Dental Implant Alignment Visualization Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated and semi-automated methods for aligning 2D and 3D data sets in dental imaging often result in significant alignment errors, leading to inaccurate positioning of dental implants due to differences in data characteristics from various imaging modalities, necessitating a robust mechanism for visualization and correction of these errors.
Innovation Solution
A display interface is provided that enables visualization and correction of alignment errors between 2D and 3D data sets, featuring multiple display areas for rendering 3D cone beam data, orthogonal slices, and a textured 2D surface map, allowing operators to manually or automatically align data sets by overlaying intensity information and wireframe projections, facilitating accurate alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If automated alignment techniques are used to align 2D and 3D data sets, then alignment speed is improved, but alignment precision deteriorates due to differences in data characteristics from various imaging modalities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary visualization interface that displays both 2D scanned surface map and 3D cone beam data together with their alignment status. This intermediary system allows operators to see alignment errors directly and make corrections, serving as a mediator between automated alignment and final precision requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides visual feedback by displaying the aligned 2D and 3D data sets together, allowing operators to observe alignment errors and corrections in real-time. This feedback mechanism enables continuous refinement of alignment precision while maintaining efficient automated processing
2Loss of information
If different imaging modalities are used to produce 2D surface maps and 3D cone beam data, then information completeness is improved, but alignment difficulty increases due to different data characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges 2D scanned surface map data with 3D cone beam data into a single visualization interface, displaying both data sets together with their alignment status. This combining approach allows operators to assess alignment quality by viewing both modalities simultaneously, reducing the difficulty of detecting alignment errors while preserving the information completeness benefits of using multiple imaging modalities
Data Source
AI summary
A method to visualize and correct alignment errors between paired 2D and 3D data sets is described. In a representative embodiment, a display interface used for dental implant planning includes one or more display areas that enable the operator to visualize alignment errors between the paired 2D and 3D data sets. A first display area renders 3D cone beam data. A second display area renders one or more (and preferably three (3) mutually orthogonal views) slices of the cone beam data. A third display area displays a view of a 2D scanned surface map (obtained from an intra-oral scan, or the scan of a model). According to a first aspect, the view of the 2D scanned surface map in the third display area is “textured” by coloring the 2D surface model based on the intensity of each 3D pixel (or “voxel”) that it intersects.