3D Dental Tooth Morphing Using an Adapter Tooth Intermediary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to effectively morph digital 3D models of dental situations over time, especially when significant geometric changes occur, failing to provide a smooth transition and requiring excessive computational resources.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method involving alignment, adapter tooth generation, and transparency transitions to morph digital 3D models, using weighted averages and rigid transformations to align and displace vertices, minimizing computational expense while maintaining realism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If direct morphing of digital 3D models is used, then the transition can be visualized, but the method becomes challenging and computationally expensive when significant geometric changes occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an adapter tooth as an intermediary object between the source tooth and destination tooth. The adapter tooth is generated by combining the source tooth and destination tooth geometries, then mapped to both original teeth through vertex displacement. This intermediary approach enables smooth morphing transitions even when significant geometric changes occur, resolving the contradiction between morphing accuracy and computational complexity by breaking down the direct transformation into manageable steps.
2Reliability
If direct morphing of digital 3D models is used, then the transition can be visualized, but excessive computational resources are required
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter tooth serves as a computational intermediary that reduces the complexity of direct morphing operations. By generating the adapter tooth once and reusing it for multiple morphing operations, the system significantly reduces computational resource requirements compared to performing direct morphing calculations repeatedly, thus resolving the contradiction between morphing accuracy and computational resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter tooth is pre-generated and prepared before performing the actual morphing operations. This preliminary action of creating the adapter tooth with combined geometries allows subsequent vertex displacement operations to be performed more efficiently, reducing overall computational resource requirements while maintaining morphing accuracy.
3Reliability
If direct morphing of digital 3D models is used, then the transition can be visualized, but the transition appears unnatural when significant geometric changes occur
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter tooth acts as a visual intermediary that bridges the gap between source and destination teeth. By mapping the adapter tooth to both original teeth and using it as the basis for vertex displacement, the system creates natural-looking transitions even when significant geometric changes occur, resolving the contradiction between morphing accuracy and visual realism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes through vertex displacement along the adapter tooth geometry. By controlling the displacement parameters of vertices from the source tooth position to the destination tooth position through the adapter tooth, the system achieves natural-looking morphing transitions that maintain visual realism even during significant geometric transformations.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method includes receiving, in a common 3D space, a first digital 3D model representative of the dental situation at a first time, and a second digital 3D model representative of the dental situation at a second time, the second time being later than the first time. The method further includes displaying a transition of a tooth of the first digital 3D model into a corresponding tooth of the second digital 3D model, wherein the displaying includes aligning the tooth and the corresponding tooth at an intermediate position between the tooth and the corresponding tooth, generating an adapter tooth based on the shape of the tooth and the shape of the corresponding tooth, and mapping the adapter tooth to the corresponding tooth to obtain the adapter tooth at a destination position.