part of a feedback unit (such as a display). This should not exclude the oral scanner itself alternatively or additionally including a display and / or at least one visual feedback element. The remote display and the remote processor can be arranged together in a separate device, i.e., they can have a combined housing. The separate device can be a proprietary or customized device (such as a charger with a display) or a well-known device that can be used to implement a separate display and / or a separate processor (such as a computer, laptop, notebook, tablet, phone such as a mobile phone or a smart phone, or a smart watch). As an alternative or supplement to the separate device, the oral scanner system can include at least one oral care device (such as a toothbrush, especially an electric toothbrush) that can be directly or indirectly coupled to the oral scanner and / or the processor at least for a limited period of time, preferably coupled for exchanging data such as through wireless communication. The oral scanner and the oral care device can share the same handle and be realized only by attaching the corresponding oral scanner head or oral care head to the handle. However, it may be preferred to have an independent oral care device that has its own handle and can be arranged to be used independently of the oral scanner system, i.e., decoupled from the oral scanner system in terms of hardware. It can be foreseen that the oral care device may first need to be registered with the oral care system to become part of the oral care system. The oral scanner system can include at least one charger for charging the rechargeable energy storage devices of the oral scanner and / or the oral care device and / or the separate device. The charger can be a wireless charger, such as an inductive charger.

[0017] An oral scanner may include at least one oral health sensor for acquiring, detecting, measuring or determining and for outputting oral health sensor data related to at least one oral health condition, wherein hereinafter, one of the terms "acquiring", "detecting", "measuring" or "determining" (or other forms of these verbs or nouns derived from these verbs) is used in combination with the oral health sensor, and this should also include other terms. The oral scanner system may include at least one position sensor configured and / or arranged to provide (i.e., output) position sensor data that allows detection, measurement or determination of at least one discrete position or location (or: segment) where the oral scanner is currently performing a scanning procedure or has performed a scanning procedure at a given moment, wherein the scanning procedure includes determination of oral health sensor data. In the context of the present invention, the term "discrete" related to the positioning location within the oral cavity shall indicate that the oral cavity is divided into one or more discrete regions or segments, such as the upper jaw and the lower jaw. Generally, the discrete regions or segments are non-overlapping and substantially completely or without gaps cover the part of the oral cavity intended to be scanned.

[0018] It is mentioned here that the purpose of this proposal is to provide the user with easily digestible information, where, for example, the acquired oral health information or scanning procedure progress information, etc. is provided in a manner processed by discrete position or location (or: by segment), specifically reduced to a single value or a single marker, that is, a single percentage value indicating the current or finally achieved scanning procedure progress or oral health condition or a color indicating the achieved scanning procedure progress or oral health condition. The oral scanner system of the present invention is specifically intended for home use by laypersons, and thus the improvements and benefits associated with this proposal are particularly suitable for home use by non-professional users.

[0019] The term "sensor" should be understood to cover sensor types that measure or determine parameters related to oral health conditions based on an external measurement medium (such as ambient light incident on the sensor or saliva available in the oral cavity analyzed by the sensor), i.e., sensors that include a sensor receiver. The term "sensor" should also cover sensor types that include a sensor transmitter (i.e., a light transmitter) arranged to emit a measurement medium such as light and a sensor receiver (such as a light receiver) such that the measurement or determination depends at least in part on a non-external measurement medium, which refers to the measurement medium provided by the corresponding sensor transmitter. An oral scanner is constructed and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure, wherein the oral scanner obtains oral health sensor data from at least a portion of the oral cavity via an oral health sensor, preferably oral health sensor data related to determining oral health data related to at least one oral health condition. Preferably, the oral health sensor data and / or the oral health data determined therefrom are obtained in a position-resolved or location-resolved manner, i.e., wherein the corresponding oral health sensor data and / or oral health data are assigned to position data or location data derived from position sensor data obtained by a position sensor at the same moment or time period during or at the time of obtaining the oral health sensor data.

[0020] In the context of the present disclosure, the term "oral health sensor data" refers to substantially unprocessed data output by an oral health sensor during a scanning procedure (e.g., image data if the oral health sensor is a camera or a pH value if the oral health sensor is a pH sensor), and the term "oral health data" refers to processed oral health sensor data (e.g., normalized or absolute areas per tooth or per discrete position or location showing plaque or average pH values per discrete position or location). It should be understood that in some cases, the oral health sensor data itself is a direct measure of an oral health condition. For example, oral health sensor data from a malodor sensor may not require any further processing to allow determination of whether the user has an unpleasant odor, as the malodor sensor can provide a certain level of sulfur emissions. Then, the processing of the oral health sensor data can be considered as classifying the oral health sensor data into one of at least two condition categories, e.g., "no relevant malodor level" as one condition category and "relevant malodor level" as another condition category. Then, the classification can be accomplished by a processor by comparing with at least one threshold. More complex classification concepts are discussed below. Of course, the classification just described can also use processed oral health sensor data, i.e., oral health data. For example, the output from a malodor sensor can be averaged over several measurement instances and then used for classification.

[0021] A processor is coupled to an oral health sensor and / or a position sensor to receive at least one sensor data set, preferably multiple sensor data and / or sensor data sequences, where a single sensor data set can be received in chronological order to accumulate sensor data for multiple time intervals, or multiple sensor data can be received at each measurement moment such that this accumulates to multiple sensor data for multiple time intervals. The sensor data can be sent to the processor as sensor signals. For example, the sensor signal can be a voltage signal, which is typically the output of a sensor that measures physical, chemical, or material properties. The sensor signal can be an analog signal or a digital signal. The term "data set" or "data" herein refers to the information content, while "signal" refers to the physical quantity that transmits the sensor data set or sensor data. When the term "sensor data" is used in the present disclosure, this should refer to "oral health sensor data" provided by the oral health sensor and "position sensor data" provided by the position sensor. In the case where only one type of the two types of data is meant, the corresponding more limited term will be used. The processor is preferably arranged to process sensor data from at least one oral health sensor and at least one position sensor such that at least one position-resolved or location-resolved oral health data set related to at least one oral health condition is determined. That is, it is clear that the oral health sensor output can be processed by the processor to determine the oral health sensor data of the oral health data, and the position sensor output is processed by the processor to determine the position sensor data of the position data, and the processor can also associate or assign the oral health data and the position data with each other such that position-resolved or location-resolved oral health data is generated. As mentioned, the oral health sensor data can be assigned to the position data without further processing of the oral health sensor data.

[0022] An oral scanner may include a scanner head and a scanner handle, and the scanner head and the scanner handle may be detachably connected. Even so, it should not be excluded that the scanner head and the scanner handle may be non-detachably connected and may form an integral device. The oral scanner may have a housing enclosing a hollow portion, and components of the oral scanner (such as an energy source, a controller, a scanner communicator, etc.) may be provided in the housing. The housing may allow a user to conveniently hold the oral scanner by hand. The size and shape of the scanner head may be set to be conveniently inserted into the oral cavity. The housing may accommodate at least one user-operable control element, such as an on / off button or an on / off switch or a selector button or a selector switch or other such elements typically expected or found on an oral scanner. The housing may also accommodate at least one feedback element of a feedback unit, and the feedback unit is configured and / or arranged to provide user-perceivable feedback to the user. The feedback unit may include one or several feedback elements, such as a display provided by a separate device. At least one feedback element may include at least one of a list that, in a non-limiting manner, includes an optical feedback element (such as one light emitter or multiple light emitters or a display), an acoustic feedback element (such as a speaker or a piezoelectric speaker or a buzzer), and a tactile or haptic feedback element (such as a vibrator or any other type of tactile or haptic feedback generator, such as a refreshable braille display).

[0023] In an embodiment in which the oral scanner system includes a display as an element of the feedback unit (e.g., implemented at and / or by a separate device or at a separate device), the display may be arranged to visualize feedback of oral health (sensor) data related to at least one oral health condition associated with at least two discrete positions or localizations (or: segments). For example, the display may be constructed and / or arranged to visualize oral health (sensor) data with discrete position resolution or discrete localization resolution (or: segment resolution). The term "sensor" following "oral health (sensor) data" should cover both oral health sensor data and oral health data. The display may be constructed and / or arranged to show a depiction or visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity, such as an abstract or generalized depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity (such as the dentition), and the display may be arranged to additionally depict at least one feedback related to the oral health (sensor) data and / or related to at least one oral health condition and / or related to at least one condition category to which the oral health (sensor) data may have been classified with respect to at least one oral health condition. This feedback may be achieved by changing the depiction or visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity, or by superimposing a visual representation of the discrete position-resolved or localization-resolved (or: segmented) oral health data onto a depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity, or by depicting the oral health data (e.g., as text data) on the display and associating it with discrete positions or localizations (i.e., segments) within a depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity. The feedback and the depiction or visualization mentioned herein are generally performed in a discrete position-resolved, i.e., segmented, manner. Although the present disclosure focuses on an abstract or more realistic depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity (such as the complete dentition, e.g., the maxilla and the mandible) and the superimposed oral health data related to one or more oral health conditions, this should not exclude displaying the oral health (sensor) data in a different way, such as a table of oral health (sensor) data related to one or several oral health conditions for each discrete position or localization within at least a portion of the oral cavity. It should be noted that, for example, the superimposition of a live image or an image calculated from the acquired image onto a model such as the dentition should not be regarded as discrete segment-resolved feedback, because such a superimposition leaves the analysis of the segment information to the professional user. In the context of the present disclosure, the feedback is provided in a processed manner such that a single indication or a single value for each segment can be provided to a non-professional user without requiring any analysis by a lay user.

[0024] Feedback related to oral health (sensor) data can occur "live" or in real-time (e.g., when the user uses an oral scanner to perform a scanning procedure), which means that the feedback may adapt to the live progress of the scanning procedure, where "live" shall mean that there is only a short time delay between the acquisition step and the feedback step, e.g., the time delay is less than 10 seconds or less than 5 seconds or less than 4 seconds or less than 3 seconds or less than 2 seconds or less than 1 second. Feedback related to oral health (sensor) data can alternatively or additionally occur at the end of the scanning procedure by way of a summary feedback, where the accumulated oral health (sensor) data is presented as a final result. Again, all feedbacks described herein shall be understood to include discretely location-resolved or locational-resolved (or: segmented) feedback. This can include classification, preferably discretely location-resolved or locational-resolved (or: segmented) classification of oral health (sensor) data with respect to at least two condition categories related to at least one oral health condition. Alternatively or additionally, the oral health (sensor) data and / or condition categories determined in the classification step of the current scanning procedure can be compared with historical oral health (sensor) data and / or condition categories from a previous scanning procedure or from a sequence of previous scanning procedures, and the trend or development of the oral health (sensor) data and / or condition categories over time can be visualized as feedback. Again, this can occur in a discretely location-resolved or locational-resolved (or: segmented) manner. Such historical data can be stored in a memory coupled or connected to a processor. The stored historical data can include oral care activity data related to at least one oral care activity procedure performed with an oral care device, as will be discussed in more detail below.

[0025] The processor may be arranged to classify oral health (sensor) data into at least two different condition categories related to at least one oral health condition, such as two condition categories related to the severity of an oral health condition. The processor may be arranged to classify the oral health (sensor) data preferably in a discrete location resolved or location resolved manner (or: in segments), i.e., where the classification is performed for a first location or first location resolved or first segment such as the upper right molar and also for at least a second location or second location resolved or second segment such as the lower left molar or incisors. The potential subdivision of the oral cavity into discrete locations or locations resolved or segments is discussed further in more detail below. By way of example, the oral cavity intended to be scanned may be the dentition. Possible segments / discrete locations or locations resolved may be (a1) the maxilla and mandible or (a2) the mandible and maxilla or (b) the upper right molar, upper incisors, upper left molar, lower left molar, lower incisors, and lower right molar or (c) the buccal surface of the upper right molar, the occlusal surface of the upper right molar, and the lingual surface of the upper right molar or (d) tooth number 26 of the human dentition or the buccal, lingual, and occlusal and lingual surfaces of one of the aforementioned teeth. Then, all surfaces of all teeth of the human dentition may result in 72 segments (molars have two surfaces while canines and incisors have two surfaces) or 84 segments in the case where all wisdom teeth are also included. In some examples, a full scan of the user's dentition is intended as a standard scan procedure, while in some examples, the scan procedure only affects the selection of those segments that fully cover the human dentition. The latter may be the case if, after a previous scan session and / or after a previous oral care activity, only the selection of segments that cover the full dentition is used for a repeat scan or a focused scan.

[0026] The terms "discrete location" and "discrete location resolved" or "segment" may be used interchangeably herein. For readability, the present disclosure may not always refer to all three phrases in all instances.

[0027] The processor can be constructed and / or arranged to process sensor data, for example, in a "live" manner during a scanning procedure, such that "live" or generally real-time information regarding the progress or status of the scanning procedure and / or the progress or status of oral health data acquisition can be visualized as feedback on a display, as already mentioned. The live display can also include an abstract or more realistic depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity and at least superimposed feedback related to the status of the scanning procedure. For example, various discrete locations or discrete localizations or segments of the oral cavity to be scanned can be highlighted individually in a graded or staged manner, such that the user can easily identify the locations to which the oral scanner still needs to move or be positioned to complete the scanning procedure. As an example, at least a portion of the depicted oral cavity can be shown in an initial color (e.g., dark blue), and the respective portions related to different discrete locations or localizations of at least the portion of the depicted oral cavity can be gradually depicted in a brighter color until they are substantially white, to indicate to the user the partial or final completion of the scanning procedure regarding the indicated discrete locations or localizations of the oral cavity. Feedback related to the scanning procedure progress can be derived solely from position sensor data, for example, from the cumulative time during which the oral scanner has performed the scanning procedure at various discrete locations or localizations. This should not exclude the processor being constructed and / or arranged to determine the scanning procedure progress in a more detailed manner, for example, by checking whether the images taken by a camera, preferably as part of an oral health sensor, from the respective discrete locations or localizations of the oral cavity include a sufficiently complete coverage of the discrete locations or localizations of the oral cavity and / or whether such images have a certain image quality (e.g., no blurring or out-of-focus, etc.). Feedback related to the scanning procedure progress can also include superimposing position-resolved or localization-resolved oral health (sensor) data onto an abstract or more realistic depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity. It should be understood that the superimposition of the visual feedback for display on the display means the generation of a single image by the display controller on the display. Here, superimposition means modifying the base image (e.g., the depiction of the dentition) to reflect the additional feedback to be provided.

[0028] The various components of an oral scanner system (e.g., an oral scanner, a processor, a separate display, a charger, and / or an oral care device) can be arranged for data exchange, or more generally for communication between at least two of these components in at least a one-way manner (preferably in a two-way manner). While such data exchange or communication can be achieved through a wired connection (e.g., when the processor is housed inside the oral scanner), if the data exchange should occur between separate components, it is preferably achieved through wireless communication. Then, one component of the components of the oral scanner system (e.g., the oral scanner) includes a scanner communicator such as a transmitter or transceiver, and another component (e.g., the processor implemented in or by a separate device) includes a processor communicator such as a receiver or transceiver, which can employ a proprietary or standardized wireless communication protocol such as the Bluetooth protocol, the Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 protocol, the Zigbee protocol, etc. Each component of the components of the oral scanner system can be arranged to communicate with one or several other components of the oral scanner system and / or can be arranged to wirelessly communicate with an Internet router or another device such as a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer to establish a connection to the Internet, e.g., to transmit data to a cloud server that can be part of the oral scanner system and / or receive data from the cloud server or any Internet service such as a weather channel or a news channel. This means that the oral scanner system can be arranged to communicate directly or indirectly with the Internet via a device that is not part of the oral scanner system.

[0029] It is also conceivable to convey (location-resolved or position-resolved) oral health (sensor) data and / or (location-resolved or position-resolved) condition categories from the oral scanner and / or the processor to an oral care device, such as an electric toothbrush, a gum massager, an oral irrigator, a dental floss device, a tooth polisher, a tooth whitening device, etc. It is also conceivable that the processor can convey control data to the oral care device such that the oral care device can select one of at least two operating settings preferably in a discrete location-resolved or position-resolved manner based on the control data. The latter also requires determining or tracking or monitoring the discrete location or position where the oral care device is currently performing an oral care activity program. An oral care device position sensor can be used for this task, and reference is made to the description of the determination of the discrete location or position of the oral scanner, since the principle is the same.

[0030] Oral Scanner Hardware - Attachments

[0031] Various hardware components of an oral scanner have been described. Additionally, the oral scanner may include an attachment, preferably arranged to be replaceable, such that different attachments can be used for different users or for different applications. One focus of the present disclosure is an oral scanner including an oral health sensor, the oral health sensor including a camera as a sensor receiver and at least a first light source as a sensor emitter (see also further description below). A light inlet for the camera and a light outlet for the at least first light source may be provided at the head of the oral scanner. The attachment may then be implemented as a detachable distance attachment. The distance attachment may be arranged such that a scanning procedure can have a substantially constant distance between one or more objects being scanned (e.g., teeth) and the light inlet of the camera. A distance member of the distance attachment may be in contact with the object being scanned (especially the outer surface of the object) to maintain a constant distance. The camera may have a focal length to create a clear image of the object, the distance of the object to the light inlet of the camera being defined by the distance member. The distance member may be implemented as an enclosed wall element surrounding the light outlet of the first light source and the light inlet of the camera, such that the enclosed wall element effectively blocks ambient light from illuminating the currently scanned object and thus blocks ambient light from ultimately reaching the camera. Thus, the distance attachment can serve two purposes, namely, maintaining a constant distance in the scanning procedure and effectively blocking ambient light from reaching the surface of the object to be scanned. The latter is particularly beneficial for embodiments in which the light emitted by the first light source will be primarily responsible for the oral health sensor data (i.e., the image data output by the camera).

[0032] An attachment (e.g., a distance attachment) may be detachable to allow replacement of the attachment when it wears out, or to allow changing of the attachment in cases where different users of the oral scanner use different attachments. The attachment may also be detachable to improve the accessibility of components of the oral scanner that benefit from regular cleaning (such as windows covering the light outlet of the first light source and / or the light inlet of the camera). Additionally, the detachable attachment itself may benefit from regular cleaning, and cleaning becomes simpler when the attachment is detachable. For example, the attachment may be immersed in a cleaning liquid to clean it and possibly disinfect it.

[0033] Oral Health Sensor

[0034] The oral scanner as presented herein includes at least one oral health sensor and may include two or more different oral health sensors. An oral health sensor is understood to be a sensor arranged to acquire and output oral health sensor data related to at least one property of the oral cavity, which oral health sensor data is related to determining the state of the oral health condition or can be a direct measure of the oral health condition. The oral health condition may relate to the presence of at least one of the following: plaque, tartar (dental calculus), demineralization, leukoplakia lesions, gingival inflammation, tooth discoloration, stains, gingivitis, enamel erosion and / or abrasion, cracks, fluorosis, carious lesions, molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH), bad breath, presence of bacteria such as candida-causing pathogens or fungi, tooth misalignment, periodontal disease or periodontitis, peri-implantitis, cysts, abscesses, aphthae, and any other indicators related to the oral health condition as understood by a person skilled in the art.

[0035] It should be understood that the oral scanner may be arranged to acquire oral health sensor data in a position-resolved or location-resolved manner, where this is possible, for example, bad breath can be an oral health condition affecting the entire oral cavity and may therefore not be perceptibly acquired in a position-resolved or location-resolved manner. The latter should not exclude still acquiring bad breath in a position-resolved or location-resolved manner and also providing feedback related to the oral health sensor data in a position-resolved or location-resolved manner, for example, where the feedback for all discrete positions or locations has the same bad breath level or corresponding condition category.

[0036] Several of the above-mentioned oral health conditions can be detected by visual analysis, which generally requires an optical oral health sensor (such as a camera) and software implemented on a processor, which software is arranged to determine the oral health condition and may also be used to evaluate the severity level of the oral health condition based on the oral health sensor data provided by the optical oral health sensor (e.g., based on the classification of image data or an image sequence with respect to at least two condition categories). Without being limited by theory, the classification of the input image can be done by a neural network such as a convolutional neural network (CNN), which is preferably trained with training images and associated condition category results. The classifier used by the processor can be directly fed with oral health sensor data, such as image data, or the oral health sensor data can first be processed by the processor to determine one or several features, also referred to herein as oral health data related to at least one oral health condition.

[0037] An oral health sensor may include only a sensor receiver that obtains oral health sensor information by using an external medium such as ambient light or saliva or gas components present in the oral cavity. According to some aspects, the oral health sensor may include at least one sensor transmitter that provides a primary medium and at least one sensor receiver that is arranged to detect at least the primary medium and / or a secondary medium generated by the interaction of the primary medium with the oral cavity (e.g., by interaction with oral tissues). This should not exclude the sensor receiver from also being sensitive to the external media discussed above. In more specific examples described in more detail below, at least one sensor transmitter is a narrowband light source that emits light in a specific wavelength range as the primary medium, and by the interaction of the emitted light with a specific material present in the oral cavity, a second medium, i.e., fluorescence of a higher wavelength, can be generated. The oral health sensor may also include at least one sensor filter that filters out at least a portion of the primary medium and / or at least a portion of the secondary medium before the respective medium reaches the sensor receiver. Obviously, the sensor receiver may also be sensitive to ambient light that can pass through at least one sensor filter. The influence of ambient light on data acquisition can be reduced by specific measures such as the distance attachment discussed above. In some embodiments, the oral health sensor is an optical sensor such as a photodiode, an M×N photosensitive element array, or a camera.

[0038] According to some aspects, an oral scanner includes an oral health sensor having at least a first light source and at least one camera, and the oral scanner is constructed and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure, which is generally an optical scanning procedure, where the optical scanning procedure herein refers to a procedure of capturing an image sequence by the camera. The first light source may include a light exit, and the camera may include a light entrance, and the light exit and the light entrance may be provided at the head of the oral scanner. This may allow, for example, an array of photosensitive sensor elements (such as the M×N photosensitive sensor element array of a camera) to be arranged at a distance from the light entrance (such as arranged in the handle), and the light is guided from the light entrance to the photosensitive sensor element array by means of optical elements such as one or more lenses, one or more mirrors, and / or one or more prisms and / or one or more light guides, etc. A user-operable input element may be provided at the oral scanner, which can initiate the optical scanning procedure when the user operates it. The oral scanner may include two or more cameras, and the two or more cameras may be arranged to allow three-dimensional scanning of at least a portion of the oral cavity.

[0039] An oral scanner may include a second light source and potentially additional light sources. Different light sources may use the same light outlet, or each light source may have its own light outlet. The first light source may emit light of a first wavelength or having a first wavelength range, and the second light source may emit light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength or having a second wavelength range that does not overlap or only partially overlaps with the first wavelength or the first wavelength range of the first light source. Additionally or alternatively, the first light source and the second light source may be arranged to emit different light intensities. However, this does not exclude providing the first light source and the second light source to emit light of substantially the same wavelength or having the same wavelength range and substantially the same intensity. As an example, the first light source may emit light having a wavelength of approximately 405 nm or including a main wavelength of approximately 405 nm, and the second light source may emit "white" light, i.e., light that substantially covers the entire visible wavelength range between 400 nm and 700 nm or includes several main wavelengths, such that a human may perceive the color impression of the emitted light as being substantially white. The light sources are not limited to light sources that emit light in the visible range, and any light source that emits in the infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range or at least includes a wavelength range that extends into these regions is also contemplated. The first light source and / or the second light source (and any additional light sources) may be implemented by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), but other light sources are also conceivable, such as laser diodes, conventional light bulbs, particularly incandescent light bulbs, halogen light sources, gas discharge lamps, arc lamps, etc.

[0040] The camera may include an array of photosensitive sensor elements, where each photosensitive sensor element may be arranged to output a signal indicative of the light intensity incident on the photosensitive area of the photosensitive sensor element. While each photosensitive sensor element in the photosensitive sensor elements may have an individual sensitivity range, i.e., an individual wavelength sensitivity, the array of photosensitive sensor elements typically may include photosensitive sensor elements all having substantially the same light sensitivity (ignoring differences in aspects such as gain, which are typical and handled through calibration). The array of photosensitive sensor elements may be implemented as a regular M×N array, even though this does not exclude the photosensitive sensor elements being arranged in different ways, such as in coaxial circles, etc. The array of photosensitive sensor elements may be implemented as a CCD chip or a CMOS chip, as commonly used in digital cameras. The number of photosensitive sensor elements may be selected according to need and the processing capacity of the processor. A resolution of 640×480 may be an option, but essentially all other resolutions are conceivable. For example, the camera may be a 4K camera having a resolution of 3840×2160, or the camera may have a lower resolution, such as 320×240 resolution. It should not be excluded that the camera includes a line sensor as commonly used in paper scanners.

[0041] In the context of the present application, the photosensitive sensor element encompasses RGB sensor elements, i.e., each photosensitive sensor element of the RGB type will deliver three signals related to the R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color channels.

[0042] The camera of the oral scanner may include additional optical elements, such as at least one sensor lens, to focus light onto the photosensitive sensor element array, even though this does not exclude the camera being implemented as a pinhole camera. The camera may also include at least one sensor mirror to direct light onto the array. Additionally, the camera may include at least one sensor filter to selectively absorb or transmit light of a certain wavelength or within at least one wavelength range. The at least one sensor filter may be fixed or may be movable, i.e., the sensor filter may be arranged to move into and out of the optical path of the camera. A number of sensor filters may be provided to allow selective filtering of the light corresponding to reaching the photosensitive sensor element array. The sensor filter may be a long-pass filter, a short-pass filter, a band-pass filter, or a monochromatic filter. The sensor filter may apply wavelength-dependent filter characteristics such that a certain wavelength or wavelength range may pass through but only with a reduced amplitude, while another wavelength or wavelength range may pass through without attenuation and yet other wavelengths or wavelength ranges may be completely blocked. The sensor filter may be implemented as a color filter or a dichroic filter.

[0043] The first light source may be a narrow-band light source such as an LED. The narrow-band light source may emit light in the range between 390 nm and 410 nm (FWHM) such that a wavelength of approximately 405 nm is at least close to the main wavelength of the LED. As already mentioned, light of approximately 405 nm causes enamel and dental plaque to fluoresce. Then a sensor filter that only transmits light with a wavelength higher than approximately 430 nm may be used. Preferably, the sensor filter may be a cut-off filter with a cut-off wavelength of 450 nm, which allows light of longer wavelengths to be transmitted towards the photosensitive sensor element array, such that the reflected light from the first light source is absorbed and only the fluorescence transmitted by the sensor filter is determined.

[0044] The camera may be implemented, for example, by a camera module obtainable from Bison Electronics Inc. in Taiwan, China. Without any limitation, the camera module may include a photosensitive sensor array having an M×N pixel count of 1976×1200 implemented in CMOS technology (i.e., a 2.4 million pixel chip), but not all pixels have to be used to capture an image during scanning. The camera module may include a lens with a focal length of 12.5 mm such that a clear image of an object close to the camera can be captured. This should not exclude the use of an autofocus camera. A hyperspectral imaging camera may also be used.

[0045] Examples involving optical sensors, particularly cameras, should not be construed as restrictive. At least one oral health sensor may also be implemented as one of a group including, in a non - restrictive manner, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a pH sensor, a refractive index sensor, a resistance sensor, an impedance sensor, a conductivity sensor, a biosensor (such as a sensor including a biodetection element (e.g., a fixed bioactive system)), the biodetection element being coupled to a physical sensor (transducer) that converts a biochemical signal into an electrical or optical signal and typically includes an amplifier, etc.

[0046] As already explained, the oral health sensor acquires and outputs oral health sensor data sent in the form of an analog or digital signal, and the processor may be arranged to process the oral health sensor data to determine oral health data and / or condition category data, preferably condition category data related to an oral health condition.

[0047] Position Sensor

[0048] The term "position sensor" shall cover all position sensor arrangements that can determine the discrete position or location or segment in the oral cavity where the oral scanner head performs a scanning procedure at a given moment, and may also include such determination regarding at least one discrete position or location or segment related to the outside of the oral cavity. It should be understood that the use of the term "position sensor" does not mean that the position sensor itself can directly determine the position inside or outside the oral cavity, but rather the discrete position or discrete location or segment inside or outside the oral cavity can be derived, for example, through deterministic calculations based on inputs from the position sensor, through decision trees, through clustering, or through classification algorithms (to name just a few), from the position sensor data. The processor may be constructed and / or arranged to perform such discrete position or location or segment determination based at least on the position sensor data. An oral health sensor (such as a camera) may also provide position sensor data, i.e., the oral health sensor may additionally serve as a position sensor or may provide another camera as a position sensor. As an example, the image data provided by a camera disposed at the head of an oral scanner may allow determination of the type of tooth being imaged and thus derivation of the discrete position or discrete location or segment in the scanned oral cavity (see EP 2 189 198 B1 below).

[0049] Document EP 3 141 151 A1 particularly describes a position determination method based on the fusion of image data from a camera and data from an accelerometer provided in an oral care device. The camera acquires an image of the user when performing an oral care activity using the oral care device. The camera is separate from the oral care device. The accelerometer is used to determine the orientation of the oral care device relative to the earth's gravitational field. On the one hand, based on the classification of the image data created at a given moment by a machine learning algorithm (each machine learning algorithm is specifically trained for one of these positions), and on the other hand, based on the classification of the orientation angle determined according to the accelerometer data at the same moment, a fused position determination result is calculated. The classification algorithm outputs values similar to the probabilities of multiple positions where oral care activities may be performed in the oral cavity. The highest measure usually indicates the position where the activity is performed with a certain reliability. EP 3 141 151 A1 should be incorporated herein by reference. The position sensors in this example include a separate camera as the first position sensor and an accelerometer provided in the oral care device (which may be an oral scanner according to the present disclosure) as the second position sensor. This shows that the term "position sensor" does not refer to a single sensor arrangement, but rather "position sensor" encompasses embodiments that use two or more different position sensors to provide position sensor data.

[0050] Document EP 3528172 A2 particularly describes the determination of discrete positions or segments where oral care activities are currently being performed in the oral cavity, which relies on the classification of position sensor data. The position sensor data is a time series of inertial sensor data created by, for example, an accelerometer and / or a gyroscope located in an oral care device through a neural network, preferably through a recurrent neural network. Based on the trained neural network, the classification of the current time series of position sensor data provides a set of values similar to the probabilities of multiple possible discrete positions or localizations in the oral cavity. The highest value usually indicates the position where the activity is performed. EP 3 528 172 A2 should be incorporated herein by reference.

[0051] Each of the techniques mentioned above and the techniques mentioned in the following paragraphs of this section can be used to determine the discrete positions or localizations in the oral cavity where an oral scanner according to the present disclosure is performing a scanning procedure, but other techniques can also be used. For example, it is known to track the positions of the user's head and a toothbrush in a calibrated magnetic field, or to use ultrasonic transmitters at the user's head and the toothbrush to track the movements of both the user's head and the toothbrush in a calibrated ultrasonic receiver arrangement, so that the relative position of the toothbrush with respect to the user's head and thus with respect to the user's oral cavity can be determined. Similarly, IR transmitters and receivers can be used. Other techniques can also be used, such as motion tracking techniques using multiple cameras known in CGI movies.

[0052] The techniques mentioned later can determine discrete positions or locations at which oral care activities (such as brushing teeth) are performed with relatively high precision (e.g., at the level of a single tooth), and this precision can justify the use of the term "position" (although the position is still mapped to a "segment", where the segment can still represent a single tooth or a group of teeth). At least at the time of filing this disclosure, the techniques described in the previous paragraphs have not been developed to provide results with such high precision and can allow for the determination of one of 16 different segments in the dentition at which an oral care activity is performed. Then, the term "position" may be more appropriate because the determination typically involves a group of teeth (e.g., the upper left molars) or a set of surfaces of a group of teeth (e.g., the buccal surface of the lower right molars). In a more common sense, the term "segment" is used to indicate a discrete position or discrete location.

[0053] Document EP 2 189 198 B1 describes determining discrete positions or locations in the oral cavity by analyzing camera data from a camera located at the toothbrush head. It is described that the analysis of the image data can identify the teeth shown in the image. It is conceivable to train a classifier with marked images of the user's teeth and / or other parts of the oral cavity so that the processor can reliably identify the position in the oral cavity where the scanning procedure is currently being performed.

[0054] Document US 2010 / 0170052 A1 describes determining discrete positions or locations in the oral cavity at which an oral care activity is performed by an oral care device by analyzing images from a separately located camera that images the user's face and the oral care device. EP 2 189 198 B1 and US 2010 / 0170052 A1 are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0055] Processor Hardware

[0056] The processor can be any kind of general - purpose integrated circuit (e.g., IC; CPU) or an application - specific integrated circuit (such as an ASIC), which can be implemented by a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a system - on - chip (SOC), or an embedded system, etc. The processor should not be understood as necessarily being a single circuit or chip, but it is conceivable to provide the processor in a distributed manner, where a part of the processing task can be executed by a first processor sub - unit and one or several additional processing tasks can be executed by at least a second or several additional processor sub - units, where the different processor sub - units can be physically located at different positions, such as in or at an oral scanner, in or at a remote device, and / or in or at a cloud computer, etc. The processor can be implemented substantially entirely by cloud computing devices. It should also be included that the processor can include analog circuit elements and integrated circuit elements or only analog circuit elements.

[0057] The processor has at least one input and at least one output. The processor receives sensor data and / or oral care activity data from the oral care device via the input, and outputs oral health data and / or condition category data and / or control data via the output, preferably discrete location or positioning resolved oral health data and / or condition category data and / or control data. The condition category data refers to data that classifies oral health (sensor) data into at least one of at least two condition categories, for example, classified into a non-severe category and a severe category, or classified into more than two categories, for example, classified into a non-severe category, a category to be monitored, and a category recommended for a visit to an oral care professional. The latter examples are for illustration purposes, and those skilled in the art can use any other number of categories and can name these categories appropriately.

[0058] Processor Software: Classification

[0059] It has been described in several previous paragraphs that the processor is configured and / or arranged to classify oral health sensor data and / or oral health data into at least two condition categories. In more mathematical terms, oral health (sensor) data (preferably for a given discrete location or positioning) can be considered as observations, and the condition categories are considered as classes, and then a classifier algorithm can be used to determine which class the observations belong to. Oral health (sensor) data can include one or several variables or features characterizing the oral health condition. For example, the oral health data can include the normalized plaque area for each discrete location or positioning considered. Then, the classifier can simply label the input feature (plaque size) into a class by comparing it with one or several thresholds. The thresholds themselves may be derived from expert opinion or by analyzing the oral health conditions of multiple subjects with the aid of machine learning algorithms. Instead of using features or feature vectors derived from oral health sensor data, the oral health sensor data can be used as the input to the classifier without any prior processing. For example, a neural network can be directly fed with image data acquired by an oral health sensor including a camera.

[0060] For different discrete locations or positionings in the oral cavity, the thresholds or other parameters affecting the classification can be set to different values. Such discrete location or positioning related thresholds or parameters affecting the classification for a given oral health condition may preferably be affected by at least one of a non-limiting list including discrete locations or positionings of global significance in the oral cavity (i.e., for all users), or the evolution history of oral health (sensor) data for an individual or the condition category related to this discrete location or positioning for a given oral health condition, or the overall or average oral health condition status of a given user.

[0061] While the above-described threshold-based classification method may be reasonable for oral health data including one or two features for each oral health condition, different classifier algorithms may be used in cases where the oral health data includes multiple features. For example, a neural network may then be applied to the classification task, or any other classification algorithm known to a person skilled in the art. The classification algorithm may be selected as one of a non-limiting list including: linear classifier, support vector machine, quadratic classifier, kernel estimation, boosting, decision tree, neural network, transformer, genetic programming, and learning vector quantization.

[0062] The condition category may be determined for at least one, preferably for all, discrete positions or localizations used to subdivide at least a portion of the oral cavity to be scanned into segments. At each such discrete position or localization, at least two condition categories may be defined, preferably at least three condition categories may be used (similar to a traffic light system showing green, yellow, or red lights). The underlying threshold or parameter used by the classifier algorithm may be adaptive and thus may change over time and may be different for different users.

[0063] Processor Software: Time Evaluation

[0064] According to some aspects, the oral scanner system proposed herein is intended for use in regular, repeated scanning procedures, such as optical scanning procedures of at least a part of the oral cavity of a user or a subject being treated, thereby creating new oral health (sensor) data. The oral scanner system may preferably be constructed and / or arranged to compare newly determined oral health (sensor) data and / or condition category data with previously created oral health (sensor) data and / or condition category data, and to update information on the temporal development of oral health (sensor) data and condition category data, which may then result in the updated information being fed back to the user. The comparison process may yield comparison data and / or discretely position-resolved or location-resolved comparison data. The processor may include a memory for storing and later accessing previously acquired and currently acquired oral health sensor data and / or position sensor data, as well as any data created by processing such data, such as oral health data and / or condition category data and / or discretely position-resolved or location-resolved oral health sensor data and / or discretely position-resolved or location-resolved condition category data, and may also include comparison data and / or discretely position-resolved or location-resolved comparison data. The data stored in relation to previous scanning procedures is also referred to as historical data. In addition to the data just mentioned, additional data may also be stored in the memory, such as historical scanning procedure progress data or historical oral care activity data related to previous oral care activity procedures performed by an oral care device, which may have been sent to the processor and stored in the memory. The processor may also use the historical data stored in the memory to adjust the next scanning procedure, such as adjusting at least one scanning procedure parameter and / or adjusting the scanning procedure guidance, which includes at least one automatic feedback provided to the user immediately before or during the next scanning procedure. This means that instead of indicating the scanning procedure guidance at the end of the current scanning procedure, the scanning procedure guidance is automatically indicated just before the next scanning procedure, such that the user may essentially benefit from such guidance in the upcoming scanning procedure. The scanning procedure guidance may be determined in a segment-resolved manner (i.e., for each discrete position or location in the oral cavity or in a location). Then, such segment-resolved scanning procedure guidelines may be automatically indicated once the user reaches the corresponding segment.

[0065] Display

[0066] An oral scanner system may include a display as a feedback element of a feedback unit, preferably a display that allows visual depiction of oral health data and / or condition category data and / or oral scan progress data. The display can be any type of display, such as an LCD, LED, OLED (PMOLED or AMOLED), etc. The display can be a monochrome or color display. The display can have any suitable resolution, such as a 96×48 resolution for a display implemented on an oral scanner, or can include custom illuminable areas. Since the displays of user devices such as mobile phones, desktop computers, laptops, smartwatches, etc. can be used, the corresponding technologies and resolutions of the displays of these user devices need to be considered. In this case, an App or software running on such a device can provide relevant programming for the general-purpose processor of the user device to at least serve as one processor sub-unit or as a processor according to the present disclosure. The corresponding App or software can also implement any display control required for visualizing information, as discussed herein.

[0067] The current discussion of the display should not exclude that oral health (sensor) data and scan program progress data, etc. are additionally or alternatively fed back to the user by other feedback elements of the feedback unit, such as the described multiple individual visual feedback elements and / or audio feedback elements and / or tactile feedback units. As an example, assuming that the oral cavity is to be divided into four locations and / or positions for which the scan program will be monitored and for which oral health data will be alternatively or additionally fed back, the scan program progress data can be fed back by using four visual feedback elements that start from a first color (e.g., dark green) and are controlled to gradually show a brighter green until the scan program is considered complete for a given discrete location or position, and the light indicator can then show a white signal, for example. Each light feedback element can use an RGB LED to achieve this. Similarly, for example, the real-time communication of oral health data related to dental plaque can also use four visual feedback elements, starting from white to indicate no dental plaque and gradually changing towards red on a scale to convey the amount of dental plaque detected at the corresponding discrete location or position. Instead of real-time feedback, the oral health data can be fed back to the user only at the end of the scan program to indicate the level of dental plaque identified in the scan program. Then, the classification of the oral health data related to dental plaque can be indicated as the condition category "severe" by a flashing light. Those skilled in the art will understand how to modify the number of visual feedback elements, the colors used, and other feedback means such as flashing, intensity change, etc.

[0068] Display Software

[0069] It is conceivable that the display includes a display controller that converts oral health (sensor) data (preferably position-resolved or location-resolved oral health (sensor) data) and / or condition category data and / or scanning program progress data into a visualization shown on the display, where the visualization is referred to as a feedback screen. The feedback screen may include at least one element of a graphical user interface. In the present disclosure, the focus is on the feedback screen that includes a visualization of at least a part of the oral cavity, which may be a two-dimensional visualization or a 3D-type visualization, where the latter means a visualization that provides a three-dimensional impression on a two-dimensional display. The visualization of at least a part of the oral cavity may include a visualization of the dentition (i.e., the teeth of the dentition), which may be an abstract visualization or a more realistic visualization. The visualization may be based on a general model of the dentition or may take into account individual data from the user, such as missing teeth, etc. The abstract visualization of a complete dentition may include a circle or an annulus, where the top of the circle or annulus visualized on the display may be understood to represent the upper front teeth, and the bottom of the circle or annulus may represent the lower front teeth, while the sides may represent the left and right molars, respectively. Instead of a continuous circle or annulus, multiple segments of the circle or annulus may be visualized. For example, an upper approximately 180-degree segment and a lower approximately 180-degree segment may respectively indicate the maxilla and the mandible. Alternatively, four approximately 90-degree segments may be used to display the quadrants of the dentition, which is known to those skilled in the art from, for example, the visualization on Oral-B SmartGuide. In addition, six segments may be used. It is also conceivable that each tooth of a general or personalized dentition is visualized by a single segment, or any other type of segmentation considered suitable by the skilled person. At least one of these segments may be divided into at least two regions (the at least two regions may represent the inner and outer tooth surfaces), preferably into three regions, which represent the inner and outer tooth surfaces (such as the buccal and lingual surfaces) and the occlusal or chewing surface, which may be particularly sensitive for molars and wisdom teeth. This should not exclude any other type of splitting of the segmented visualization. Although the segments are described herein as parts of a circle or an annulus, it is also conceivable that these segments may be visualized in different ways. For example, each tooth may be represented by a circle, or a segment representing multiple teeth may be visualized as multiple overlapping circles, where the number of circles may correspond to the number of teeth usually represented by the segment, even if this is not to be understood as restrictive. The visualization of the dentition may include information as used according to ISO 3950:2016. Some example visualizations will be further discussed below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0070] Instead of an abstract visualization, a more realistic depiction of the dentition may be selected, e.g., for an adult user, a permanent dentition of up to 32 teeth, and for a child, a primary dentition of up to 24 teeth. As already mentioned, the visualization may be personalized, e.g., the user may enter personal tooth characteristics such as missing teeth, misaligned teeth, fillings, inlays, crowns, artificial teeth, braces, etc., which may be taken into account in the visualization. As will be further explained below, the user may also be allowed to provide information on the oral health condition of the teeth, at least one tooth, a group of teeth, or at least one surface of the complete dentition and / or information on the gums. For example, the user may provide an input regarding tooth discoloration or braces or cavities, etc., where the oral scanner and / or a separate device may provide an interface for entering the information. Instead of manual input, the oral scanner may be configured and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure in which relevant information of the oral cavity is acquired to personalize the visualization at at least a portion of the oral cavity in an automated manner. Although the interface mentioned may be implemented as a graphical user interface, this should not exclude that the user may additionally or alternatively provide input via a speech recognition interface and / or a keyboard, etc. The interface may also allow the user to enter personal information such as name, email address, etc., and / or may allow a dentist to access any stored data specifically, where the latter may preferably be allowed by means of, e.g., remote access from a computer in a dentist's office.

[0071] The above should not exclude that the visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity also includes the tongue, preferably various regions of the tongue, inner cheeks, lips, uvula, pharynx, palate, etc. In some visualizations, at least one of the previously mentioned parts and at least one part of the dentition are visualized (such as the tongue and the complete dentition).

[0072] Such an abstract or more realistic visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity provides a map on which further data, such as oral health data or scanning procedure progress data, may be visualized in a manner related to the localization or position within the oral cavity to which the user may associate additional information.

[0073] The visualization mentioned above can be used in a variety of feedback applications. For example, the visualization can be used to provide feedback on the progress of a scanning procedure in real time (i.e., in a live manner), which means that the discrete location or positioning of the oral scanner currently performing the scanning procedure and one or more corresponding visualization segments associated with that discrete location or positioning can then be corrected so that the user can understand the scanning procedure progress. The visualization segment performing the scanning procedure can be additionally visually highlighted, for example, by a halo or a similar visual measure, to allow the user to immediately identify the location where the oral scanner is performing the scan. Examples have been discussed where the coloring of the corresponding segment gradually changes from a first color to a second color (white and black are understood as colors here). Although this example involves a gradual change from one color to another, it should be understood that this is not restrictive. For example, the starting color and the ending color can be selected to be different for different segments. It is not necessary to have a gradual change. A step-by-step change or a single-step change from the starting color to the ending color can also be envisaged. Additionally, as an alternative or supplement to color, the segment can include a starting pattern and an ending pattern to visualize the scanning progress.

[0074] Interaction with Oral Care Device

[0075] As already mentioned, the oral scanner system can include an oral care device (such as an electric toothbrush, an electric flossing device, or an electric rinsing device, etc.), which is provided to perform oral care activities such as tooth cleaning, interproximal area cleaning, gingival massage, etc. The oral care device can preferably be equipped with its own oral care device position sensor (e.g., an IMU sensor), so that its discrete location or positioning in the oral cavity can be determined independently of the determination of the discrete location or positioning of the oral scanner, at which discrete location or positioning an oral care activity procedure such as brushing or flossing or rinsing is performed. Additionally or alternatively, the discrete location or positioning of the oral care device performing the oral care activity procedure can be determined at least in part by using the same position detector (e.g., by the same external camera) used to determine the discrete location or positioning of the oral scanner, i.e., the position sensor of the oral scanner can be a shared position sensor.

[0076] On the one hand, the interaction between an oral scanner and an oral care device is that a separate oral scanner is used to perform an oral scanning procedure and a separate oral care device is used to perform an oral care activity. For example, the oral scanner can provide control data that will be received by the oral care device, and the control data will affect the oral care activity as long as the control data triggers at least one oral care instruction or at least the operating parameters are affected by the control data. The control data can specifically cause the instruction or influence to occur in a discrete position resolution or discrete positioning resolution or segmented manner. A separate oral scanner can be used to perform a dedicated scanning procedure that is not affected by any parallel oral care activities, and the oral care device can be used to perform a dedicated oral care activity that is not interfered with by any parallel scanning procedures. The data collected during the oral care activity can also be used to determine control data that can be transmitted to the oral scanner to affect the next oral scanning procedure. For example, the scanning can be restricted or focused on segments that were not properly cared for during the oral care activity. An oral care system including an oral scanner and an oral care device adds benefits to the simple juxtaposition of the two devices.

[0077] The oral care device can include a device communicator (such as a receiver or transceiver) for receiving control data from a processor at least via a processor communicator, and the control data can specifically be used to select one operating setting from at least two different operating settings of the oral care device. Preferably, the control data is used to select one operating setting from at least two different operating settings in a discrete position or position-related manner, that is, in a segmented resolution manner. Such an operating setting can relate to the recommended time for performing an oral care activity procedure in general or at a specific discrete position or location, or can relate to the recommended minimum and / or maximum pressure or force values applied by the oral care head in general or at a specific discrete position or location, or can relate to the feedback provided to the user when a general or specific discrete position or location is being processed, or can relate to the operating mode used in general or at a specific discrete position or location, and the oral care device can then be arranged to automatically switch to that mode due to the received control data. The operating mode can preferably be a motion mode for driving the oral care head of the oral care device and can include at least one parameter from a list including speed, frequency, and amplitude.

[0078] Example Embodiments

[0079] Without wishing to be bound, the present disclosure focuses on an oral scanner system that includes an oral scanner and a processor, the processor being connected or coupled to a memory, wherein scanner program progress data and / or oral health sensor data and / or oral health data and / or classification data related to at least one previous scanning program performed using the oral scanner and / or oral care activity data related to at least one previous oral care activity program performed using an oral care device are stored in the memory. The scanner program progress data and / or oral health sensor data and / or oral health data and / or classification data and / or oral care activity data stored in the memory are also referred to herein as "stored data". The processor is configured and / or arranged to adjust the next scanner program initialized by the user and / or to adjust the feedback regarding the scanning requirements provided by the oral scanner system based on the stored data. Scanner program parameters and / or scanner program instructions are determined by the processor based on the stored data. The scanner program instructions may include at least one automatic feedback that will be provided to the user of the oral scanner system immediately before the next scanner program (e.g., after the user has pressed the power-on button of the oral scanner, or after the user has removed the oral scanner from a charger, holder, or the ground to perform the next scanner program) or that will be provided to the user during the next scanner program. The oral scanner and the processor are coupled or connected. For example, each of them may include a corresponding communicator or be coupled or connected to the corresponding communicator, and the communicator may be arranged for at least one-way or two-way communication (preferably wireless communication).

[0080] The oral scanner system may include the possibility of adjusting the activation or deactivation of the next scanner program, which may be achieved by a switch or selector or by software running on the processor that allows the user to activate or deactivate the adjustment via a touchscreen button, voice control, etc.

[0081] To provide a more practical example, the processor may analyze the stored data and identify, for example, (a) that the last scanner program was rather incomplete, in which case the scanner program instructions may then involve corresponding automatic feedback provided via a feedback unit to prompt the user to perform a complete current scanner program or (b) that the last oral care activity program or even multiple previous oral care activity programs were shorter than recommended, and the scanner program instructions may then involve corresponding automatic feedback provided via the feedback unit to check the plaque level determined in the scanner program.

[0082] An oral scanner system may include a position sensor configured and / or arranged to acquire and output position sensor data related to a discrete position / location or segment at which the oral scanner in the oral cavity is performing a scanning procedure at the current moment (i.e., currently) or at a given moment, where the moment includes a period of time required to acquire oral health sensor data and corresponding position data. In the case of a period of time, the central time may be used as the moment. Thus, at least a portion of the oral cavity may be divided into at least two discrete positions / locations or segments, as already discussed. Then, a processor may be configured and / or arranged to determine the discrete position / location or segment at which the oral scanner is or has performed a scanning procedure. This allows adjustment of the next scanning procedure in a discrete position resolution / location resolution or segment resolution manner. The stored data (i.e., scanning procedure progress data and / or oral health sensor data and / or oral health data and / or classification data and / or oral care activity data) may also be in discrete position resolution or location resolution.

[0083] The oral scanner may include at least one oral health sensor configured and / or arranged to acquire oral health sensor data from at least a portion of the oral cavity during a scanning procedure. Refer to the corresponding discussion of the oral health sensor in the previous paragraph.

[0084] The processor may be configured and / or arranged to store oral health sensor data acquired in the current or completed scanning procedure and / or oral health data and / or classification data derived from the oral health sensor data acquired in the current or completed scanning procedure in a memory. This data may be stored together with a date identifier such that the sequence of the stored data can be determined. The processor may also delete the stored data that is, for example, older than a certain past period or when a certain amount of new scanning procedure data is stored simultaneously, such that the memory size can be managed. In some examples, it may be sufficient to store only the data from the last scanning procedure. In some examples, it may be beneficial to store a certain amount of past scanning procedure data (e.g., for the last two or three or four or five or ten, etc., scanning procedures).

[0085] Examples of scanning procedure parameters are the total scanning time or the scanning time per position or location or the selection of positions or locations to be scanned or the scanning repetition frequency. The oral scanner may be configured and / or arranged to stop acquiring scanning data (e.g., oral health sensor data) when the total scanning time is reached or when the scanning time at a given discrete position or location is reached, or may interrupt the acquisition when the oral scanner is at a discrete position or location that is not part of the selection of positions or locations to be scanned.

[0086] An example of scanner guidance is guidance feedback for identifying discrete locations or positions to be scanned. For example, the discrete locations or positions (or segments) to be scanned can be identified on a display of a feedback unit. Instead of stopping or interrupting acquisition as discussed in the previous paragraph, the oral scanner system can provide automatic feedback that unnecessary scanning is occurring. For example, tactile or haptic feedback such as vibration can be used to identify unnecessary scanning or visual feedback can be used.

[0087] The oral scanner system can also include an oral care device that is configured and / or arranged to perform an oral care activity program rather than a scanning program. The oral care device can include a device communicator and the processor can also be connected or coupled to the processor communicator, where the processor and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way communication from the oral care device to the processor as already discussed in the previous paragraph. The oral care device can be configured and / or arranged to submit oral care activity data obtained during the oral care activity program to the processor, and then the processor can be configured and / or arranged to store the received oral care activity data in a memory. The oral care device can provide oral care activity data with discrete location resolution / position resolution or segment resolution, i.e., the oral care device can then include its own oral care device position sensor and / or can share a position sensor with the oral scanner. The oral care activity data can preferably include at least the cumulative time spent on one oral care activity per discrete location / position or segment and optionally the cumulative time spent on the oral care activity. The type of oral care activity can be provided, e.g., whether it is a brushing activity, a flossing activity, a rinsing activity, a gingival massage activity, a tongue cleaning activity, etc. The oral care activity data can also include data related to the pressure or force applied during the oral care activity program, e.g., minimum and maximum force or pressure, cumulative time for applying a force or pressure above or below a threshold and / or within a force or pressure range, etc. The processor can identify discrete locations / positions or segments treated with less than a recommended oral care activity cycle as discrete locations / positions or segments to be scanned. Similarly, the processor can identify discrete locations or positions treated with too much force or pressure as discrete locations or positions to be scanned. The oral care activity data can also include personal identification data such that in the case of several users, the correct oral care activity data can be utilized. The oral scanner can also use the personal identification data.

[0088] The processor may also be configured and / or arranged to determine the progress of a scanning procedure for each of at least two discrete positions or localizations, the two determinations being made at least based on position sensor data. Depending on the type of scanning procedure, it may be necessary to acquire data at a given discrete position or localization for a certain time. In the case where a discrete position or localization has a certain size (such as extending above the buccal surface of the lower right molar), it may be necessary to acquire scanning data from two or more sub-positions or sub-localizations in order to complete a scan of at least a portion of the oral cavity at the given position or localization. This is described in more detail below. Thus, in some cases, being at a discrete position / localization or segment only once may not be sufficient to complete the scanning procedure. It is contemplated herein that the scanning procedure progress is calculated and provided as feedback to the user during the scanning procedure by a feedback unit (e.g., by means of visual feedback elements that can change their color and / or pattern and / or by depicting a percentage level assigned to the position or localization, etc.). Specifically, the feedback may be live or real-time feedback, meaning feedback provided to the user with only a short time delay, such that the user can adjust the scanning movement to achieve a complete scan, i.e., a complete scan progress at all positions or localizations. Such a time delay may be about or less than 10 seconds, preferably about or less than 5 seconds, further preferably about or less than 2 seconds, and even more preferably about or less than 1 second.

[0089] Examples of position sensors have been discussed. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer and / or a gyroscope located at or within the oral scanner can be envisaged, preferably those inertial measurement units implemented as MEMS sensors. It can be mentioned again here that an oral health sensor for acquiring oral health sensor data can also be used as a position sensor at the same time. The image data output by the camera can be classified, for example, by a classifier algorithm to determine whether the image data belongs to a certain discrete position / orientation or segment. As previously discussed, the data from the IMU sensor can be classified in parallel, and the results can be fused to determine the discrete position or orientation, or the IMU data and the image data or features derived from the IMU data and / or the image data can be input into the classifier algorithm. It can also be explained that the scanning program can be merely an optical scanning program, such as for taking a reference image, or the scanning program can be designed to generate oral health sensor data by using an oral health sensor that is constructed and / or arranged to acquire and output oral health sensor data related to at least one oral health condition (such as dental plaque). The oral health sensor can include an optical sensor, such as an M×N array of photosensitive sensor elements, and can be implemented as a camera for taking images. Although in some cases, the oral health sensor data may already provide a direct understanding of the oral health condition (for example, referring to the discussion of the malodor sensor above), it can be envisaged that the processor can be constructed and / or arranged to process the oral health sensor data to determine oral health data as a direct measure of the oral condition. For example, in the case where the oral health sensor is a camera, the oral health sensor data is image data, and the processor needs to process the image data to determine the oral health data, which may be related to dental plaque or carious lesions or tooth loss or discoloration visible in the image, etc. Refer to the list of oral conditions discussed previously.

[0090] The feedback unit can be provided by a separate device such as a computer, a notebook, a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, or a smartwatch. The processor can be provided at least in part by a separate device. It can be envisaged that the separate units or devices as discussed herein can communicate wirelessly. For example, each of these units or devices can include a dedicated communicator for establishing at least one-way or two-way wireless communication. As already discussed, the feedback unit can provide an abstract or more realistic visualization of at least a part of the oral cavity to be scanned, for example, a depiction of the dentition as an example. The visualization of the dentition can be superimposed with the visualization of the scanning program progress data and / or the oral health data and / or any feedback according to the determined scanning program guidance. The term "superimposed" should be understood to mean that a two-dimensional image can be displayed, which is based on the depiction of the dentition and can include further information of additional depictions and / or further information such as coloring or patterns of at least a part of the depiction of the dentition.

[0091] As mentioned, the processor determines the scanner program progress for at least two discrete positions or localizations (or: segments), whereby the processor determines scanner program progress data. The scanner program progress can depend on at least one of the following: the duration of the scanner program at the respective discrete position or localization; the movement quality derived from position sensor data at the respective position or localization, such as length, speed, acceleration or direction; the number of oral health sensor data acquisitions, preferably image data acquisitions of a camera, of preferably non-overlapping or only partially overlapping content at the respective discrete position or localization; the number of sub-positions or sub-localizations determined based on position sensor data at the respective position or localization; or the quality assessment of oral health sensor data, preferably the quality assessment of image data of a camera, at the discrete position or localization.

[0092] Some more detailed explanations of the above possibilities are provided:

[0093] (a) In some cases, it may be necessary to acquire oral health sensor data multiple times at the same discrete position or localization, such that the oral health sensor data can be averaged to achieve higher reliability. The processor may then be configured and / or arranged to determine the scanner program progress by the number of oral health data acquisitions per discrete position or localization and / or by the presence length at a given discrete position or localization.

[0094] (b) The position sensor data can be used by the processor to determine the discrete position or localization at which the scanner performs the scanner program. However, although the discrete position or localization determined by the processor may be the same at several instants, the oral scanner is typically moving. The processor can use the position sensor data to determine the movement length during the period in which the oral scanner is determined to be at a discrete position or localization. This can be done by double integration of the acceleration data of an accelerometer. For example, if the length of the buccal surface of the upper left molar can be about 3 cm, the processor can determine whether the movement in one direction can be close to 3 cm or higher than 3 cm, and then can determine that the scanner program is completed for that discrete position or localization.

[0095] If the movement length in a direction that can be aligned with the extension direction of the molar (e.g., perpendicular to the earth's gravity field) is determined to be 2 cm, the processor can provide feedback that about two-thirds or 66% of the scanner program has been achieved.

[0096] (c) Although, for example, for reasons of reliability, the processor may be constructed and / or arranged to provide discrete positions or localizations only at the level of an oral segment of a certain size, the inherent resolution of the position determination may be higher, and the processor may check whether individual sub - positions to be determined and for which feedback is to be provided within a given discrete position or localization have been accessed by the oral scanner in order to determine the progress of the scanning procedure. This means that at the computational level, the resolution of individual tooth surfaces can be used to determine discrete positions or localizations, and feedback is provided only for groups of tooth surfaces and /

[0097] or groups of teeth, etc.

[0098] (d) The processor may use a camera (such as a camera implementing an oral health sensor) as an additional source, for example, in addition to an accelerometer or a gyroscope. The processor may be constructed and / or arranged to identify teeth on the image data and / or stitch together images from subsequent time instances acquired at the same discrete position or localization (or segment)

[0099] such that the images create a panoramic image. Then, the length of the imaged teeth at a given discrete position or localization can be determined based on the average size of the teeth at that position or based on an assumed size of the imaging area per pixel (e.g., assuming a certain focal length), which can be confirmed by checking the image quality (especially the sharpness of the image). An image stitching method is also described in a co - pending patent application with international patent application number PCT / CN2022 / 082673, which patent application is incorporated herein by reference.

[0100] (e) In the case where the oral health sensor is a camera, the progress of the scanning procedure may depend on the quality of the image. The processor may be constructed or arranged to determine the image quality (e.g., sharpness), and the progress of the scanning procedure may depend on the number of images acquired at a certain image quality.

[0101] Generally speaking, the processor may be constructed and / or arranged to also use the scanning time per discrete position or localization and / or the total scanning time, and increase the progress of the scanning procedure if the time per discrete position or localization or the total scanning time is above a specific threshold.

[0102] An oral scanner system can be configured and / or arranged to provide additional feedback to a user or perform an action when the progress of a scanning procedure reaches a certain progress level value for a given discrete location or positioning, or when a predetermined progress level value is achieved for all locations or positionings. Such an action can be the stopping of the scanning activity and / or an indication that the entire scanning procedure has ended. The user can also receive specific feedback that a particular discrete location or positioning requires further scanning activity, such as additional visually perceivable highlighting of the visually depicted location or positioning, or an audible message such as a voice message or a tactile feedback, e.g., the oral scanner can vibrate at a discrete location or positioning that has been sufficiently scanned, etc.

[0103] Discussion of Embodiments with Reference to the Accompanying Drawings

[0104] Figure 1 is a schematic depiction of an example oral scanner system 1 in accordance with the present disclosure. The oral scanner system 1 includes an example oral scanner 100 and a processor 200, where the example oral scanner is only configured and arranged to perform an oral scanning procedure without any oral care activity, and where the processor 200 is disposed at or within the oral scanner 100 in this example. The oral scanner 100 includes a handle portion 101 and a head portion 102. An oral health sensor 110 is disposed in or at the oral scanner 100. Generally, two or more different oral health sensors can be used and thus these oral health sensors can be disposed in or at the oral scanner 100. In the illustrated example, at least one measurement inlet (such as a light inlet) that cooperates with the oral health sensor 110 is provided at the head portion 102 such that oral health data based on the light measurement of the oral health sensor 110 can be acquired at the head portion 102. The head portion 102 here includes a flat transparent window 1021 surrounded by a frame structure 1022, and the frame structure can be arranged and / or configured to receive a preferably detachable attachment (see Figure 2)). The size of the head portion 102 is set such that it can be conveniently introduced into the oral cavity of a human or an animal. The size of the handle portion 101 is set such that it can be conveniently grasped by the hand of a human user. The handle portion 101 and the head portion 102 are separable from each other. In some embodiments, the handle portion 101 may be equipped with different replaceable head portions in addition to the oral scanner head portion, such as a brush head portion, etc. The handle portion 101 may include at least one user-operable input element 103, such as an on / off button and / or a selector button or switch. The oral scanner 100 has a housing 104, which may preferably be hollow to accommodate various internal components, such as a preferably rechargeable energy source and a related charging circuit for the wireless charging of the energy source, a circuit board including various electronic components for the control of the oral scanner, etc. Generally speaking, the oral scanner 100 is constructed and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure on at least a part of the oral cavity of a subject, i.e., when the user holds the oral scanner 100 and moves the oral scanner, the oral scanner acquires oral health sensor data and determines the progress of the scan, and preferably analyzes the acquired oral health sensor data with respect to at least one oral health condition. Although this is understood to be non-limiting, the processor 200 may be provided on the circuit board. The processor 200 is coupled or connected to the oral health sensor 110 for receiving signals from the oral health sensor 110, i.e., for receiving oral health sensor data at the processor 200. The processor 200 may be constructed and / or arranged to process the oral health sensor data to derive or determine oral health data related to at least one oral health condition (such as dental plaque). In some embodiments, the oral health sensor may output oral health sensor data as a direct measure of the relevant oral health condition, such that only limited processing (if any) of the oral health sensor data may be required, for example, to a certain reduction or normalization value to an integer, etc. The processor 200 may also be constructed and / or arranged to classify the oral health (sensor) data into at least two condition categories related to at least one oral health condition, for example, classified into a "no oral health problem" category (or "green" category) and a "oral health problem" category (or "red" category), which may be done based on a comparison with at least one threshold. Referring to the corresponding previous paragraphs, where the classification is explained in more detail. Classification may also be made with respect to at least three categories, for example, in addition to the "green" category, a "low concern" ("orange") category and a "high concern" ("red") category may be generated from the classification process. Again, it should be noted that a main aspect of the present application is to provide the user with simple feedback (such as a single value or a single color or a single pattern, etc.) for each segment (discrete position or location) being scanned by the feedback unit.This provision of simple feedback requires some processing of the oral health sensor data and / or the position sensor data to determine the simple feedback (value) for each segment. The simple feedback can be a number or a color, etc. In some embodiments, the indicated color can vary in a substantially step-less manner to convey the feedback, while in some embodiments, the feedback can be limited to a binary or ternary feedback space provided, for example, by two numbers (such as 0 and 1) or three numbers (such as 0, 1, and 2) or by three colors (such as green, yellow, and red).

[0105] As has been explained and as will be further explained with reference to Figure 3 As further explained, the oral scanner system 1 may additionally include at least one position sensor that is coupled or connected to the processor 200 such that, in operation, the processor 200 receives signals from the position sensor that deliver position sensor data, and the processor 200 can determine the discrete position or location at which the oral scanner is currently performing a scanning procedure or has performed a scanning procedure in the oral cavity at a given moment based on the position sensor data. As defined previously, a discrete position or discrete location refers to a segment of at least a portion of the oral cavity that is being scanned such that multiple segments cover the portion of the oral cavity being scanned in a gapless and non-overlapping manner. Time data related to the absolute or relative time of data acquisition can be part of the position sensor data and can also be part of the previously mentioned oral health sensor data. The determination of the discrete position or location allows the processor 200 to be able to calculate oral health data related to at least one oral health condition and / or to classify the oral health sensor data and / or the oral health data into at least two oral health condition categories in a discrete position or location-resolved manner (i.e., for each of the segments mentioned). Due to the design of the oral scanner system, the oral health sensor data and the position sensor data acquired substantially at the same moment can be delivered to the processor 200 together, or the processor can be configured and / or arranged to assign oral health sensor data and position data having the same time information ("timestamp") or the best fit (i.e., the closest lying time information (timestamp)) to each other. Note that while the provision of the position sensor data and / or the oral health sensor data can be done in a live manner, it is also possible to store the corresponding data for a certain period of time (preferably together with time information) and send it to the processor at a later moment. For example, the data can be transmitted once every 10 seconds or after the scanning procedure stops or is completed. The term "position sensor" should include embodiments that use two different position sensors that together implement a "position sensor" (such as an IMU provided at the oral scanner and a separate camera).

[0106] The oral scanner system 1 may include a feedback unit 120 to provide user-perceivable feedback, particularly feedback composed of or at least including processed information for each segment, i.e., individual feedback provided in the form of color or a single value for each segment / discrete location or positioning in the segment / discrete location or positioning. For example, as Figure 1 exemplarily shown in Figure 1 , the oral scanner 100 may include a visual feedback unit 121 (as part of the feedback unit 120) for providing feedback visually. In Figure 1 , the visual feedback unit 121 includes four quarter-annular light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, which are arranged to form an annulus that can be understood to represent the four quadrants of the dentition. By illuminating the light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214 with light of different colors and / or having different intensity characteristics, user-perceivable feedback can be provided (e.g., provided live during the scanning procedure), such that the user can understand the progress of the scanning procedure in a discrete location or positioning-resolved manner. Additionally or alternatively, the four light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214 can be used to indicate the severity of oral health conditions in a discrete location or positioning-resolved manner during or at the end of the scanning procedure, for example, by illuminating the corresponding light regions with a specific color and / or by applying an intensity variation pattern. These are merely examples, and instead of four light regions, the oral scanner 100 may include two or three or five or six or sixteen or thirty-two, etc. The light regions and / or the oral scanner system 1 may include a display to visualize user-perceivable feedback in an even more general manner, such as displaying values such as percentage per segment. Refer to the previous paragraphs related to the visualization of feedback. The oral scanner 100 may additionally or alternatively include one or several other feedback elements 122 as part of the feedback unit 120, such as a light ring at the bottom of the oral scanner 100 for communicating that the oral scanner 100 is turned on or that the energy storage needs to be charged, etc., one or several tactile or haptic feedback elements, and / or one or several auditory feedback elements. Generally speaking, the processor 200 may be coupled or connected to a memory for storing oral health sensor data and / or oral health data and / or scanning process data and / or condition classification data and / or oral care activity data, where the stored data may be stored in a location-resolved or positioning-resolved manner, and specifically where there may be current and historical stored data, where "historical" herein relates to previous scanning procedures or oral care activities. Oral care activity data relates to oral care activity procedures performed with an oral care device, and this data is transmitted to the processor. With respect to Figure 1All aspects described in the embodiment indicated therein should also be understood to be provided for all other embodiments in the present disclosure, without repeating the same text, as long as the aspects do not conflict with another embodiment.

[0107] Figure 2 is a schematic depiction of another exemplary oral scanner system 1A according to the present disclosure. Oral scanner system 1A herein includes an exemplary oral scanner 100A and an exemplary separate device 300A, the exemplary separate device including a processor 200A and a display 310A, as part of a feedback unit for visualizing user-perceivable feedback (again referring to the previous paragraphs providing details on visualization and the disclosure further described below with reference to Figures 5 to 7 ). Oral scanner 100A may include a scanner communicator 140A, and separate device 300A may include a separate device communicator 340A, such that oral scanner 100A and separate device 300A can communicate wirelessly (e.g., via a Bluetooth protocol or an IEEE 820.11 protocol, etc.), i.e., signals for delivering data can be exchanged. The possibility of wireless communication is indicated herein and in the following figures by an icon including a small circle and three concentric segments, as a general standard for indicating Wi-Fi connection characteristics. This should not exclude additional or alternative permanent or temporary wired direct or indirect connections for exchanging signals or communicating via another device (e.g., a charger or a router or a cloud computing device, etc.). Separate device 300A is schematically indicated herein as a mobile phone, although this should not be construed as a limitation. Refer to the possibility of implementing the separate device described in the previous paragraphs. In Figure 2 it may be indicated that an oral health sensor 110A is provided in or at oral scanner 100A for acquiring oral health sensor data at the head portion 102A of oral scanner 100A. As indicated, oral health sensor 110A may include a sensor receiver 111A (e.g., an optical sensor such as a camera) and a sensor transmitter 112A (such as a light emitter). A preferably detachable attachment 105A is herein attached to head portion 102A, which may preferably be implemented as a distance attachment. Refer to the previous paragraphs related to the attachment of the oral scanner. Instead of directly disposing the sensor transmitter 112A at head portion 102A, head portion 102A may include an outlet in communication with the sensor transmitter 112A such that the emitted medium can leave head portion 102A at the intended location, and the sensor transmitter 112A itself may be disposed elsewhere in oral scanner 100A. Similarly, an inlet may be provided at head portion 102A, which may be in communication with the sensor receiver 111A such that the medium to be measured can enter head portion 102A at the intended location, and the sensor receiver 111A may be disposed elsewhere in oral scanner 100A.

[0108] Whether the feedback unit is at least partially provided at the oral scanner and / or provided at a separate device, the intent of the feedback discussed herein is to allow the user to respond to the feedback and thus optimize the use of the oral scanner system. The use of the oral scanner system is accordingly focused on the one hand on the use of the oral scanner system during a single scanning procedure and on the other hand on the long-term use of the oral scanner system in various situations of procedures to be performed with components of the oral scanner system (e.g., including the oral scanner and optionally an oral care device for providing oral care activities).

[0109] Figure 3 is a schematic depiction of an example oral scanner system 1B according to the present disclosure, the example oral scanner system including an oral scanner 100B, a separate device 300B (including a display 310B (as part of the feedback unit) and a processor 200B), position sensors 400B, 410B (including a first position sensor 400B and a second position sensor 410B, respectively), and being configured and / or arranged to utilize position sensor data output by the position sensors 400B, 410B to determine a discrete position or location in an oral cavity 500B where the oral scanner 100B is currently performing a scanning procedure or has performed a scanning procedure at a given moment, where the moment can be derived from time values output by the position sensors 400B, 410B and the associated position sensor data, or a clock can be used for absolute time values. As previously discussed, the position sensors 400B, 410B in this example include two position sensors, one provided in or at the oral scanner 100B and one separated from the oral scanner 100B.

[0110] Figure 3The oral cavity 500B shown includes (but is not desired to be exhaustive) a dentition 510B, gums 520B, tongue 530B, uvula 540B, lips 550B, inner cheeks 560B, and palate 570B. For simplicity, only the dentition 510B will be further discussed, even though all other areas in the oral cavity 500B may also be considered. For this exemplary discussion, the dentition 510B is virtually divided into four quadrants 511B, 512B, 513B, 514B, which are considered to be different segments in the oral cavity 500B where the oral scanner 100B can perform a scanning procedure. It should be understood that the segments defined within the oral cavity 500B need not cover the entire dentition 510B, but may cover only a portion thereof, which portion is then the portion of the oral cavity intended to be scanned. A first position sensor 400B is herein disposed at or within the oral scanner 100B and may be implemented as an accelerometer and / or gyroscope and / or magnetometer (generally, implemented as an IMU). As already described, the position sensor data and the oral health sensor data may be wirelessly transmitted to and received by the processor 200B via the processor communicator, and the processor 200B may be constructed and / or arranged to determine a discrete position or location (i.e., a segment from a list of segments to be scanned) at which the oral scanner 100B is currently performing a scanning procedure based on the position sensor data, or at which the oral scanner 100B has performed a scanning procedure at a given moment based on the position sensor data which may include timer data. In this example, the processor 200B may output one of the four dentition quadrants 511B, 512B, 513B, 514B as the scanning segment, i.e., as the discrete position or location currently being scanned. The processor 200B may preferably be constructed and / or arranged to also output that no scanning is occurring at any of the discrete positions or locations within the defined discrete position or location. For example, in the case where the oral scanner 100B is being moved outside the oral cavity 500B or across the tongue 530B, the processor may output that the scanning procedure is not occurring at the discrete position or location being used, or the processor 200B may explicitly instruct the oral scanner 200B to be outside the discrete position or location being used. The processor 200B may also be constructed and / or arranged to calculate oral health data from the oral health sensor data in a position-resolved or location-resolved (i.e., segment-resolved) manner (i.e., by assigning the oral health sensor data and / or the derived oral health data therefrom to the determined discrete position or location (or: segment)). Refer to the previous paragraphs for details on the determination of the disclosed discrete position or location and how the oral health data is assigned to the discrete position or location. In some embodiments, the processor 200B determines the orientation of the oral scanner 100B relative to the earth's gravity field and determines the discrete position or location (or: segment) by sorting the orientation values into predetermined discrete position or location (or: segment) bins, as is known in the art.

[0111] Additionally or alternatively, a second position sensor 410B may be utilized, which in this example is a separate camera that captures images from outside or inside the oral cavity 500B, where the images are understood as position sensor data delivered by the camera 410B. Based solely on the pictures and / or based on data fusion with the position sensor data from the first position sensor 400B, a discrete position or location (or: segment) in the oral cavity 500B may be determined by the processor 200B, where in this case the discrete position or location pertains to one of the indicated dental quadrants 511B, 512B, 513B, 514B. It is hereby indicated that the external camera does not exclude the alternative or additional use of a camera as a position sensor, which is provided at the head portion or the handle portion of the oral scanner 100B, such that images from inside the oral cavity 500B or from the user's face may be captured respectively to support the determination of the discrete position or location (or segment). According to some aspects of the entire specification, a camera used as an oral health sensor may additionally be used as a position sensor, see for example the reference made to EP 2 189 198 B1 in the preceding paragraph. A scanning procedure performed using an oral health sensor that includes an optical sensor such as a camera is referred to as an optical scanning procedure.

[0112] Figure 4is a schematic depiction of an example oral scanner system 1C according to the present disclosure, the example oral scanner system specifically including an oral care device 700C, even though several aspects of the oral scanner system 1C are independent of the presence of the oral care device 700C. The oral scanner system 1C can include an oral scanner 100C, a separate device 300C (including a display 721C), the aforementioned oral care device 700C (illustrated herein as an electric toothbrush), a charger 710C, a base station 720C (including a display 310C and a charger 722C), a router 730C, a computer 740C, and a cloud server or cloud computing device 750C or interact with them. The various components of the oral care system 1C can preferably all be constructed and / or arranged for wireless communication, as indicated by the previously mentioned icons. It should be understood that the components shown in the oral scanner system 1C herein are optional components. For example, the oral scanner system 1C can include only one charger or no charger at all, or can actually include two chargers, one for the oral scanner 100C and one for the oral care device 700C, and may include an additional charger for the separate device 300C. As explained in the previous paragraph, the processor of the oral scanner system 1C can be implemented as a distributed processor, and a first processor subunit can be provided in the oral scanner 100C, and a second processor subunit can be provided by the cloud computing device 750C, or the first processor subunit can be provided by the separate device 300C, and the second processor subunit can be provided by the computer 740C. With reference to the previous discussion regarding how the oral care device 700C can be incorporated into the oral scanner system 1C and that at least one operating setting of the oral care device 700C can be selected based on control data determined by the processor and / or the oral care device 700C can be constructed and / or arranged to transmit oral care activity data related to at least one oral care activity performed with the oral care device 700C to the processor, where the oral care activity data can be used to adjust the next scanning program. Data from one component can be directly transmitted to another component (e.g., from the oral care device 700C to the oral scanner 100C), or can be transmitted indirectly (e.g., from the oral care device 700C to the cloud server 750C), where the data can be stored in a memory, and then, for example, transmitted from the cloud server 750C to the processor as needed, the processor can be located in the separate device 300C or at the separate device and / or located in the oral scanner 100C or at the oral scanner. The aforementioned memory can be a memory located in any of the aforementioned components, or can be a distributed memory.

[0113] Figure 5It is a depiction of an exemplary feedback screen 600D that can be visualized on the display of an oral scanner system. The term feedback screen herein refers to the visualization of user feedback via the display using specific feedback concepts within the continuous guidance provided by the oral scanner system to the user. The feedback screen is preferably used to assist the user in performing tasks using the oral scanner system by means of a continuous or guided human-machine interaction process, which should not exclude the feedback screen from additionally visualizing information such as the current time. It should be understood that the various aspects of the feedback screen shown herein should not be construed as having to be disclosed together, but rather different aspects of the feedback screen can be assembled in any manner, and the examples provided in the image are merely exemplary. In Figure 5 , the feedback screen 600D includes a first part 610D and a second part 620D. On the first part, a live image or a saved image 611D from a camera on the head part of the oral scanner of the oral scanner system is shown. The camera can consist of an oral health sensor. The live image can include unprocessed or processed image data related to the oral health condition, such as unprocessed or processed image data related to plaque image data visible as red fluorescence. The processor can be constructed and / or arranged to analyze the image data and can determine the boundary lines within the image or the part of the image where the relevant oral health sensor data is located, and a corresponding indication 612D can be superimposed on the live image 611D and can also be visualized as part of the live or saved image. The indication 612D is Figure 5 shown in, the indication is superimposed on the visualized image data 611D and will provide a visible reference to the tooth area visible on the image covered with plaque. It is pointed out here that the indication 612D is derived from the camera data, especially from the camera data of imaging fluorescence, where the indication 612D shows the area on the currently scanned tooth (live image) or on the saved image (e.g., because it shows the tooth with the most serious problem) where an oral health problem such as plaque has been found during the scan. Although the indication 612D is the result of processing the optical oral health data captured by the camera, the indication itself has no meaning if it is not superimposed on the image of the corresponding part of the oral cavity to which it relates. Only by further processing (such as calculating the normalized area of plaque relative to the total tooth area within a given segment (discrete position or location)) can an easy-to-understand single value for each segment be displayed to the user.

[0114] In the example shown, the second portion 620D of the feedback screen 600D includes an abstract visualization of the human dentition 621D. In the example shown, the abstract visualization of the human dentition 621D includes six segments (reflecting the scanned segments or discrete positions / orientations) 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D, which are generally arranged in a manner similar to an oval arrangement, with a certain distance between two adjacent segments. Each of the segments 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D includes a plurality of overlapping circles or bubbles, which are understood as non-limiting examples of visualization possibilities. The top three segments 622D, 623D, 624D should indicate the teeth of the upper jaw, and the lower three segments 625D, 626D, 627D should indicate the teeth of the lower jaw. The top segment 623D and the bottom segment 626D should respectively represent the positions in the dentition related to the upper front teeth and the lower front teeth, the left segments 622D and 627D should respectively represent the positions in the dentition related to the left upper molar and the left lower molar, and the right segments 624D and 625D should respectively represent the positions in the dentition related to the right upper molar and the right lower molar. Referring to segment 622D (and also relative to Figure 6 segment 625E, as another example), it can be indicated that the shown abstract segment can be visually divided into two or three or even more subdivisions (segments), which can then relate to different discrete positions or orientations of the dentition. These subdivisions can be used to visually distinguish, for example, different teeth or groups of teeth related to a higher stage or different tooth surfaces or groups of tooth surfaces related to a higher stage. Segment 622D (as well as Figure 6 segment 625E in) is divided into three regions 6221D, 6222D, 6223D, where the side regions 6221D and 6223D will respectively represent the buccal and lingual surfaces of the molars of segment 622D, and the central region 6222D will represent the chewing or occlusal surface of the molars of segment 622D. Such a portion of the feedback screen, whether as only a portion of the entire feedback screen or as substantially the only portion of the feedback screen, can be used to provide live or summary feedback to the user. Figure 5Shows a feedback screen as the user may see during a live scanning procedure. Segments 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D may be used to indicate position parsing or localization parsing scanner progress and / or the severity of the oral health condition, such as the total or normalized tooth area within the segment on which plaque, etc. is determined. Again, note that the segments or subdivisions of segments shown on the feedback screen relate to discrete positions or localizations in the oral cavity. As discussed in the previous paragraph, the scanner progress may be visualized by first showing all segments and all segment subdivisions (if these segments and subdivisions are used in a base color or starting color (e.g., dark blue) or starting pattern, etc.) and then gradually or step - by - step changing the color or pattern, etc. towards a different color or pattern (e.g., towards a lighter blue and ultimately towards white) to indicate the scanner progress for the corresponding segment (i.e., for the corresponding discrete position or localization). While it may be preferred to use more than two colors or patterns in each segment or subdivision of the pattern to indicate the level of scanner progress or the severity of the oral health condition, the use of only two colors or patterns, etc. should not be excluded. In Figure 5 , different intensities of shading are used instead of colors. The severity of the detected oral health condition is determined based on discrete position or localization parsed oral health (sensor) data and may be visualized by adding different intensities of patterns to the color. In Figure 5 additional dots are used to indicate the severity of the oral health condition.

[0115] Figure 6 is a depiction of an example feedback screen 600E as may be visualized on the display of an oral scanner system. Feedback screen 600E includes an abstract visualization of a tooth row 621E that is substantially the same as explained with respect to Figure 5 and reference is made to the corresponding description. Abstract segments 622E, 623E, 624E, 625E, 626E, and 627E are shown. Feedback screen 600E may be understood as a summary screen on which the severity of the detected oral health condition (e.g., plaque) is indicated by different colors or patterns, etc. in a discrete position or localization parsed manner (in Figure 6 different intensities of shading are used). In this embodiment, the basic feedback concept as discussed with respect to Figure 5 is used to indicate the live state of the oral health condition in each of these segments or the final state of the oral health condition at the end of the scanning procedure, rather than for the live or final scanning progress as discussed with respect to Figure 5 Additional patterns or structures may be applied to indicate additional feedback, e.g., the presence of another oral health condition such as tartar (i.e., old plaque), where the intensity of the pattern or the number of additional structures may indicate the severity of the additional oral health condition. In Figure 6 Figure 6Additional points are shown. In addition, the feedback screen 600E includes a visualization of the time variation related to the severity of at least one oral health condition (e.g., dental plaque). Such visual feedback can indicate, in a suitable manner, the severity of the oral health condition as determined in the most recent scan procedure, as well as provide a change indicator that provides feedback on the change in severity compared to at least one previous scan procedure. As Figure 6 The bar indicator with the time variation arrow shown is only one example of such a visualization of comparison data (i.e., comparison data related to the comparison of current data with stored historical data). The bar indicator shown includes a bar indicating the oral health condition, where the bottom here is not a concern and the top is a concern condition, where the first number (here 75) indicates a normalized oral health condition score (where normalization here can relate to a range between 0 and 100), and the second number (here 8) indicates the time variation relative to the previous (i.e., historical scan procedure). The reference guide 630E can be visualized, allowing, for example, a color or a logo or a pattern, etc. to be mapped to the severity of the oral health condition, where the severity indicated in the reference guide 630E can be consistent with the condition category into which the oral health data is classified, where in the example shown, three condition categories are used, namely "low", "medium", and "high". In this example, the information related to the comparison with historical data is shown as a global indicator of the entire scanned oral part. In contrast, it can be imagined that a feedback screen can be shown where the time variation is indicated in a segmented manner, for example, the color and / or the assigned value of each segment can be used to indicate a better or worse time variation for each segment (i.e., for each discrete location or positioning).

[0116] Figure 7 is a depiction of an example stand-alone device 300F that is part of an oral scanner system and includes a display 310F on which an example feedback screen 600F is visualized. Again, as Figure 5 and Figure 6The abstract visualization 621F of the dentition is utilized as in []. In addition to the segments of the dentition, positions 640F related to segments of the gingiva are indicated, at which oral health conditions of a certain severity are detected (i.e., where the analysis of oral health sensor data results in an oral health condition being above a threshold), for example, where an inflammation of the gingiva is detected based on the analysis of image data created, for example, by a camera that is a sensor receiver of an oral health sensor. The feedback screen 600F provides an example of a visualization to provide feedback on various oral health conditions classified into different condition categories. The reference guide 630F can be visualized, allowing, for example, colors or logos or patterns, etc. to be mapped to the types of oral health conditions and their classifications. The visualization markers 640F, 641F can be superimposed on the abstract visualization 621F of the dentition to provide feedback on further oral health conditions (such as cavities, etc.). The size of such a marker 641F can be related to the severity and thus to the condition category. As Figure 7 indicated in [], the individual discrete positions or localizations can be shown in an even more resolved manner, for example, resolved at the level of the individual teeth.

[0117] The dimensions and values disclosed herein should not be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to represent the recited value and a functionally equivalent range around that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as "40 mm" is intended to represent "about 40 mm".

Claims

1. An oral scanner system, the oral scanner system comprises: an oral scanner configured and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure on at least a portion of an oral cavity; a processor coupled to a memory storing oral health sensor data and / or oral health data related to at least one previous scanning procedure performed using the oral scanner and / or oral care activity data related to at least one previous oral care activity procedure performed using an oral care device; wherein the processor is configured and / or arranged to determine at least one scanning procedure parameter for influencing a next scanning procedure based on the stored data, and / or to determine at least one scanning procedure guidance based on the stored data, wherein the scanning procedure guidance includes at least one automatic feedback provided to the user by a feedback unit immediately before and / or during the next scanning procedure.

2. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, the oral scanner system further comprising a position detector configured and / or arranged to create position sensor data related to a position or location at which the oral scanner is currently performing the scanning procedure or has performed the scanning procedure at a given moment.

3. The oral scanner system according to claim 2, wherein, the processor is configured and / or arranged to receive the position sensor data and process the position sensor data to determine at least one discrete position or location from at least two discrete positions or locations of the at least a portion of the oral cavity at which the oral scanner is currently performing the scanning procedure or has performed the scanning procedure at a given moment.

4. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, the oral scanner includes an oral health sensor configured and / or arranged to obtain oral health sensor data from at least a portion of the oral cavity during the scanning procedure.

5. The oral scanner system according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein, the oral health sensor data and / or the oral health data stored in the memory are discretely position-resolved or location-resolved, and / or the oral care activity data stored in the memory are discretely position-resolved or location-resolved, and the processor is configured and / or arranged to determine the scanning procedure parameter and / or the scanning procedure guidance based on the determined discrete position or location.

6. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, the scanning procedure guidance relates to at least one discrete position or location to be scanned.

7. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein, The processor is configured and / or arranged to determine a scan program progress for each of the at least two discrete positions or localizations based at least on a determined discrete position or localization at which the oral scanner is currently performing the scan program or has performed the scan program at a given moment.

8. The oral scanner system according to claim 7, wherein, the processor is configured and / or arranged to determine a scan program progress for each of the at least two discrete positions or localizations according to at least one from a list, the list including: a duration of the scan program at the respective discrete position or localization; a motion quality derived from the position sensor data at the respective discrete position or localization, such as length, speed, acceleration or direction; a quantity of oral health sensor data acquisition, preferably image data acquisition of a camera, of preferably non-overlapping or only partially overlapping content at the respective discrete position or localization; a quantity of sub-positions or sub-localizations determined based on the position sensor data at the respective discrete position or localization; or a quality assessment of the oral health sensor data at the respective discrete position or localization, preferably a quality assessment of the image data of the camera.

9. The oral scanner system according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein, the processor is configured and / or arranged to determine the scan program progress for each of the at least two discrete positions or localizations according to the at least one scan program parameter.

10. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, the position sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope, preferably wherein the accelerometer or the gyroscope is implemented as a MEMS sensor.

11. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein, the processor is configured and / or arranged to store oral health sensor data acquired in a currently or just or recently completed scan program and / or oral health data derived from the oral health sensor data acquired in the currently or just or recently completed scan program into the memory.

12. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, the oral scanner system further includes an oral care device different from the oral scanner, the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to perform an oral care activity program, the oral care device includes a device communicator and the processor, the processor is connected or coupled to the processor communicator, wherein the device communicator and the processor communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way communication from the oral care device to the processor, wherein the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to submit oral care activity data acquired in the oral care activity program to the processor, and the processor is configured and / or arranged to store the received oral care activity data into the memory.

13. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein, the feedback unit includes a display unit.

14. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein, the feedback unit is implemented as a separate device or implemented by the separate device, preferably where the separate device is a computer, notebook, laptop, tablet, smart phone or smart watch.

15. The oral scanner system according to any one of claims 3 to 14, wherein, the at least one scanning program parameter is related to the scanning time or the scanning repetition frequency, preferably for at least one discrete position or orientation from the at least two discrete positions or orientations, and / or wherein the at least one scanning program instruction is related to the scanning importance, preferably for each discrete position or orientation of the at least two discrete positions or orientations.

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