Oral Scanner System

Abstract

This application relates to an oral scanner system, the oral scanner system using an oral health sensor configured and / or arranged to output oral health sensor data obtained during a scanning procedure to perform a scanning procedure on at least a part of a subject's oral cavity, an oral scanner configured and / or arranged to receive the oral health sensor data and determine control data for an oral care device according to the oral health sensor data, an oral care device different from the oral scanner configured and / or arranged to perform an oral care activity, the oral care device including at least two different operating settings, the processor being coupled to a processor communicator, the oral care device having a device communicator, the processor communicator and the device communicator being configured and / or arranged for at least one-way communication from the processor to the oral care device, the processor being configured and / or arranged to transmit the control data to the oral care device, and the oral care device being configured and / or arranged to select at least one of the at least two operating settings based on the control data in an oral care activity performed by the oral care device following the scanning procedure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an oral scanner having an oral health sensor, a processor configured and arranged for determining control data, and an oral care device for performing oral care activities, an oral scanner system comprising the same.

Background Art

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

[0003] Particularly with respect to home-use oral scanner systems, there is a general interest in providing an oral scanner system that enables improved usability or improved guidance through an oral scan procedure and / or more versatile and ideally intuitively understandable communication of oral health data regarding at least one oral health condition in the context of continuous oral care treatment.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] According to some aspects, there is a desire to provide at least an alternative oral scanner system.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] According to at least one embodiment, an oral scanner system is provided, the oral scanner system comprising: an oral scanner configured and / or configured to perform a scanning procedure of at least a portion of a subject's oral cavity using an oral health sensor configured and / or configured to output oral health sensor data acquired during a scanning procedure; a processor configured and / or configured to receive the oral health sensor data and determine control data for an oral care device in accordance with the oral health sensor data; and an oral care device different from the oral scanner configured and / or configured to perform an oral care activity, wherein the oral care device includes at least two different operating settings; the processor is coupled to a processor communicator; the oral care device includes a device communicator; the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or configured for at least one-way communication from the processor to the oral care device; the processor is configured and / or configured to transmit control data to the oral care device; and the oral care device is configured and / or configured to select at least one of the at least two operating settings based on the control data in an oral care activity performed by the oral care device following a scanning procedure.

[0006] According to at least one embodiment, an oral scanner system is provided, the oral scanner system comprising: an oral scanner configured and / or positioned to perform an optical scanning procedure on at least a portion of a subject's oral cavity using an oral health sensor including a camera configured and / or positioned to output image data acquired during an optical scanning procedure; a position detector configured and / or positioned to output position sensor data including at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope during an optical scanning procedure; and a system that receives image data, receives position sensor data, determines at least one discrete position or location from at least two discrete positions or locations of at least a portion of the oral cavity on which the oral scanner is currently performing a scanning procedure or which has performed a scanning procedure at a given time, and performs position decomposition or location decomposition based on image data. The oral care device comprises a processor configured and / or arranged to determine control data in a manner, and unlike an oral scanner, the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to perform oral care activities, the oral care device includes at least two different operating settings, the processor is coupled with a processor communicator, the oral care device includes a device communicator, the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way wireless communication from the processor to the oral care device, the processor is configured and / or arranged to transmit control data to the oral care device, and the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to select at least one of at least two operating settings based on the control data in an oral care activity performed by the oral care device following a scanning procedure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] This disclosure will be further clarified by a detailed description of exemplary embodiments and reference to the drawings. [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary oral scanner system comprising an oral scanner and a processor located within the oral scanner. [Figure 2]This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary oral scanner system comprising an oral scanner and a separate device that implements or contains a processor. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of the basic components that enable the determination of the position or location of the oral scanner. The result of the position or location determination is the position or location within the oral cavity where the head of the oral scanner is currently performing the scanning procedure. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of another exemplary oral scanner system comprising an oral scanner, an oral care device, and further optional components such as a charger, wherein the oral scanner system may be configured and / or arranged to communicate data between its various components and to a single remote computing instance. [Figure 5] This is a description of an exemplary feedback screen that may be visualized on a display that is part of an oral scanner system, the feedback screen including a visualization of live or saved images taken during the scanning procedure and an abstract visualization of the dentition on which scan progress data and oral health data are overlaid in a live manner. [Figure 6] This is a depiction of another feedback screen that can be visualized on the display, which is part of the oral scanner system. The feedback screen shows a summary of oral health data overlaid on an abstract depiction of the dentition, and further visualizes the trend of the oral health state's progression over time in the center of the screen. [Figure 7] This is a depiction of another feedback screen that can be visualized on the display, which is part of the oral scanner system, where various oral health data are visually overlaid on an abstract representation of the dentition, and a classification of the relevant oral health status is also visually provided. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] In the context of this specification, “oral care” means the development (or care) of teeth and the oral cavity (including tongue, gums, etc.), aiming, on the one hand, to prevent disease and maintain and enhance health, and on the other hand, to provide cosmetic treatment and improve the appearance of teeth and the entire oral cavity. This includes maintaining and enhancing well-being. Accordingly, “oral care device” means any device for performing such development, such as a manual or electric toothbrush, (electric) floss, (electric) irrigator, (electric) tongue cleaner, or (electric) gum massager. In this specification, an electric toothbrush has been chosen to represent an oral care device. Unless the details are specific to an electric toothbrush, the proposed technology can be used in any other oral care device.

[0009] The following is a general disclosure of an exemplary oral scanner system, including an exemplary oral scanner and an exemplary processor, as well as further optional components such as separate devices that implement at least part of a feedback unit, including, for example, a display and / or an oral care device. The phrase “configured and / or arranged” as used in this disclosure refers to the structural and / or computer-implemented features of each component, implying that each feature or component is not only suitable for something but is structurally and / or software-configured to actually perform as intended during operation. It is emphasized here that the oral scanner according to this disclosure is to be understood as an oral scanner that does not provide oral care activities themselves, in particular, does not include an oral irrigation element, i.e., is without an oral irrigation element or other oral treatment or care element, and does not provide oral irrigation or oral treatment or oral care. In other words, this disclosure relates to an oral scanner having at least one oral health sensor that does not have further oral irrigation / treatment / care functions. As described below, such a single oral scanner device may work directly or indirectly with an oral care device configured and / or arranged to provide oral care activities. In such a system, the oral scanner and oral care device are dedicated devices optimized for individual tasks and can benefit from information previously recorded by one or the other. For example, the oral scanner may scan areas and / or segments of low oral activity using the oral care device, and vice versa. The oral care device may also provide feedback to the user to increase oral care activity in areas and / or segments where the oral scanner has determined the presence of oral health problems.

[0010] General considerations This disclosure relates to an oral scanner system comprising at least an oral scanner and a processor, wherein the processor may be physically located in or inside the oral scanner, or may be implemented as a processor separate from the oral scanner, i.e., remote from the oral scanner. The processor may be implemented in a distributed manner, as will be described in more detail below. The oral scanner system may specifically include at least one separate or remote device that implements at least part of a feedback unit, such as a display. This does not exclude, for example, the oral scanner itself, alternatively or additionally, from including a display and / or at least one visual feedback element. The remote display and remote processor may be located together in a separate device, i.e., they may have a bonded outer housing. The separate device may be a proprietary or custom-made device, e.g., a charger with a display, or a generally known device such as a computer, laptop, notebook, tablet, mobile phone or smartphone, or smartwatch, which may be used to implement a separate display and / or a separate processor. The oral scanner system may include at least one oral care device, such as a toothbrush, particularly an electric toothbrush, which can be directly or indirectly coupled to the oral scanner and / or processor for at least a limited period of time, preferably for data exchange by wireless communication or the like, as a replacement for or addition to a separate device. The oral scanner and the oral care device may share the same handle, which can be achieved only by attaching the respective oral scanner head or oral care head to the handle. However, it may be preferable to have an independent oral care device that has its own handle and can also be arranged to be used independently of the oral scanner system, i.e., can be hardware-separated from the oral scanner system. It can be foreseen that the oral care device may need to be registered with the oral care system first in order to become part of the oral care system.The oral scanner system may include at least one charger for charging the rechargeable energy storage unit of the oral scanner and / or oral care device and / or separate device. The charger(s) may be a wireless charger, such as an inductive charger.

[0011] An oral scanner may comprise at least one oral health sensor for acquiring, detecting, measuring or determining and outputting oral health sensor data relating to at least one oral health condition, and hereafter, one of the terms “acquire,” “detect,” “measure,” or “determine” (or any other form of these verbs or nouns derived from these verbs) will be used in relation to an oral health sensor, including any other terms. An oral scanner system may comprise at least one position sensor configured and / or positioned to provide, i.e., output position sensor data that enables the oral scanner to detect, measure, or determine at least one discrete location or place (or segment) on which it is currently performing a scan procedure or which it had performed a scan procedure at a given time, and the scan procedure includes determining oral health sensor data. In this context, the term “discrete” relating to the location of a place in the oral cavity means that the oral cavity is divided into one or more discrete regions or segments, e.g., maxilla and mandible. Typically, the discrete regions or segments do not overlap and essentially cover the portion of the oral cavity intended to be scanned completely or without gaps.

[0012] Herein, the objective of this proposal is to provide users with easily understandable information, such as acquired oral health information or scan procedure progress information, which is provided in a manner processed for each discrete location or place (or segment), specifically reduced to a single value or single mark, i.e., a single percentage value representing the current or final achieved scan procedure progress or oral health status, or a color indicating the achieved scan procedure progress or oral health status. This oral scanner system is particularly intended for home use by laypeople, and therefore the improvements and benefits related to this proposal are particularly evident in such home use by non-professional users.

[0013] The term “sensor” should be understood to cover a sensor type that measures or determines parameters related to oral health status based on ambient light incident on the sensor or an external measuring medium such as saliva available in the oral cavity that is analyzed by the sensor, i.e., a sensor equipped with a sensor receiver. The term “sensor” should further cover a sensor type that includes a measuring medium such as light, i.e., a sensor emitter arranged to emit a light emitter, and a sensor receiver such as a light receiver, such that the measurement or determination depends at least in part on a non-external measuring medium, meaning a measuring medium provided by each sensor emitter. An oral scanner is configured and / or arranged to perform a scanning procedure in which the oral scanner acquires oral health sensor data, preferably oral health sensor data related to determining oral health data relating to at least one oral health status, from at least a portion of the oral cavity via an oral health sensor. Preferably, the oral health sensor data and / or the oral health data determined therefrom are acquired in a position-decomposed or location-decomposed manner. That is, each oral health sensor data and / or oral health data is assigned to position data or location data derived from position sensor data acquired by a position sensor for the same time or period in which the oral health sensor data was acquired.

[0014] In the context of this disclosure, the term “Oral Health Sensor Data” refers to essentially unprocessed data output by the oral health sensor during a scanning procedure (e.g., image data if the oral health sensor is a camera, or pH values ​​if the oral health sensor is a pH sensor), while the term “Oral Health Data” refers to processed oral health sensor data (e.g., normalized or absolute regions for each tooth or discrete location or place showing plaque, or average pH values ​​for each discrete location or place). It should be understood that in some cases, oral health sensor data is itself a direct measure of oral health status, and for example, oral health sensor data from an odor sensor may not require further processing to enable the user to determine whether or not there is an odor, since the odor sensor may provide a certain level of sulfur emission. Processing of oral health sensor data can then be considered as classifying the oral health sensor data into one of at least two state classes, e.g., “No Odor Associated Level” as one state class and “Odor Associated Level” as the other state class. The classification can then be performed by a processor by comparison with at least one threshold. More complex classification concepts are described below. Of course, the classification described above can also be done using processed oral health sensor data, i.e., oral health data. For example, the output from an odor sensor may be averaged across several measurement instances and then used for classification.

[0015] The processor is coupled with an oral health sensor and / or a position sensor to receive at least one, preferably multiple and / or a series of, sensor data, and may receive a single sensor data in chronological order and store it in multiple time-interval sensor data, or may receive multiple sensor data at each measurement time and store multiple sensor data in multiple time-interval sensor data. The sensor data may be transmitted to the processor as a sensor signal, which may be a voltage signal, for example, which is often the output of a sensor measuring physical, chemical, or material properties. The sensor signal may be an analog signal or a digital signal. Here, the terms “datum” or “data” refer to the informational content of the physical quantity to which the sensor data or sensor data is transmitted and the “signal.” Where the term “sensor data” is used in this disclosure, it refers to “oral health sensor data” provided by the oral health sensor and “position sensor data” provided by the position sensor. Where it is intended to mean only one of the two types of data, the respective more specific term is used. The processor is preferably configured to process sensor data from at least one oral health sensor and at least one location sensor so that at least one location-decomposed or spatially decomposed oral health data relating to at least one oral health state is determined. However, the oral health sensor outputs oral health sensor data that can be processed by the processor to determine oral health data, and the location sensor outputs location sensor data that can be processed by the processor to determine location data, and it is made clear that the processor may further associate or assign the oral health data and location data to each other so that location-decomposed or spatially decomposed oral health data is obtained. As described above, the oral health sensor data may be assigned to location data without requiring further processing of the oral health sensor data.

[0016] The oral scanner may comprise a scanner head and a scanner handle that can be detachably connected, and thus not excluded the possibility that the scanner head and scanner handle can be non-detachably connected to form a single integrated device. The oral scanner may have a housing that encloses a hollow portion in which components of the oral scanner, such as an energy source, a controller, and a scanner communicator, can be disposed. The housing may allow the user to conveniently grasp the oral scanner by hand. The scanner head may be sized and shaped 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 on / off switch or a selector button or selector switch, or other such elements that are typically expected or found on an oral scanner. The housing may further accommodate at least one feedback element of a feedback unit configured and / or arranged to provide the user with perceptible feedback. The feedback unit may comprise one or more feedback elements, such as a display provided by a separate device. At least one feedback element may, in no particular way, include at least one from the list of optical feedback elements such as an optical emitter or a plurality of optical emitters or a display, acoustic feedback elements such as a loudspeaker or piezoelectric speaker or a buzzer, and a vibrator or any other type of tactile or haptic feedback generator, such as a tactile or haptic feedback element such as a refreshable braille display.

[0017] In embodiments in which the oral scanner system includes a display as an element of a feedback unit, for example, in the oral scanner and / or by a separate device, or implemented in a separate device, the display may be arranged to visualize feedback regarding oral health (sensor) data relating to at least one oral health condition for at least two discrete locations or locations (or segments), for example, the display may be configured and / or arranged to visualize discrete location-decomposed or discrete location-decomposed (or segment-decomposed) oral health (sensor) data. The term “oral health (sensor) data” shall encompass oral health sensor data and oral health data. The display may be configured and / or positioned 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 a dentition, and the display may be positioned to show additional depictions of at least one oral health state and / or at least one state class and / or at least one feedback regarding the oral health (sensor) data, which can be classified for at least one oral health state, and the feedback may be provided by changing the depiction or visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity, or by overlaying a discretely spatially decomposed or locationally decomposed (or segment-wise) visual representation of the oral health data onto the depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity, or by depicting the oral health data on the display, for example, as text data and associating it with discrete locations or places (i.e., segments) within the depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity. The feedback and depictions or visualizations referred to herein are typically discretely spatially decomposed, i.e., segment-wise.This disclosure focuses on either an abstract or more realistic depiction of an entire dentition, such as the maxilla and mandible, or at least a portion of the oral cavity, along with overlaid oral health data related to one or more oral health conditions, but does not exclude the oral health (sensor) data being presented in different ways, for example, as a table of oral health (sensor) data related to one or more oral health conditions at discrete locations or places within at least a portion of the oral cavity. For example, overlays of images calculated from live images or images acquired on a model such as a dentition should be noted as not being considered discretely segmented feedback, as such overlays leave the analysis of segment information to the expert user's discretion. In the context of this disclosure, the feedback is provided in a manner processed to provide a single display or single value per segment to a non-expert user without requiring any analysis by the lay user's discretion.

[0018] Feedback on oral health (sensor) data may be “live” or in real time, for example, while the user is performing a scanning procedure using an oral scanner, meaning that the feedback can adapt to the live progress of the scanning procedure, and “live” means that there is only a short time delay between the acquisition step and the feedback step, e.g., less than 10 seconds, less than 5 seconds, less than 4 seconds, less than 3 seconds, less than 2 seconds, or less than 1 second. Feedback on oral health (sensor) data may also be provided at the end of the scanning procedure, either alternatively or additionally, via summary feedback in which the accumulated oral health (sensor) data is shown as the final result. Again, all feedback described herein is understood to include discretely geographically or spatially decomposed (or segment-based) feedback. This may include a classification, preferably a discrete geographically or spatially decomposed (or segment-based) classification of oral health (sensor) data with respect to at least two state classes associated with at least one oral health state. Alternatively or additionally, the oral health (sensor) data and / or state classes determined by the classification of the current scan procedure may be compared with historical oral health (sensor) data and / or state classes from previous scan procedures or a series of previous scan procedures, and trends or progress in oral health (sensor) data and / or state classes over time may be visualized as feedback. Again, this may be done in a discrete location decomposition or location decomposition (or segment-by-segment) manner. Such historical data may be stored in memory coupled to or connected to the processor. The stored historical data may include oral care activity data relating to at least one oral care activity procedure performed using the oral care device, as will be described in more detail below.

[0019] The processor may be arranged to classify oral health (sensor) data into at least two different state classes related to at least one oral health state, for example, two state classes related to the severity of the oral health state. The processor may preferably be arranged to classify the oral health (sensor) data in a discretely position-resolved or location-resolved manner (or per segment), that is, the classification is performed for a first position or a first location or a first segment such as the upper right molar, or for at least a second position or a second location or a second segment such as the lower left molar or the front tooth. The possibility of subdividing the oral cavity into discrete positions or locations or segments will be explained in more detail below. As an example, the oral cavity intended to be scanned may be the dentition. Possible segments / discrete positions or locations may be (a1) the upper jaw and the lower jaw, or (a2) the mandible and the maxilla, or (b) the upper right molar, the upper front tooth, the upper left molar, the lower left molar, the lower front tooth, and the 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) the buccal, lingual, and chewing surfaces of the 26th tooth of the human dentition, or one of the above, and the tongue surface. All surfaces of all teeth in the human dentition can result in 72 segments (molars have two surfaces, canines and incisors have two surfaces), or 84 segments if all unknowns are similarly included. In some examples, a complete scan of the user's dentition is intended as a standard scan procedure, but in some examples, the scan procedure only affects the selection of these segments that completely cover the human dentition. The latter may be the case especially when, after a previous scan session and / or after a previous oral care activity, only the selection of segments that cover the complete dentition is selected for repeated scans or focused scans.

[0020] The terms "discrete position" and "discrete location" or "segment" are used interchangeably herein. For readability, the present disclosure may not always refer to all three phrases in all cases.

[0021] The processor may be configured and / or positioned to process sensor data in a “live” manner, for example during a scan procedure, so that “live” or more generally real-time information regarding the progress or status of the scan procedure and / or the progress or status of oral health data collection can be visualized as feedback on the display, as already stated. The live display may include an abstract or more realistic depiction of at least a portion of the oral cavity and superimposed feedback regarding at least the status of the scan procedure. For example, various discrete locations or places or segments of the oral cavity being scanned may be individually highlighted in a grade or stage manner so that the user can easily identify where the oral scanner still needs to be moved or positioned to complete the scan procedure. For example, at least a depicted portion of the oral cavity may be shown in a starting color, e.g., dark blue, and individual portions relating to different discrete locations or places of the depicted portion of the oral cavity may be progressively depicted in lighter colors until essentially white, in order to show the user a scan procedure that is partially or finally completed with respect to the indicated discrete locations or places of the oral cavity. Feedback regarding the progress of the scanning procedure may be derived solely from position sensor data, for example, from the cumulative time the oral scanner has performed the scanning procedure at individual discrete positions or locations. This does not preclude the processor from being configured and / or arranged to determine the progress of the scanning procedure in a more refined manner by, for example, checking whether images captured by a camera, preferably a part of the oral health sensor, from each discrete position or location of the oral cavity contain sufficiently complete coverage of the discrete positions or locations of the oral cavity, and / or whether such images have a certain quality, e.g., are not blurry, out of focus, etc. Feedback regarding the progress of the scanning procedure may further include an overlay of position-decomposed or location-decomposed 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 an overlay of visualized feedback for display on a screen means the generation of a single image that is displayed on the screen by the display controller. In this context, an overlay means that the base image, such as a depiction of teeth, is modified to reflect the additional feedback that should be provided.

[0022] The various components of an oral scanner system, such as an oral scanner, a processor, a separate display, a charger, and / or an oral care device, may be arranged to communicate for data exchange or, more generally, at least unidirectionally, preferably bidirectionally, between at least two of these components. Such data exchange or communication may be realized, for example, by a wired connection when the processor is housed inside the oral scanner, although when data exchange is to be performed between separate components, it is preferably realized by wireless communication. Then, one of the components of the oral scanner system, such as the oral scanner, comprises a scanner communicator such as a transmitter or transceiver, and another component, such as a processor realized within or by a separate device, comprises a processor communicator such as a receiver or transceiver that can use a proprietary or standardized wireless communication protocol such as the Bluetooth protocol, the Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 protocol, the Zigbee protocol. Each of the components of the oral scanner system may be arranged to communicate with one or several other components of the oral scanner system and / or to wirelessly communicate with another device such as an Internet router or a mobile phone or a tablet or a computer to establish a connection to the Internet, for example, to send data to a cloud server that may be part of the oral scanner system and / or to be arranged to receive data from any Internet service such as a cloud server or a weather channel or a news channel. This means that the oral scanner system may be arranged to communicate with the Internet either directly or indirectly via a detour through a device that is not part of the oral scanner system.

[0023] Furthermore, (position-decomposed or location-decomposed) oral health (sensor) data and / or (position-decomposed or location-decomposed) state classes may also be communicated from the oral scanner and / or processor to oral care devices such as electric toothbrushes, gingival massagers, mouth irrigators, flossing devices, tartar removers, teeth polishing devices, and teeth whitening devices. The processor may also communicate control data to the oral care devices, which may then select one of at least two operational settings based on the control data, preferably in a discretely position-decomposed or location-decomposed manner. The latter requires that the discrete position or location where the oral care device is currently performing the oral care activity procedure is also determined, tracked, or monitored. Oral care device position sensors may be used for this task, and the principle is the same; refer to the description of discrete position or location determination for oral scanners.

[0024] Oral scanner hardware: Attachments Various hardware components of an oral scanner have already been described. In addition, an oral scanner may include attachments that are preferably arranged to be interchangeable so that different attachments can be used for different users or different applications. One focus of this disclosure is an oral scanner comprising an oral health sensor comprising a camera as a sensor receiver and at least a first light source as a sensor emitter (see also further description below). The light inlet for the camera and the light outlet for at least the first light source may be provided in the head of the oral scanner. The attachment may be implemented as a removable distance attachment. The distance attachment may be arranged to enable a scanning procedure at an essentially constant distance between one or more objects to be scanned, e.g., teeth and the light inlet of the camera. The distance piece of the distance attachment may remain in contact with the object to be scanned, specifically the outer surface of the object, in order to maintain a constant distance. The camera may have a focal length that produces a sharp image of the object at a distance to the camera's light inlet defined by the distance piece. The distance piece may be implemented as a closed wall element surrounding the light exit of the first light source and the light inlet of the camera, thereby effectively blocking ambient light from illuminating the object currently being scanned and thus ultimately reaching the camera. Thus, the distance attachment can solve the problems of maintaining a constant distance between two objects, i.e., during the scanning procedure, and effectively blocking ambient light from reaching the surface of the object being scanned. The latter is particularly beneficial for embodiments in which the light emitted by the first light source is primarily involved in oral health sensor data, i.e., image data output by the camera.

[0025] Attachments, such as distance attachments, may be removable to allow for replacement when they become worn or to allow for modification of attachments when different attachments are used by different users of the oral scanner. Attachments may also be removable to improve accessibility to parts 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. Furthermore, removable attachments themselves can benefit from regular cleaning, and cleaning becomes easier if the attachments are removable. For example, attachments may be immersed in a cleaning solution to clean and potentially sterilize them.

[0026] Oral health sensor The oral scanners proposed herein comprise at least one oral health sensor, and may comprise 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 relating to at least one characteristic of the oral cavity, and the oral health sensor data may be related to determining the status of oral health or may be a direct measure of oral health. Oral health may be related to the presence of at least one of the following: plaque, tartar, demineralization, leukoplakia, gingival inflammation, tooth discoloration, stains, gingivitis, enamel erosion and / or wear, cracks, fluorosis, caries, molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH), malodorous odor, the presence of pathogens such as candidiasis-causing pathogens or fungi, tooth misalignment, periodontal ligament disease or periodontitis, peri-implantitis, cysts, abscesses, aphthous ulcers, and any other indicators that a person skilled in the art would understand to be related to oral health.

[0027] The oral scanner may be configured to acquire oral health sensor data in a location-resolved or location-resolved manner, where possible. For example, malodor may be an oral health condition affecting the entire oral cavity and therefore does not need to be perceptibly acquired in a location-resolved or location-resolved manner. However, the latter does not preclude malodor from being acquired in a location-resolved or location-resolved manner, and feedback regarding this oral health sensor data may also be provided in a location-resolved or location-resolved manner, for example, feedback for all discrete locations or locations having the same malodor level or respective state class.

[0028] Some of the oral health conditions described above can be detected by visual analysis, which typically requires an oral health optical sensor, such as a camera, and software implemented on a processor configured to determine the oral health condition and potentially assess the severity level of the oral health condition based on the classification of image data or image sequences for at least two state classes, for example, based on oral health sensor data provided by the optical oral health sensor. Without being limited by theory, the classification of input images may be performed by a neural network, such as a convolutional neural network (CNN), preferably trained using training images and associated state class results. The classifier used by the processor may be directly supplied with oral health sensor data, e.g., image data, or the oral health sensor data may be first processed by the processor to determine one or more features, e.g., oral health data associated with at least one oral health condition, as referred herein.

[0029] An oral health sensor may consist only of a sensor receiver that acquires oral health sensor data using an external medium such as ambient light, saliva, or gaseous components present in the oral cavity. In some embodiments, an oral health sensor may include at least one sensor emitter providing a primary medium and at least one sensor receiver 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, for example, with oral tissue. This does not preclude the sensor receiver from being simultaneously sensitive to the external medium, as mentioned above. In a more specific example described in more detail below, at least one sensor emitter is a narrowband light source emitting light in a specific wavelength range as the primary medium, and the interaction of this emitted light with a specific material present in the oral cavity may generate a second medium, i.e., fluorescence of a higher wavelength. The oral health sensor may then further 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 each medium reaches the sensor receiver. In that case, it seems obvious that 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 means, such as the distance attachment described above. In some embodiments, the oral health sensor is an optical sensor such as a photodiode, an M×N array of photoelectric elements, or a camera.

[0030] In some embodiments, an oral scanner comprises an oral health sensor having at least a first light source and at least one camera, and the oral scanner is configured and / or positioned to perform a scanning procedure, typically an optical scanning procedure, where an optical scanning procedure refers to a procedure in which a series of images are captured by the camera. The first light source may have an optical outlet, and the camera may have an optical inlet, and the optical outlet and optical inlet may be located in the head of the oral scanner. This may allow, for example, a photoelectric sensor element array, such as an M×N photoelectric sensor element array of the camera, to be positioned at a distance from the optical inlet, such as a handle, and allow light to be guided from the optical inlet to the photoelectric sensor element array by optical elements such as one or more lenses, one or more mirrors, and / or one or more prisms, and / or one or more optical guides. A user-operable input element may be provided in the oral scanner, which can initiate an optical scanning procedure when operated by the user. The oral scanner may comprise two or more cameras that can be positioned to enable three-dimensional scanning of at least a portion of the oral cavity.

[0031] An oral scanner may include a second light source and potentially further 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 light having a first wavelength range, and the second light source may emit light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, or light having a second wavelength range that does not overlap with or partially overlaps with the first wavelength or first wavelength range of the first light source. Additionally or alternatively, the first and second light sources may be arranged to emit different light intensities. However, this does not preclude the first and second light sources from being arranged to emit light of essentially the same wavelength or the same wavelength range and essentially the same intensity. For example, a first light source may emit light having or containing a dominant wavelength of approximately 405 nm, and a second light source may emit "white" light, i.e., light that essentially covers the entire visible wavelength range between 400 nm and 700 nm or contains some dominant wavelengths, so that humans can perceive the color impression of the emitted light as essentially white. The light source is not limited to a light source that emits light in the visible range, and any light source that emits in the infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range, or that contains at least a wavelength range extending into these regions, is also considered. The first and / or second light source (and any further light sources) may be implemented by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), but other light sources, such as laser diodes, conventional light bulbs, especially incandescent bulbs, halogen light sources, gas discharge lamps, arc lamps, etc., are also possible.

[0032] The camera may include an array of photoelectric sensor elements, each of which may be arranged to output a signal indicating the light intensity incident on its photoelectric region. Each photoelectric sensor element may have its own sensitivity range, i.e., individual wavelength sensitivity, but the array of photoelectric sensor elements may typically consist of photoelectric sensor elements all having approximately the same light sensitivity (typical and ignoring differences such as gain, which are addressed by calibration). The array of photoelectric sensor elements may be implemented as a regular M×N array, but this does not preclude the photoelectric sensor elements from being arranged in a different way, for example, in a coaxial circle. The array of photoelectric sensor elements may be implemented as a CCD chip or a CMOS chip, as is typically used in digital cameras. The number of photoelectric sensor elements may be selected according to the needs and processing power of the processor. While a resolution of 640 x 480 is one option, essentially all other resolutions are conceivable. For example, the camera may be a 4K camera with a resolution of 3840 x 2160, or it may have a lower resolution, such as 320 x 240. It is not excluded that the camera may include a line sensor, as is typically used in paper scanners.

[0033] In the context of this application, the photoelectric sensor element encompasses RGB sensor elements, that is, each RGB type photoelectric sensor element supplies three signals related to the R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color channels.

[0034] The camera of an oral scanner may be implemented as a pinhole camera, but may include further optical elements such as at least one sensor lens for focusing light onto an array of photoelectric sensor elements. The camera may further include at least one sensor mirror for guiding light onto the array. Furthermore, the camera may include at least one sensor filter for selectively absorbing or transmitting light of a specific wavelength or light of at least one wavelength range. At least one sensor filter may be fixed or movable, i.e., the sensor filter may be arranged to move in and out of the optical path of the camera. Several sensor filters may be provided to enable selective filtering of light that should reach the array of photoelectric sensor elements. The sensor filters may be long-pass filters, short-pass filters, band-pass filters, or monochromatic filters. Wavelength-dependent filtering characteristics can be applied to the sensor filters such that a specific wavelength or wavelength range can pass through only at a reduced amplitude, another wavelength or wavelength range can pass through without attenuation, and yet another wavelength or wavelength range can be completely blocked. The sensor filters may be implemented as color filters or dichroic filters.

[0035] The first light source may be a narrowband light source such as an LED. The narrowband light source can emit light in the range of 390 nm to 410 nm (FWHM) such that the wavelength of about 405 nm is at least close to the dominant wavelength of the LED. Light of about 405 nm causes fluorescence to be emitted by tooth enamel and plaque, as already mentioned. Next, a sensor filter that transmits only light having wavelengths greater than about 430 nm may be used, and preferably the sensor filter may be a cutoff filter having a cutoff wavelength of 450 nm that allows longer wavelength light to pass toward the photoelectric sensor element array so that reflected light from the first light source is absorbed and only the fluorescence transmitted by the sensor filter is determined.

[0036] The camera may be implemented by a camera module, for example, available from Bison Electronics Inc. of Taiwan. While not limited to such a module, the camera module may feature a photoelectric sensor array with a 1976×1200 M×N pixel count (i.e., a 2.4-megapixel chip) implemented using CMOS technology, although not all pixels are necessarily used to capture an image during scanning. The camera module may be equipped with a lens that provides a 12.5mm focal length to capture sharp images of objects close to the camera. This does not preclude the use of an autofocus camera. Hyperspectral imaging cameras can also be used.

[0037] Examples of optical sensors, particularly those relating to cameras, should not be understood as limiting. At least one oral health sensor may further be implemented as one of a non-limiting group of biosensors, such as sensors including temperature sensors, pressure sensors, pH sensors, refractive index sensors, resistance sensors, impedance sensors, conductivity sensors, and biological detection elements, such as immobilized biologically active systems that convert biological and chemical signals into electrical or optical signals and are coupled with physical sensors (transducers), typically including amplifiers.

[0038] As already described, the oral health sensor acquires and outputs oral health sensor data transmitted in the form of analog or digital signals, and the processor may be configured to process the oral health sensor data to determine oral health data and / or state class data, preferably state class data relating to oral health status.

[0039] Location sensor The term “position sensor” encompasses all position sensor configurations that can determine discrete locations or places or segments within the oral cavity in which the oral scanner head performs a scanning procedure at a given time, and may include such determinations relating to at least one discrete location or place or segment relating 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 location inside or outside the oral cavity, but rather that discrete locations or places or segments inside or outside the oral cavity can be derived from position sensor data by, for example, deterministic computation based on input from the position sensor, by decision trees, by clustering, or by classification algorithms. A processor may be configured and / or arranged to perform such determinations of discrete locations or places or segments based on at least the position sensor data. Oral health sensors, such as cameras, may further provide position sensor data; i.e., oral health sensors may be used additionally as position sensors, or further cameras may be provided as position sensors. For example, image data provided by a camera mounted on the head of an oral scanner can determine the type of tooth being scanned and thus derive discrete locations or places or segments within the scanned oral cavity (see European Patent No. 2189198B1 below).

[0040] European Patent No. 3141151(A1) describes, among other things, position determination based on the fusion of image data from a camera (separate from the oral care device) that captures an image of the user while performing an oral care activity using the oral care device, and data from an accelerometer placed within the oral care device to determine the orientation of the oral care device relative to the Earth's gravitational field. The fused position determination result is calculated based, on the one hand, on the classification of image data created at a given time by a machine learning algorithm specifically trained for each of the positions, and on the other hand, on the classification of orientation angles determined from accelerometer data at the same time. The classification algorithm outputs values ​​similar to probabilities for multiple locations in the oral cavity where the oral care activity may be performed. The highest measure typically indicates the location where the activity is performed with a certain degree of confidence. European Patent No. 3141151(A1) is incorporated herein by reference. The position sensor in this example comprises a separate camera as a first position sensor and an accelerometer placed within the oral care device (which may be an oral scanner according to the present disclosure) as a second position sensor. This indicates that the term “position sensor” does not refer to a single sensor configuration, but rather encompasses embodiments in which two or more different position sensors are used to provide position sensor data.

[0041] European Patent Application Publication No. 3528172(A2) describes, in particular, the determination of a discrete location or place or segment within the oral cavity in which an oral care activity is currently being performed, which depends on the classification of position sensor data, which is a time series of inertial sensor data generated, for example, by an accelerometer and / or gyroscope located within an oral care device, using a neural network, preferably a recurrent neural network. Based on the trained neural network, the classification of the current time sequence of position sensor data provides a set of values ​​similar to probabilities for multiple possible discrete locations or places within the oral cavity. The highest value typically indicates the location in which the activity is being performed. European Patent No. 3528172(A2) is incorporated herein by reference.

[0042] Each of the techniques described above and those mentioned in the following paragraphs of this section may be used to determine discrete positions or locations within the oral cavity where the oral scanner according to this disclosure is performing a scanning procedure, but other techniques may be used as well. For example, it is known to track the position of the user's head and toothbrush in a calibrated magnetic field so that the relative position of the toothbrush to the user's head and therefore to the user's oral cavity can be determined, or to use ultrasonic emitters on the user's head and toothbrush to track the motion of both in a calibrated ultrasonic receiver configuration. Similarly, IR emitters and receivers may be used. Further techniques, such as motion tracking techniques using multiple cameras known from CGI video, may also be used as well.

[0043] The latter technique can determine discrete locations or places where oral care activities, such as brushing teeth, are performed with relatively high precision (e.g., at the level of individual teeth), and the precision can justify the use of the term “location” (this location is still mapped onto a “segment,” and a segment can still represent a single tooth or group of teeth). The technique described in the previous paragraph has not been developed to produce results with such high precision, at least as of the filing of this disclosure, and may enable the determination of one of 16 different segments in the dentition where oral care activities are performed. The term “location” may then be more preferable because the determination typically relates to a group of teeth (e.g., the upper left molar) or a group of surfaces of a group of teeth (e.g., the buccal surface of the lower right molar). In a more general sense, the term “segment” is used to indicate discrete locations or discrete places.

[0044] European Patent No. 2189198B1 describes determining discrete locations or positions within the oral cavity by analyzing camera data from a camera located on the toothbrush head. The analysis of the image data is described as being able to identify the teeth shown in the images. The processor may be intended to train a classifier using labeled images of the user's teeth and / or other parts of the oral cavity so that it can reliably identify the oral cavity location where the scanning procedure is currently being performed.

[0045] U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010 / 0170052(A1) describes determining discrete locations or places within the oral cavity where oral care activities are performed by an oral care device by analyzing images from separately positioned cameras that capture images of the user's face and the oral care device. European Patent No. 2189198(B1) and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010 / 0170052(A1) are incorporated herein by reference.

[0046] Processor hardware The processor may be any type of general-purpose integrated circuit (e.g., IC:CPU) or application-specific integrated circuit (e.g., ASIC), and may be implemented as a microprocessor, microcontroller, system-on-a-chip (SOC), embedded system, etc. The processor should not necessarily be understood as a single circuit or chip, and the intention is to provide a processor in a distributed manner in which one part of a processing task may be performed by a first processor subunit, and one or more further processing tasks may be performed by at least a second or more further processor subunits, and the different processor subunits may be physically located in different locations, for example, in or within an oral scanner, in or within a remote device, and / or in or within a cloud computer. The processor may be essentially fully implemented by a cloud computing device. The processor may also comprise analog circuit elements and integrated circuit elements, or analog circuit elements only.

[0047] The processor has at least one input and at least one output. The processor receives sensor data and / or oral care activity data from an oral care device via the input and outputs oral health data and / or state class data and / or control data, preferably discrete location or location-decomposed oral health data and / or state class data and / or control data via the output. State class data refers to data that classifies oral health (sensor) data into at least one of at least two state classes, for example, a non-severe class and a severe class, or into two or more classes, for example, a non-severe class, a monitored class, and a class that recommends visit to an oral care professional. The latter example is illustrative, and those skilled in the art can use any other number of classes and appropriately name these classes.

[0048] Processor software: Classification As described in various previous paragraphs, the processor is configured and / or arranged to classify oral health sensor data and / or oral health data into at least two state classes. In more mathematical terms, oral health (sensor) data (preferably for a given discrete location or place) may be said to be observations, and the state classes are categories, to which a classifier algorithm may then be used to determine the category to which the observation belongs. The oral health (sensor) data may include one or more variables or features that characterize the oral health state, for example, the oral health data may include normalized plaque areas for each considered discrete location or place. The classifier may then simply label the input feature (plaque size) into a category by comparison with one or more thresholds. The thresholds themselves may be derived from expert opinions or from the analysis of oral health states of multiple subjects by machine learning algorithms. Instead of using features or feature vectors derived from oral health sensor data, the oral health sensor data may be used as input to a classifier without preprocessing. For example, a neural network may be directly fed image data acquired by an oral health sensor equipped with a camera.

[0049] Thresholds or other parameters that affect classification may be set to different values ​​for different discrete locations or places in the oral cavity. Such discrete location or location-dependent thresholds or parameters that affect classification for a given oral health state may preferably be influenced by at least one of a non-limiting list including discrete locations or places in the oral cavity in a comprehensive sense (i.e., for all users) or for an individual, the history of development of oral health (sensor) data or state classes related to these discrete locations or places for a given oral health state, or the overall or average oral health status for a given user.

[0050] While the threshold-based methods described above for classification may be practical for oral health data containing one or two features per oral health condition, different classifier algorithms may be used when the oral health data contains multiple features. For example, neural networks may be applied to the classification task, or to any other classification algorithm known to those skilled in the art. The classification algorithm may be selected from an open list including linear classifiers, support vector machines, quadratic classifiers, kernel estimation, boosting, decision trees, neural networks, transformers, genetic programming, and learning vector quantization.

[0051] The state class may be determined for at least one of at least two discrete locations or places, preferably for all discrete locations and places used to subdivide at least a portion of the oral cavity being scanned into segments. At each of such discrete locations or places, at least two state classes may be defined, and preferably at least three state classes may be used (similar to a traffic signal system indicating either green, yellow, or red light). The underlying thresholds or parameters used by the classifier algorithm may be adaptive and therefore may change over time and may differ for different users.

[0052] Processor software: Time-based evaluation In some embodiments, the oral scanner system proposed herein is intended to periodically repeat a scanning procedure, such as an optical scanning procedure, of at least a portion of the oral cavity of the user or the subject of treatment, thereby creating new oral health (sensor) data. The oral scanner system may preferably be configured and / or arranged to compare newly determined oral health (sensor) data and / or state class data with previously created oral health (sensor) data and / or state class data, and to update information regarding the temporal evolution of the oral health (sensor) data and state class data, which may then lead to the updated information being fed back to the user. The comparison process may result in comparison data and / or discretely geographically or spatially decomposed comparison data. The processor may have memory for storing and later accessing previously and currently acquired oral health sensor data and / or geographically sensor data, as well as any data created by processing such data, e.g., oral health data and / or state class data and / or discretely geographically or spatially decomposed oral health sensor data and / or discretely geographically or spatially decomposed state class data, and may further have comparison data and / or discretely geographically or spatially decomposed comparison data. The stored data related to the previous scan procedure is also called history data. In addition to the data described above, further data, such as history scan procedure progress data or history oral care activity data relating to previous oral care activity procedures performed by the oral care device, may be stored in memory, and this oral care activity data may be transmitted to the processor and stored in memory. The history data stored in memory may further be used by the processor to adapt the next scan procedure, for example, to adapt at least one scan procedure parameter, and / or to adapt scan procedure guidance, including at least one automatic feedback provided to the user immediately before or during the next scan procedure.In other words, the scan procedure guidance is not displayed at the end of the current scan procedure, but automatically displayed immediately before the next scan procedure, and the user can essentially benefit from such guidance in the scan procedure that is about to begin. The scan procedure guidance may be determined in a segmented manner, i.e., for each of the discrete positions or locations in the oral cavity. Such segmented scan procedure guidance may then be automatically displayed when the user reaches each segment.

[0053] display The oral scanner system may include a display, preferably a display enabling a visual representation of oral health data and / or state class data and / or oral scan progress data, as a feedback element of the feedback unit. The display may be any type of display, such as an LCD, LED, or OLED (PMOLED or AMOLED) display. The display may be monochrome or color display. The display may have any suitable resolution, such as 96 × 48 resolution, for a display mounted on an oral scanner, or may have a custom-made illuminable area. Since displays of user devices such as mobile phones, table computers, laptops, and smartwatches may be used, the respective technologies and resolutions of the displays of such user devices should be taken into consideration. In such cases, an app or software running on such a device may provide relevant programming for a general-purpose processor of the user device, either as at least one processor subunit or as a processor according to the present disclosure. Each app or software may further implement any display controls required to visualize the information, as discussed herein.

[0054] This description of the display does not exclude the possibility that oral health (sensor) data and scan procedure progress data, etc., may be additionally or alternatively fed back to the user by other feedback elements of a feedback unit, such as multiple individual visual feedback elements and / or audio feedback elements and / or haptic feedback units, as already described. For example, assuming that the oral cavity is segmented into four positions and / or locations, and a scan procedure is monitored for each, with oral health data being fed back alternatively or additionally, the scan procedure progress data could be fed back using four visual feedback elements controlled to start with a first color, e.g., dark green, and progressively show a brighter green until the scan procedure is deemed complete for a given discrete position or location, after which the light indicator may show, e.g., a white signal. For this purpose, RGB light-emitting diodes can be used by the light feedback elements. Similarly, live communication of oral health data, e.g., regarding plaque, could also use four visual feedback elements, starting with white to indicate the absence of plaque and progressively changing toward red to communicate the amount of plaque detected at each discrete position or location. Instead of live feedback, oral health data may be provided to the user only at the end of the scanning procedure to indicate the level of plaque identified during the scanning procedure. The classification of the oral health data regarding plaque may then be indicated by a flashing light indicating a "severe" status class. 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 and intensity changes.

[0055] Display software The display is envisioned to include a display controller that converts oral health (sensor) data, preferably position-decomposed or location-decomposed oral health (sensor) data and / or state class data and / or scan procedure progress data, into visualizations shown on the display, which are referred to as feedback screens. A feedback screen may include at least one element of a graphical user interface. This disclosure focuses on feedback screens that include visualizations of at least a portion of the oral cavity, and the visualizations may be two-dimensional visualizations or three-dimensional type visualizations, the latter meaning visualizations on a two-dimensional display that provide a three-dimensional impression. Visualizations of at least a portion of the oral cavity may include visualizations of the dentition, i.e., visualizations of the teeth of the dentition, and may be abstract visualizations or more realistic visualizations. Visualizations may be based on a general model of the dentition, or they may take into account individual data from the user, such as missing teeth. An abstract visualization of a complete dentition may include a circle or ring, where the top of the circle or ring visualized on the display may be understood to represent the upper front teeth, the bottom of the circle or ring may represent the lower front teeth, in which case the sides represent the left and right molars, respectively. Instead of a continuous circle or ring, multiple segments of a circle or ring may be visualized; for example, an upper segment of approximately 180 degrees and a lower segment of approximately 180 degrees may represent the maxilla and mandible, respectively. Alternatively, four segments of approximately 90 degrees can be used to represent a quarter of the dentition, which is known to those skilled in the art from visualizations on, for example, Oral-B SmartGuide. Furthermore, six segments may be used. Visualization of each tooth of a general or individualized dentition by a single segment may also be attempted, or any other type of segmentation that seems appropriate to those skilled in the art may be used. At least one of the segments may be separated into at least two regions that may represent the medial and lateral tooth surfaces, preferably three regions representing the medial and lateral tooth surfaces (such as the buccal and lingual surfaces) and the occlusal surfaces that may be particularly sensitive to molars and wisdom teeth. This shall not exclude any other type of fragmentation of the segmented visualization.Here, segments have been described as parts of a circle or ring, but segments can also 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, and the number of circles may, but should not be understood as limiting, the number of teeth typically represented by this segment. Visualizations of dentition may include information such as that used in accordance with ISO 3950:2016. Several exemplary visualizations are further described below with reference to the drawings.

[0056] Instead of an abstract visualization, a more realistic depiction of the dentition may be selected, for example, up to 32 teeth for a grown user's permanent dentition, or up to 24 teeth for a child's primary dentition. As already mentioned, the visualization may be personalized, for example, allowing the user to input personal dental features that may be considered in the visualization, such as missing teeth, misaligned teeth, fillings, inlays, crowns, artificial teeth, or braces. As will be further described below, the user may also be able to provide information about the oral health status of at least one surface of a tooth, at least one tooth, a group of teeth, or the entire dentition, and / or about the gums. For example, the user may provide input about tooth discoloration or braces or cavities, and the oral scanner and / or a separate device may provide an interface for inputting the information. Instead of manual input, the oral scanner may be configured and / or positioned to perform a scanning procedure that acquires relevant oral information and automatically personalizes the visualization in at least a portion of the oral cavity. The above-described interface may be implemented as a graphical user interface, but this does not preclude the user from providing additional or alternative input via a voice recognition interface and / or a keyboard, etc. The interface may further allow the user to input personal information, such as a name and email address, and / or allow the dentist to have exclusive access to any stored data, the latter preferably by remote access from, for example, a computer in the dentist's office.

[0057] The foregoing does not exclude the visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity from further including the tongue, preferably various regions of the tongue, the inside of the cheeks, the lips, the uvula, the pharynx, the palate, and the like. Some visualizations visualize at least one of the aforementioned portions, such as the tongue and the complete dentition, and at least one portion of the dentition.

[0058] This abstract or more realistic visualization of at least a portion of the oral cavity provides a map that can be visualized so that further data, such as oral health data or scan procedure progress data, can be associated with additional information by the user.

[0059] The visualizations mentioned can be used in manifold feedback applications. For example, visualizations may be used to provide real-time, i.e., live, feedback on the progress of a scan procedure, meaning that the discrete locations or places where the oral scanner is currently performing the scan procedure, and each visualized segment associated with these discrete locations or places, may then be modified so that the progress of the scan procedure can be understood by the user. The visualized segments on which the scan procedure is performed may be additionally visually highlighted, for example, by a halo or similar visual measure, to enable the user to immediately identify where the oral scanner is performing the scan. An example has already been described in which the coloring of each segment starts with a first color and gradually changes to a second color (here, white and black are understood as colors). It should be understood that this example refers to a gradual change from one color to another, but is not limited to that. For example, the starting and ending colors may be chosen differently for different segments. There is no need to have a gradual change. A stepwise change or a single step from the starting color to the ending color is also conceivable. Furthermore, instead of, or in addition to, color, segments may include start and end patterns to visualize the scan progress.

[0060] Interaction with oral care devices As described above, the oral scanner system may include oral care devices such as electric toothbrushes, electric flossing devices, or electric cleaning devices provided for performing oral care activities such as teeth cleaning, interdental cleaning, and gum massage. The oral care devices may preferably include their own oral care device position sensors (e.g., IMU sensors) so that their discrete positions or locations in the oral cavity where oral care activity procedures such as brushing or flossing, or cleaning are performed can be determined independently of the determination of the discrete positions or locations of the oral scanner. Additionally or alternatively, the discrete positions or locations where the oral care devices perform oral care activity procedures may be determined at least in part by using the same position detector that plays a role in determining the discrete positions or locations of the oral scanner (e.g., by the same external camera), i.e., the oral scanner position sensor may be a shared position sensor.

[0061] On the other hand, the use of a single oral scanner for performing oral scanning procedures and a single oral care device for performing oral care activities is an interaction between the oral scanner and the oral care device. For example, the oral scanner may provide control data received by the oral care device, which influences the oral care activity insofar as at least one oral care guidance is triggered by the control data or at least an operating parameter is influenced by the control data. The control data can, in particular, produce guidance or influence in a discretely spatially decomposed, discretely spatially decomposed, or segment-wise manner. A single oral scanner can be used to perform a dedicated scanning procedure that is not affected by any parallel oral care activity, and an oral care device can be used to perform a dedicated oral care activity that is not interfered with by any parallel scanning procedure. Data collected during an oral care activity may also be used to determine control data that can be sent to the oral scanner to influence the next oral scanning procedure, for example, to limit or focus the scan on segments that were not properly cared for during the oral care activity. An oral care system comprising an oral scanner and an oral care device adds benefits to the simple juxtaposition of the two devices.

[0062] The oral care device may include a device communicator, such as a receiver or transceiver, for receiving control data from a processor via a processor communicator, the control data which may specifically be used to select one of at least two different operating settings for the oral care device, preferably in a discrete location or place-dependent manner, i.e., in a segment-decomposed manner. Such operating settings may relate to a recommended time for performing an oral care activity procedure in general or at a specific discrete location or place, or to a recommended minimum and / or maximum pressure or force value applied by the oral care head in general or at a specific discrete location or place, or to feedback provided to the user when a general or specific discrete location or place is treated, or to an operating mode used in general or at a specific discrete location or place, in which case the oral care device may be configured to automatically switch to this mode by the received control data. The operating mode may preferably be a motion mode in which the oral care head of the oral care device is driven, and may include at least one parameter from a list including speed, frequency, and amplitude.

[0063] Exemplary Embodiments Without intending to limit itself, this disclosure focuses on an oral scanner system comprising an oral scanner having an oral health sensor, a processor, and an oral care device distinct from the oral scanner. The oral scanner is configured and / or arranged to perform scanning procedures on at least a portion of the oral cavity, such as a portion or the entire dentition, and / or more or other portions of the oral cavity, and to acquire oral health sensor data relating to at least one oral health condition by the oral health sensor. The processor is coupled to or connected to a processor communicator, and the oral care device has its own device communicator, and the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way communication, preferably wireless one-way communication, and preferably two-way communication from the processor to the oral care device. Communication of data via the communicator may be referred to as sending or transmitting data. The oral care device is configured and / or arranged to perform oral care activities in at least a portion of the oral cavity, for example, such oral care activities may be teeth brushing, tongue cleaning, interdental flossing, gingival massage, etc. The oral scanner itself is not equipped to perform any such oral care activity, and vice versa; the oral care device is not equipped to perform an oral scanning procedure. This means that the devices are essentially independent of each other (except for data communication and potential impact on device settings), and are intended to perform the scanning procedure first, and then the oral care activity after the completion of the scanning procedure.

[0064] The basic general concept is that a processor is configured and / or arranged to determine control data for an oral care device based on oral health sensor data acquired during a scanning procedure, the control data is transmitted by the processor to the oral care device, and the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to select one of at least two operational settings in response to an assessment of oral health sensor data relating to at least one oral health condition. The control data may include specific commands that the oral care device uses directly to select an operational setting, or the control data provides specific information used by the oral care device to make each selection. Various examples are discussed below, but it is merely illustrative to mention that if oral health sensor data suggests, for example, a particular increased level of gingivitis, the control data may cause the oral care device to generally select a more sensitive oral care activity mode (one of at least two operational settings) instead of the default oral care activity mode (the other one of at least two operational settings). If an oral care device is equipped with or coupled with its own oral care device position sensor, it may be configured and / or arranged to employ a discrete position-dependent / location-dependent or segment-dependent selection of at least two operating settings, e.g., at least one operating setting from a highly sensitive or default oral care activity mode. For example, the masticatory surface of a molar may be treated with the default oral care activity mode because this position or location does not affect the inflamed gingiva, while the lateral surfaces, i.e., the buccal and lingual sides of the tooth, may be treated with the aforementioned sensitive oral care activity mode.

[0065] The oral scanner system further includes a position sensor configured and / or positioned to acquire and output position sensor data related to discrete locations or places or segments within the oral cavity, the oral scanner performing a scan procedure at the present time or having performed a scan procedure at a given time, where the time includes the period required to acquire oral health sensor data and their respective position data. In the case of a period, the central time can be used as the time. Thus, at least a portion of the oral cavity can be divided into at least two discrete locations / places or segments, as already discussed. The processor is configured and / or positioned to determine the discrete locations / places or segments on which the oral scanner is performing or has performed a scan procedure, and to determine discretely location-decomposed / location-decomposed or segment-decomposed oral health (sensor) data for each of the at least two discrete locations / places or segments, the respective oral health sensor data and / or oral health data being assigned to the determined discrete locations / places or segments for the nearest or identical time. The processor may be configured and / or arranged to determine control data in a discretely spatially / spatially or segmentally decomposed manner based on discretely spatially or spatially decomposed oral health sensor data and / or discretely spatially or spatially decomposed oral health data, and to transmit the discretely spatially or spatially decomposed control data to the oral care device. Further based on the given example above, the discretely spatially decomposed oral health sensor data may indicate that gingivitis is present only in specific discrete locations / locations or segments, and the oral care device may then select a more sensitive mode only in each of those discrete locations or locations.

[0066] As has already been mentioned and explained in detail in the previous paragraph, an oral care device may include its own oral care device position sensor, such as an IMU sensor, within the oral care device or attached to the oral care device, or it may share a position sensor, such as a separate camera, with the oral scanner, or it may include the aforementioned IMU sensor and share the aforementioned separate camera.

[0067] Examples of position sensors have already been described. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is envisioned that includes an accelerometer and / or gyroscope located in or within the oral scanner and / or in or within the oral care device, preferably an inertial measurement unit implemented as a MEMS sensor. It is again mentioned here that an oral health sensor for acquiring oral health sensor data may also function as a position sensor. Image data output by a camera acting as an oral health sensor can be classified, for example, by a classification algorithm implemented on a processor to determine whether an image taken at a given time belongs to a specific discrete position or location within the oral cavity. As previously mentioned, data from the IMU sensor may be classified in parallel, and the results may be fused to determine a discrete position or location, or the IMU data and image data, or features(s) derived from the IMU data and / or image data may be input to a classifier algorithm. The oral care device may further include a camera mounted to acquire images from within the oral cavity, and additionally or alternatively, a camera located within or attached to the oral care device. The camera may be mounted to take images from outside the oral cavity, for example from the user's face, in order to obtain a reference point between the oral care device and the user's head, and may be usefully used in determining the discrete positions or locations of the oral cavity where scanning procedures or oral care activities are performed.

[0068] The oral health sensor may include an optical sensor such as an M×N array of photoelectric sensor elements, and may be implemented as a camera for capturing images. In some cases, oral health sensor data may already provide direct insights into oral health status (see, for example, the discussion of the odor sensor above), but it is intended that the processor may be configured and / or arranged to process the oral health sensor data to determine oral data, which is a direct measure of oral health. For example, if the oral health sensor is a camera, the oral health sensor data is image data, and the processor can process the image data to determine oral health data, which may relate to the amount of plaque or caries or tooth loss or discoloration visible in the image. See the list of oral conditions above. See the list of oral conditions above. Note that the simple and easily digestible feedback provided by this oral scanner is provided in a segmented manner, i.e., feedback that communicates single pieces of information such as (normalized) numbers, e.g., percentage values ​​of scan procedure progress, or colors indicating classification of the determined oral health status into green, yellow, and red states.

[0069] Examples of at least two different operating settings in which an oral care device may select at least one are described below. (a) At least two different operating settings may relate to at least two different thresholds applied to compare the operating parameters of the oral care device with such thresholds, and optionally to determine user-perceptible feedback provided to the user. The operating parameters may be the pressure or force applied by the oral care head to the surface of the oral cavity, and / or the cumulative total time that the pressure or force is applied above and / or below the threshold. If the operating parameters exceed the threshold, user-perceptible feedback may be provided to the user. (b) At least two different operating settings may be related to at least two different timer values ​​used for comparison with the actual duration of the oral care activity and, optionally, for determining user-perceptible feedback to be provided to the user in relation to the actual duration. (c) At least two different operating settings may be associated with at least two different motion settings or motion modes, the motion settings may be used to drive the oral care head of the oral care device to each different motion. The motion of the oral care head may be characterized by at least one of velocity, acceleration, amplitude, or frequency. (d) At least two different operating settings may relate to at least two different feedback modes, one of which provides perceptible feedback to a particular user under certain conditions, and another feedback mode which does not provide the same feedback under the same(or more) conditions. The feedback modes may relate to the level of feedback. The more oral health status is determined, the more detailed the feedback may be.

[0070] It is emphasized that in each case, at least two different operating settings may be three, four, five, six, or the like, and that the operating settings listed above and any further operating settings (which would also ordinarily be considered by those skilled in the art) may be selected simultaneously. For example, one motion setting may be selected by the received control data, and additionally, one feedback setting may be selected by the received control data.

[0071] It is further emphasized that if the oral care device has its own oral care device position sensor, the oral care device may be configured and / or positioned to select at least one of the at least two different operating settings mentioned in a discretely position-decomposed / location-decomposed or segment-decomposed manner. The oral care device may include predetermined rules or sets of rules for selecting at least two different operating settings in a discrete position-dependent or location-dependent manner. One example has already been given, namely, the masticatory surface of a molar may not require specific restrictions such as brushing time or sensitive mode, and other rules may be used as well. Alternatively or additionally, the processor may determine discrete position-decomposed or location-decomposed control data that enables the oral care device to select at least one operating setting from at least two different operating settings in a discrete position-dependent / location-dependent or segment-dependent manner, but this does not exclude such discrete position-decomposed or location-decomposed control data being subject to specific rules or sets of rules when applied by the oral care device.

[0072] The aforementioned processor communicator and device communicator are further intended to be configured for bidirectional communication, preferably wireless bidirectional communication. The oral care device may then further transmit data to the processor and / or oral scanner and / or any other components of the oral scanner system. The oral care device may transmit at least one oral care activity data relating to an oral care activity currently in progress, recently, or previously completed, or relating to at least two oral care activity sessions, such as averaged data. The oral care activity data may be the period during which the oral care device was used to perform the most recently completed oral care activity. If the oral care device has its own oral care device position sensor, the oral care device may transmit discretely location-decomposed or location-decomposed or segment-decomposed oral care activity data, such as the period during which the oral care device was used to perform oral care activities at different discrete locations / locations or segments within at least one part of the oral cavity. The oral care device may transmit a lot of other data, alternatively or additionally, such as the period during which the pressure or force applied by the oral care head was within or outside a specific pressure or force range, the period of operation settings used by the user, the speed and / or acceleration of the oral care device, etc., to the processor and the like. All of the aforementioned data may be determined in a location-decomposed or place-decomposed manner and then transmitted to a processor. The processor may be configured and / or arranged to adapt at least one operating setting of the oral scanner based on the oral care activity data provided by the oral care device, for example, the processor may request more oral health sensor acquisition at a particular discrete location or site, or a longer scan time at a particular discrete location or site where sufficient oral care activity time may not have been achieved, or a higher frequency scan procedure for at least one discrete location or site.

[0073] An oral scanner system, including an oral care device, is intended to be connectable upon shipment from the manufacturer's factory, i.e., when the communication channels between the devices are already pre-programmed. However, it is also conceivable that the oral care device may be registered with the oral scanner and / or processor in order to connect and establish a communication channel. The oral scanner and oral care device may exchange certain basic data, such as identification of the type of oral scanner and / or oral care device, and user profile data.

[0074] Consideration of Embodiments with Reference to Drawings Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary oral scanner system 1 according to the present disclosure. The oral scanner system 1 comprises an exemplary oral scanner 100 configured and arranged independently to perform an oral scanning procedure without oral care activities, and a processor 200, the processor 200 of which is located in or inside the oral scanner 100 in this example. The oral scanner 100 comprises a handle portion 101 and a head portion 102. An oral health sensor 110 is located in or inside the oral scanner 100. Generally, two or more different oral health sensors may be used and therefore located in or inside the oral scanner 100. In the illustrated example, at least one measurement inlet, such as an optical inlet that cooperates with the oral health sensor 110, is provided in the head portion 102 so that oral health data based on optical measurements by the oral health sensor 110 can be acquired in the head portion 102. Here, the head portion 102 comprises a flat, transparent window 1021 surrounded by a frame structure 1022 which may be positioned and / or configured to receive a removable attachment (see Figure 2). The head portion 102 is sized to be conveniently introduced into the oral cavity of a human or animal. The handle portion 101 is sized to be conveniently grasped by the hand of a human user. The handle portion 101 and the head portion 102 may be separable from each other. In some embodiments, the handle portion 101 may be equipped with different interchangeable head portions in addition to the oral scanner head portion, such as a brush head portion. 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 an outer housing 104 which may preferably be hollow to house various internal components, such as a circuit board containing a rechargeable energy source and preferably associated charging circuits for wireless charging of the energy source, and various electronic components for controlling the oral scanner.Generally, the oral scanner 100 is configured and / or positioned to perform a scanning procedure of at least a portion of the subject's oral cavity, i.e., while the user holds and moves the oral scanner 100, the oral scanner acquires oral health sensor data to determine the progress of the scan, and preferably analyzes the acquired oral health sensor data with respect to at least one oral health condition. It is understood that, though not limited, a processor 200 may be disposed on the circuit board. The processor 200 is coupled to or connected to the oral health sensor 110 to receive signals from the oral health sensor 110, i.e., to receive oral health sensor data in the processor 200. The processor 200 may be configured and / or positioned to process the oral health sensor data to derive or determine oral health data with respect to at least one oral health condition, such as plaque. In some embodiments, the oral health sensor may output oral health sensor data that is a direct measure of the relevant oral health condition, such that only limited processing of the oral health sensor data may be required (where applicable), such as calculations of normalized values ​​or some reduction to integers. The processor 200 may further be configured and / or arranged to classify oral health (sensor) data into at least two state classes related to at least one oral health state, e.g., a “no oral health concern” class (or “green” class) and an “oral health concern” class (or “red” class), which may be done based on comparison with at least one threshold. Refer to the respective preceding paragraphs for a more detailed description of the classifications. The classification may further be done with respect to at least three classes, e.g., in addition to the “green” class, a “low concern” (“orange”) class and a “high concern” (“red” class) may result from the classification process. It should be noted again that one main aspect of this application is the provision of simple feedback (e.g., a single value, a single color, or a single pattern) to the user for each of the segments (discrete positions or locations) being scanned by the feedback unit.Providing this simple feedback requires some processing of oral health sensor data and / or position sensor data to determine a simple feedback (value) for each segment. The simple feedback may be a number or a color, etc. In some embodiments, the indicated color may change in an essentially continuous manner to convey the feedback, and in some embodiments, the feedback may be limited to a binary or ternary feedback space provided by, for example, two numbers such as 0 and 1, or three numbers such as 0, 1 and 2, or colors such as green and red, or three colors such as green, yellow and red.

[0075] As previously described, and further illustrated with reference to Figure 3, the oral scanner system 1 may further include at least one position sensor coupled to or connected to the processor 200, thereby enabling the processor 200 to receive signals from the position sensor that deliver position sensor data during operation, and to determine from the position sensor data the discrete position or location in the oral cavity where the oral scanner is currently performing a scanning procedure or where it was performing a scanning procedure at a given time. As previously defined, a discrete position or location means a segment of at least part of the oral cavity being scanned, and multiple segments cover this part of the oral cavity being scanned without gaps or overlaps. Time data relating to the absolute or relative time at which the data was acquired may be part of the position sensor data, or it may be part of the oral health sensor data as described above. Determining the discrete position or location enables the processor 200 to calculate oral health data relating to at least one oral health state, and / or classify the oral health sensor data and / or oral health data in a discrete position or location decomposed manner, i.e., for each of the mentioned segments, into at least two oral health state classes. Oral health sensor data and position sensor data acquired essentially at the same time may be delivered together to the processor 200 due to the design of the oral scanner system, or the processor may be configured and / or arranged to assign oral health sensor data and position data having the same time information ("timestamp") or the most suitable, i.e., closest time information (timestamp). The provision of position sensor data and / or oral health sensor data may be done in a live manner, but each data may be stored over a period of time, preferably with time information, and transmitted to the processor at a later point in time, for example, the data may be transmitted every 10 seconds, or after the scanning procedure has stopped or completed. The term "position sensor" includes embodiments in which two discrete position sensors, e.g., an IMU and a separate camera provided in the oral scanner, are used to realize a "position sensor" together.

[0076] The oral scanner system 1 may include a feedback unit 120 for providing user-perceptible feedback, specifically feedback consisting of, or at least including, processed information for each segment, i.e., single feedback provided in the form of color or a single value for each segment / discrete position or location. For example, as illustrated in Figure 1, the oral scanner 100 may include a visual feedback unit 121, which is part of the feedback unit 120 for providing feedback visually. In Figure 1, the visual feedback unit 121 includes four quarter-ring light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, and 1214 arranged to form a ring that can be understood to represent four quarter sections of the dentition. User-perceptible feedback can be provided by illuminating the light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, and 1214 with light of different colors and / or light having different intensity characteristics, for example, being live during the scanning procedure, and as a result, the user can understand the progress of the scanning procedure in a discrete position or location-decomposed manner. Additionally or alternatively, the four light regions 1211, 1212, 1213, and 1214 may be used, for example, by illuminating each light region with a specific color and / or by applying intensity variation patterns, to indicate the severity of oral health conditions in a discrete or spatially decomposed manner during or at the end of the scanning procedure. These are merely examples, and instead of four light regions, the oral scanner 100 may have two, three, five, sixteen, or 32, etc. The light regions and / or the oral scanner system 1 may also have a display for more versatile visualization of user-perceptible feedback, which may display values ​​such as percentages for each segment. See the previous paragraph regarding visualization of feedback.The oral scanner 100 may additionally or alternatively include one or more other feedback elements 122, one or more tactile or haptic feedback elements, and / or one or more audible feedback elements, which are part of a feedback unit 120 such as a light ring at the bottom of the oral scanner 100 for communicating that the oral scanner 100 is switched on or that an energy storage device needs charging. Generally, the processor 200 may be coupled to or connected to a memory for storing oral health sensor data and / or oral health data and / or scan progress data and / or state classification data and / or oral care activity data, which may be stored in a position-decomposed or location-decomposed manner, specifically current and history data, where “history” relates to a previous scan procedure or oral care activity. Oral care activity data relates to oral care activity procedures performed using an oral care device, and the data is transmitted to the processor. All aspects described in relation to this embodiment shown in Figure 1 should be understood as being provided for all other embodiments in this disclosure without repetition of the same text, to the extent that the individual aspects do not contradict other embodiments.

[0077] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary oral scanner system 1A according to the present disclosure. The oral scanner system 1A here comprises an exemplary oral scanner 100A and an exemplary separate device 300A comprising a processor 200A and a display 310A as part of a feedback unit for visualizing user-perceptible feedback (see the preceding paragraph and Figures 5-7 for further details regarding visualization and refer again to the following disclosure). The oral scanner 100A may comprise a scanner communicator 140A, and the separate device 300A may comprise a separate device communicator 340A, so that the oral scanner 100A and the separate device 300A can communicate wirelessly, i.e., exchange signals for delivering data, via, for example, the Bluetooth protocol or the IEEE 820.11 protocol. The possibility of wireless communication is indicated here and in the following figures by an icon containing a small circle and three concentric circle segments, as is a common standard for indicating Wi-Fi connectivity. This does not exclude permanent or temporary additional or alternative wired direct or indirect connections for signal exchange or communication via further devices, such as chargers, routers, or cloud computing devices. The separate device 300A is schematically shown herein as a mobile phone, but should not be understood as limiting. Refer to the possibility of realizing the separate device described in the previous paragraph. Figure 2 shows that an oral health sensor 110A is provided in or on the oral scanner 100A to acquire oral health sensor data in the head section 102A of the oral scanner 100A. As shown, the oral health sensor 110A may comprise a sensor receiver 111A, an optical sensor such as a camera, and a sensor emitter 112A such as an optical emitter. Preferably, a removable attachment 105A is attached to the head section 102A, which may here preferably be realized as a distance attachment. Refer to the previous paragraph regarding attachments to the oral scanner.Instead of the sensor emitter 112A being directly located in the head portion 102A, the head portion 102A may have an outlet that communicates with the sensor emitter 112A so that the emitted medium can exit the head portion 102A at the intended location and the sensor emitter 112A itself can be located elsewhere in the oral scanner 100A. Similarly, an inlet may be provided in the head portion 102A, which may communicate with the sensor receiver 111A so that the medium to be measured can enter the head portion 102A at the intended location and the sensor receiver 111A can be located elsewhere in the oral scanner 100A.

[0078] Whether the feedback unit is provided at least partially on the oral scanner and / or a separate device, the intent of the feedback described herein is to enable the user to respond to the feedback and thus optimize the use of the oral scanner system. Here, the use of the oral scanner system focuses, on the one hand, on the use of the oral scanner system during a single scanning procedure, and on the other hand, on the other hand, on the long-term use of the oral scanner system across various instances of procedures performed using the components of the oral scanner system (e.g., including the oral scanner and optionally an oral care device for providing oral care activities).

[0079] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary oral scanner system 1B according to the present disclosure, the oral scanner system 1B comprising an oral scanner 100B, a separate device 300B having a display 310B as part of a feedback unit and processor 200B, and position sensors 400B, 410B having first and second position sensors 400B and 410B, respectively, configured and / or arranged to utilize position sensor data output by position sensors 400B, 410B to determine whether the oral scanner 100B is currently performing a scan procedure or is performing a scan procedure at a given time, the time may be derivable from time values ​​output by position sensors 400B, 410B together with the relevant position sensor data, or a clock may be used for an absolute time value. As mentioned above, the position sensors 400B and 410B in this example consist of two position sensors: one located within or on the oral scanner 100B, and the other separate from the oral scanner 100B.

[0080] The oral cavity 500B shown in Figure 3, while not intended to be complete, includes the dentition 510B, gingiva 520B, tongue 530B, uvula 540B, lips 550B, medial cheek 560B, and palate 570B. All other areas within the oral cavity 500B may be considered similarly, but for simplification, only the dentition 510B will be discussed further. In this illustrative description, the dentition 510B is virtually separated into four quarters 511B, 512B, 513B, and 514B, which can be considered different segments within the oral cavity 500B on which the oral scanner 100B can perform the scanning procedure. It should be understood that the segments defined within the oral cavity 500B do not need to cover the entire dentition 510B, but may cover only a portion of the dentition 510B, and this portion is the part of the oral cavity intended to be scanned. The first position sensor 400B is, herein located in or within the oral scanner 100B and may be implemented as an accelerometer and / or gyroscope and / or magnetometer (generally as an IMU). Position sensor data and oral health sensor data may be transmitted and received wirelessly to and from the processor 200B via a processor communicator, as already described, and the processor 200B may be configured and / or configured to determine a segment from a list of segments to be scanned, i.e., a discrete position or location, i.e., the oral scanner 100B is currently performing a scan procedure based on the position sensor data, or the oral scanner 100B was performing a scan procedure at a given time based on position sensor data, which may include timer data. In this embodiment, the processor 200B may output one of the four dentition quarters 511B, 512B, 513B, and 514B as a scan segment, i.e., as the discrete position or location currently being scanned. The processor 200B may also be configured and / or arranged to output that a scan is not currently being performed at any of the defined discrete locations or places.For example, if the oral scanner 100B is moved outside the oral cavity 500B or across the tongue 530B, the processor may output that the scanning procedure will not occur at any of the discrete locations or places used, or the processor 200B may explicitly indicate that the oral scanner 200B is outside the discrete locations or places used. The processor 200B may be further configured and / or arranged to compute oral health data from oral health sensor data by location decomposition or location decomposition, i.e., by segment decomposition, i.e., by assigning oral health sensor data and / or oral health data derived therefrom to determined discrete locations or places (or segments). Refer to the preceding paragraphs disclosing details of the determination of discrete locations or places and how oral health data is assigned to discrete locations or places. In some embodiments, the processor 200B determines the orientation of the oral scanner 100B relative to the Earth's gravitational field and determines the discrete locations or places (or segments) by sorting the orientation values ​​into predetermined discrete location or place (or segment) buckets, as is known in the Art.

[0081] Additionally or alternatively, a second position sensor 410B may be used, in this embodiment, a separate camera that takes images from outside or inside the oral cavity 500B, and the images are understood to be position sensor data delivered by camera 410B. Based solely on the photographs and / or on data fusion with position sensor data from the first position sensor 400B, discrete positions or locations (or segments) within the oral cavity 500B may be determined by processor 200B, where the discrete positions or locations relate to one of the indicated dentition quarters 511B, 512B, 513B, and 514B. The indication of an external camera here does not preclude the alternative or additional use of a camera as a position sensor disposed on the head portion or handle portion of the oral scanner 100B so as to assist in the determination of discrete positions or locations (or segments) by taking images from inside the oral cavity 500B or from the user's face, respectively. According to several aspects of this specification, a camera functioning as an oral health sensor may be further used as a position sensor. For example, see European Patent No. 2189198(B1) in the previous paragraph. A scanning procedure performed using an oral health sensor equipped with an optical sensor such as a camera is called an optical scanning procedure.

[0082] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary oral scanner system 1C according to this disclosure, which specifically includes an oral care device 700C, although several embodiments of the oral scanner system 1C are independent of the presence of the oral care device 700C. The oral scanner system 1C may comprise, or interact with, an oral scanner 100C, a separate device 300C having a display 310C, the aforementioned oral care device 700C, exemplified here as an electric toothbrush, a charger 710C, a base station 720C having a display 721C and a charger 722C, a router 730C, a computer 740C, and a cloud server or cloud computing device 750C. Various components of the oral care system 1C may preferably all be configured and / or arranged for wireless communication, as indicated by the icons above. It should be understood that the components of the oral scanner system 1C shown herein are optional assemblies. For example, the oral scanner system 1C may have only one charger, or no charger at all, or may actually have two chargers, one for the oral scanner 100C and one for the oral care device 700C, and potentially a further charger for a separate device 300C. As already described in the previous paragraph, the processor of the oral scanner system 1C may be implemented as a distributed processor, with the first processor subunit being located within the oral scanner 100C and the second processor subunit being provided by the cloud computing device 750C, or the first processor subunit being provided by a separate device 300C and the second processor subunit being provided by the computer 740C.Refer to the previous description of how the oral care device 700C may be incorporated into the oral scanner system 1C, and how at least one operating setting of the oral care device 700C may be selected based on control data determined by the processor, and / or how the oral care device 700C may be configured and / or arranged to transmit oral care activity data relating to at least one oral care activity performed using the oral care device 700C to the processor, where it may be used to adapt the next scan procedure. Data from one component may be transmitted to another component, for example, directly from the oral care device 700C to the oral scanner 100C, or indirectly, for example, from the oral care device 700C to the cloud server 750C, where it may be stored in memory, and then, for example, transmitted from the cloud server 750C to the processor on demand, the processor may be located in a separate device 300C and / or within the oral scanner 100C or within the oral scanner 100C. The memory mentioned may be memory located in any of the mentioned components, or it may be distributed memory.

[0083] Figure 5 is a depiction of an exemplary feedback screen 600D that may be visualized on the display of an oral scanner system. The term "feedback screen" here refers to the visualization of feedback to the user by a display that uses a specific feedback concept within the continuous guidance provided to the user by the oral scanner system. The feedback screen is preferably used to assist the user in performing tasks using the oral scanner system through a continuous or guided human-device interaction process, and does not exclude the visualization of information such as the current time on the feedback screen. It should be understood that the individual embodiments of the feedback screens shown herein are not necessarily disclosed together, different feedback screen embodiments may be assembled in any way, and the examples provided in the images are illustrative only. In Figure 5, the feedback screen 600D includes a first part 610D and a second part 620D. The first part shows a live or stored image 611D from a camera on the head portion of the oral scanner of the oral scanner system. The camera may be included in an oral health sensor. The live image may include raw or processed image data relating to oral health status, such as plaque image data appearing as red fluorescence. The processor may be configured and / or positioned to analyze image data and determine boundaries within the image or portion of the image where relevant oral health sensor data is located, and each display 612D may be overlaid on the live image 611D and visualized as a portion of the live or saved image. Display 612D is shown in Figure 5, and this display is overlaid on the visualized image data 611D and provides a visual reference for areas of teeth visible on the image covered by plaque. Hereinafter, it is stated that display 612D is derived from camera data, specifically from camera data capturing fluorescence, and that display 612D indicates areas where scanned oral health problems, such as plaque, have been found, either on the tooth currently being scanned (live image) or on a saved image (e.g., to show the tooth with the most serious problems).Display 612D is the result of processing optical oral health data captured by the camera, but Display 612D itself is meaningless unless it is superimposed on images of the respective parts of the oral cavity to which it pertains. Only further processing, such as calculating the normalized area of ​​plaque for the total dentition within a given segment (discrete position or location), makes it possible to display a single, easily understandable value to the user for each segment.

[0084] In the illustrated example, the second part 620D of the feedback screen 600D contains an abstract visualization of a human dentition 621D. In the shown example, the abstract visualization of the human dentition 621D includes six segments (reflecting scanned segments or discrete positions / locations) 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D, which are roughly arranged with distance between two adjacent segments in an elliptical configuration. Each of segments 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D contains multiple overlapping circles or bubbles and is understood to be a non-limiting example of visualization possibilities. The upper three segments 622D, 623D, and 624D represent the maxillary teeth, and the lower three segments 625D, 626D, and 627D represent the mandibular teeth. The upper segment 623D and the lower segment 626D represent the positions in the dentition relating to the upper and lower anterior teeth, respectively; the left segments 622D and 627D represent the positions in the dentition relating to the upper and left lower molars, respectively; and the right segments 624D and 625D represent the positions in the dentition relating to the upper and right lower molars, respectively. Referring to segment 622D (and as a further example, segment 625E in Figure 6), it is shown that the abstract segments shown can be visually separated into two, three or more subdivisions (segments) that may relate to different discrete positions or locations in the dentition. These subdivisions may be used, for example, to visually distinguish different teeth or groups of teeth relating to higher-order segments, or different tooth surfaces or groups of tooth surfaces relating to higher-order segments. Segment 622D (and segment 625E in Figure 6) is separated into three regions 6221D, 6222D, and 6223D, with the lateral regions 6221D and 6223D representing the buccal and lingual surfaces of the molars of segment 622D, respectively, and the central region 6222D representing the occlusal or occlusal surface of the molars of segment 622D. Such portions of the feedback screen may be used to provide live or summarized feedback to the user, either as just a part of the overall feedback screen or as essentially the only part of the feedback screen. Figure 5 shows a feedback screen that the user can see during a live scan procedure.Segments 622D, 623D, 624D, 625D, 626D, and 627D may be used to indicate the progress of the positional or location-resolved scan procedure and / or the severity of the oral health condition, e.g., plaque, within the determined tooth area or normalized area within the segment. Again, note that the segments or segment subdivisions shown on the feedback screen relate to discrete locations or places within the oral cavity. As already explained in the previous paragraph, the progress of the scan procedure can be visualized by first showing all segments and all segment subdivisions with a base or starting color (e.g., dark blue) or starting pattern, and then progressively or stepwise changing the color or pattern toward different colors or patterns, e.g., toward light blue, and finally toward white, to show the progress of the scan procedure for each segment, i.e., for each discrete location or place. It may be preferable to have three or more colors or patterns used for each segment or subdivision of the pattern to indicate the level of scan procedure progress or the severity of the oral health condition, but this does not exclude the use of only two colors or patterns. In Figure 5, shading of different intensities is used instead of color. The severity of detected oral health conditions is determined based on discrete or spatially decomposed oral health (sensor) data and can be visualized by adding patterns of different intensities to the colors. In Figure 5, additional dots are used to indicate the severity of oral health conditions.

[0085] Figure 6 is a depiction of an exemplary feedback screen 600E that may be visualized on the display of the oral scanner system. The feedback screen 600E includes an abstract visualization of the dentition 621E that is essentially the same as that described with respect to Figure 5, with reference to the respective descriptions. Abstract segments 622E, 623E, 624E, 625E, 626E, and 627E are shown. The feedback screen 600E can be understood as a summary screen in which the detected oral health status, such as the severity of plaque, is shown in a discrete or spatially decomposed manner by different colors or patterns (in Figure 6, shading of different intensities is used). In this embodiment, the basic feedback concept described with respect to Figure 5 is used to show the live status of oral health status in each segment, or the final status of oral health status at the end of the scan procedure, instead of the live or final scan progress described with respect to Figure 5. Additional patterns or structures may be applied to indicate additional feedback, such as the presence of another oral health condition, e.g., calculus (i.e., old plaque), and the intensity of the patterns or the number of additional structures may indicate the severity of the additional oral health condition. Figure 6 shows additional dots. Furthermore, the feedback screen 600E includes a visualization of temporal changes with respect to at least one oral health condition, e.g., the severity of plaque. Such visualized feedback can appropriately show the severity of the oral health condition determined in the most recent scan procedure and a change index that provides feedback on the change in severity compared to at least one previous scan procedure. The bar index with time-changing arrows shown in Figure 6 is just one example of such a visualization of comparative data, i.e., a comparison between current data and stored historical data. The bar index shown includes bars indicating oral health status, where lower bars represent no problems and upper bars represent conditions of concern; the first number, here 75, represents the normalized oral health status assessment (normalization may relate to a range between 0 and 100); and the second number, here 8, represents the temporal change versus the previous, i.e., historical scan procedure.The Criteria Guide 630E can be visualized to map colors, symbols, patterns, etc., to the severity of oral health conditions, and the severity shown in Criteria Guide 630E may correspond to state classes classified as oral health, in the example shown three state classes, namely "low," "medium," and "high." In this example, information comparing with historical data is shown as a comprehensive index for the entire scanned oral cavity. In contrast, it can be imagined that a feedback screen may be shown, where temporal changes are shown in a segmented manner, for example, as the color of each segment, and / or assigned values ​​may be used to indicate better or worse temporal changes for each segment, i.e., for each discrete position or location.

[0086] Figure 7 is a diagram of an exemplary separate device 300F, which is part of the oral scanner system and includes a display 310F on which an exemplary feedback screen 600F is visualized. Again, an abstract visualization of the dentition 621F is used, as in Figures 5 and 6. In addition to the dentition segments, the location 640F of the gingival segments is shown, which is where a particular severity of oral health condition is detected (i.e., where the analysis of oral health sensor data results in an oral health condition exceeding a threshold), for example, where gingival inflammation is detected based on the analysis of image data created by a camera as a sensor receiver for the oral health sensor. The feedback screen 600F provides an example of visualization for providing feedback on various oral health conditions classified into different state classes. A reference guide 630F can be visualized to map colors, symbols, patterns, etc., to types of oral health conditions and their classifications. The visualized marks 640F, 641F may be overlaid on the abstract visualization of the dentition 621F to provide further feedback on oral health conditions, such as caries. The size of such marks 641F may be related to the severity and therefore the class of the condition. As shown in Figure 7, individual discrete positions or locations may be shown in a more decomposed manner, for example, at the level of individual teeth.

[0087] The dimensions and values ​​disclosed herein should not be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values ​​listed. Instead, unless otherwise indicated, each such dimension is intended to mean both the listed value and the functionally equivalent range encompassing that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as "40 mm" is intended to mean "approximately 40 mm."

Claims

1. An oral scanner system, wherein the oral scanner system is An oral scanner configured and / or positioned to perform a scanning procedure on at least a portion of a subject's oral cavity using an oral health sensor configured and / or positioned to output oral health sensor data acquired during the scanning procedure, A processor configured and / or arranged to receive the oral health sensor data and determine control data for an oral care device in accordance with the oral health sensor data, An oral care device, distinct from the oral scanner, configured and / or positioned to perform oral care activities, comprising an oral care device including at least two different operating settings, The processor is coupled with a processor communicator, the oral care device includes a device communicator, and the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way communication from the processor to the oral care device. The processor is configured and / or arranged to transmit the control data to the oral care device, The oral care device is configured and / or positioned to select at least one of the at least two different operation settings based on the control data in a subsequent oral care activity performed by the oral care device after the scanning procedure. An oral scanner system wherein the at least two different operating settings include two different threshold settings applied to determine feedback regarding pressure or force applied to the tooth surface by the oral care device at a given discrete position or location, and the at least two different operating settings include two different position-decomposed or location-decomposed threshold setting sets applied to determine feedback regarding pressure or force applied to the surface by the oral care device at a given discrete position or location.

2. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for wireless communication.

3. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the oral health sensor is a camera.

4. The oral scanner system is The system further comprises a position detector configured and / or positioned to output position sensor data relating to the position or location where the oral scanner is currently performing the scanning procedure or performed the scanning procedure at a given time, The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured and / or arranged to receive the position sensor data, determine at least one discrete position or location from at least two discrete positions or locations of the oral cavity in which the oral scanner is currently performing the scan procedure or which performed the scan procedure at a given time, assign the oral health sensor data to the one discrete position or location from the at least two discrete positions or locations determined by the processor, and determine the control data in a position-decomposed or location-decomposed manner.

5. The oral scanner system according to claim 4, wherein the position detector includes at least one accelerometer or gyroscope, and the accelerometer or gyroscope is implemented as a MEMS sensor.

6. The oral scanner system according to claim 4, further comprising an oral device position sensor configured and / or positioned to output oral care device position sensor data relating to the position or location where the oral care device is currently performing an oral care activity.

7. The oral scanner system according to claim 6, wherein the oral care device is configured and / or positioned to select one of the at least two different operating settings in a position-dependent or location-dependent manner based on the position-decomposed or location-decomposed control data.

8. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two different operating settings include at least two different timer values ​​applied for feedback regarding a sufficient oral care activity period, and the at least two timer values ​​are position-decomposed or location-decomposed.

9. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two different operating settings include two different motion settings applied to move the head of the oral care device, and the at least two different motion settings are position-decomposed or location-decomposed.

10. The oral scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two different operating settings include two different feedback modes, in one feedback mode, user-perceptible information is fed back to the user during operation, and in the other feedback mode, user-perceptible information is not fed back to the user, and the two different feedback modes are spatially or locationally decomposed.

11. The oral scanner system according to claim 4, wherein the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for bidirectional communication, and the oral care device is configured and / or arranged to determine at least one oral care activity data during the oral care activity and to transmit the at least one oral care activity data to the processor and / or the oral scanner.

12. The oral scanner system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one oral care activity data includes a cumulative activity period used by the oral care device to perform the oral care activity, and the at least one oral care activity data includes a location-decomposed or location-decomposed activity period used by the oral care device to perform the oral care activity at the at least two discrete locations or places in the at least part of the oral cavity during the oral care activity.

13. An oral scanner system, wherein the oral scanner system is An oral scanner is configured and / or positioned to perform a scanning procedure on at least a portion of a subject's oral cavity using an oral health sensor that includes a camera configured and / or positioned to output image data acquired during the scanning procedure, A position detector configured and / or arranged to output position sensor data during the scan procedure, wherein the position detector includes at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope, A processor configured and / or arranged to receive the image data and the position sensor data, to determine at least one discrete position or location from at least two discrete positions or locations of the oral cavity in which the oral scanner is currently performing the scan procedure or which performed the scan procedure at a given time, and to determine control data in a position-decomposed or location-decomposed manner based on the image data, Unlike the oral scanner, the oral care device comprises an oral care device configured and / or positioned to perform oral care activities, and including at least two different operating settings, The processor is coupled with a processor communicator, the oral care device includes a device communicator, and the processor communicator and the device communicator are configured and / or arranged for at least one-way wireless communication from the processor to the oral care device. The processor is configured and / or arranged to transmit the control data to the oral care device, The oral care device is configured and / or positioned to select at least one of the at least two different operation settings based on the control data in an oral care activity performed by the oral care device after the scanning procedure. An oral scanner system wherein the at least two different operating settings include two different threshold settings applied to determine feedback regarding pressure or force applied to the tooth surface by the oral care device at a given discrete position or location, and the at least two different operating settings include two different position-decomposed or location-decomposed threshold setting sets applied to determine feedback regarding pressure or force applied to the surface by the oral care device at a given discrete position or location.

14. The oral scanner system according to claim 13, further comprising an oral device position sensor configured and / or positioned to output oral device position sensor data relating to discrete locations or places where the oral care device is currently performing oral care activities, wherein the oral device is configured and / or positioned to select one of the at least two different operation settings in a location-dependent or location-dependent manner based on the location-decomposed or location-decomposed control data.

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