AR Drill Guidance for Precise Dental Implant Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental implant procedures face challenges in accurately guiding the drilling location and angle due to complex and unintuitive navigation systems, leading to potential damage to surrounding structures and suboptimal implant placement.
Innovation Solution
An interactive graphical user interface (GUI) is used within an augmented reality device, providing real-time guidance by overlaying a target virtual vector for drilling, dynamically updating with a current virtual vector, and indicating misalignment to align the drill with the target, utilizing anatomical landmarks and real-time tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional navigation systems are used for dental implant procedures, then the system structure is relatively simple, but the drilling precision and implant placement accuracy deteriorate due to complex and unintuitive interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the patient's oral anatomy through 3D imaging and planning software. This virtual model allows precise pre-surgical planning of implant placement, drilling paths, and angles. The virtual anatomy is then overlaid onto the real oral cavity during surgery using augmented reality, enabling the surgeon to see both the actual anatomy and the planned drilling trajectory simultaneously, thereby achieving high drilling precision without requiring complex manual navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously tracks the real-time position and orientation of the drill relative to the pre-planned virtual trajectory. Through augmented reality visualization, the surgeon receives immediate visual feedback showing whether the drill is aligned with the target path. This real-time feedback loop allows for continuous correction and maintains drilling precision throughout the procedure, while the intuitive AR interface keeps the system manageable despite its advanced capabilities.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex navigation systems are implemented to improve drilling accuracy, then the drilling precision improves, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to unintuitive interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent superimposes a virtual copy of the planned drilling trajectory onto the surgeon's actual field of view using augmented reality. This virtual drilling path appears as a visual guide directly on the oral cavity, showing the exact location, angle, and depth of the intended drill hole. The surgeon can see the virtual anatomy and drilling path overlaid on the real tissue, making the complex navigation information intuitive and easy to follow without requiring separate screens or complex controls.
3Measurement precision
If real-time tracking and dynamic updating are implemented, then the drilling precision improves, but the device complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains a pre-computed virtual model of the oral anatomy and planned drilling trajectory, which is then overlaid in real-time onto the actual oral cavity using augmented reality. This virtual copy is updated dynamically to reflect the current drill position and orientation, providing continuous visual feedback without requiring complete recalculation of the surgical plan. The virtual model serves as a stable reference that simplifies real-time tracking requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided, an interactive graphical user interface (GUI), comprising: presenting within the GUI, a first overlay of a target virtual vector overlaid on an image(s) of an oral cavity of a subject captured by an image sensor during a dental session of the subject, wherein the target virtual vector denotes a target vector defining a target location and/or a target angle for drilling by a real-world bur of a real-world drill for insertion of a dental implant, monitoring a real-world location and/or angle of the real-world bur of the drill during manipulations by a user, and dynamically updating, within the GUI, a second overlay of a current virtual vector overlaid on the image(s) including the first overlay, the current virtual vector including a virtual location and/or virtual angle corresponding to a current value of the monitored real-world location and/or angle of the real-world bur of the drill.