Dental Implant Sensor System for Real-Time Fluid-Immune Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for real-time imaging in dental implant surgery are cumbersome, inaccurate, and prone to obstructions like blood and water, limiting precise placement of dental implants and increasing the risk of injury to patients.
Innovation Solution
A computer method and system that uses sensor data from a dental handpiece to provide real-time feedback on the drill's location and orientation relative to the patient's dentition, incorporating fiducial markers and alignment structures for accurate implant shaft placement, with visual and auditory cues for deviation alerts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional optical imaging systems are used for real-time imaging during dental implant surgery, then the system can provide visual feedback on drill location, but the images are obscured by fluids (blood and water) at the implant site
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces optical imaging systems with a sensor-based detection system. Sensors (such as capacitive, inductive, or resistive sensors) are integrated into the drill to detect bone density and anatomical structures through electrical or electromagnetic fields that are not blocked by fluids, thereby substituting optical detection with a non-optical sensing mechanism immune to fluid obstruction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces sensors as an intermediary between the drill and the bone tissue. These sensors act as mediators that detect anatomical features and bone density through electrical or electromagnetic interactions, providing imaging information that is not affected by the presence of blood or water at the surgical site
2Measurement precision
If conventional imaging systems are used, then the system can track drill position, but the accuracy in determining location of anatomical structures and instruments is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into the drill system: the sensors simultaneously detect bone density, identify anatomical structures (such as the mandibular nerve canal), and track drill position and orientation. This multi-functional sensor system provides comprehensive real-time information that improves measurement precision while reducing information loss
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback system where sensor data is continuously processed and displayed to the practitioner in real-time. The system provides immediate feedback on drill location relative to anatomical structures, allowing the practitioner to adjust the drill position to avoid injury while maintaining high measurement precision
3Reliability
If conventional imaging systems are used, then the system can provide imaging support, but the system is cumbersome, complicated, and difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the imaging and detection functions directly into the drill itself. By integrating sensors into the drill handle or shaft, the system eliminates the need for separate external imaging equipment, making the system more compact, easier to operate, and directly providing imaging support through the tool already in use
Data Source
AI summary
Drilling of an implant shaft is carried out with a handpiece tool whose location and angular orientation with respect to a radiographic working guide is updated in real time with respect to the radiographic working guide and anatomical structures of the patient, free of viewing obstructions. Prior to the drilling, the radiographic working guide is fitted to a particular patient. Real-time imaging support is provided on a display of a computer, wherein the radiographic workpiece guide includes a plurality of fiducial markers that define a substantially planar reference surface of the radiographic workpiece guide. The radiographic workpiece guide also includes an alignment structure located a predetermined distance from a pilot hole proximate the work site. The image is updated based on an initial radiographic scan and updated position information from the handpiece tool as to location and angular orientation of the handpiece tool relative to the workpiece guide.