Gingival Surface Mapping With Spatial Tracking Under Intraoral Obstruction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental prosthetic design systems face challenges in accurately mapping gingival surfaces due to obstructions like blood, saliva, and loose tissue flaps, leading to inaccurate digital maps and ill-fitting prostheses.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using a spatially trackable mapping tool and reference objects to capture gingival surface coordinates, allowing for accurate mapping even in the presence of obstructions, and computing a geometrical surface descriptor to guide dental prosthesis design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If an intraoral scanner (IOS) is used to map gingival surfaces, then the mapping process is automated and efficient, but the mapping accuracy deteriorates in the presence of obstructions such as blood, saliva, loose tissue flaps and sutures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mapping tool as an intermediary device between the practitioner and the gingival surface. This tool includes a mapping element with a defined tip location that can be precisely positioned and tracked in space. The tool acts as a mediator that allows accurate coordinate capture even when direct optical scanning is blocked by obstructions like blood or tissue flaps, since the tool's position can be tracked independently of visual access to the surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the optical-based intraoral scanner with a spatial tracking system that uses mechanical or electromagnetic tracking of a mapping tool. Instead of relying on optical reflection from the gingival surface (which fails with obstructions), the system uses a tracking device to monitor the position and orientation of the mapping tool in three-dimensional space, substituting optical measurement with mechanical/electromagnetic position tracking.
2Measurement precision
If a mapping tool with spatial tracking is used to capture gingival surface coordinates, then the mapping accuracy improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mapping tool is designed to be multi-functional, serving both as a positioning device and as a tracking target. The tool includes features that allow it to be tracked by the spatial tracking system while also providing a defined tip location for coordinate capture. This universality reduces the need for separate components and simplifies the overall system despite the advanced tracking capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy of the physical gingival surface by capturing coordinates in three-dimensional space. The mapping tool tip serves as a probe that samples points on the surface, and these digital coordinates are then used to reconstruct the surface geometry. This copying approach allows accurate representation of the surface without requiring complex physical contact or elaborate scanning mechanisms.
3Measurement precision
If multiple coordinate sets are captured from additional surface locations to refine the surface descriptor, then the mapping precision improves, but the time required for mapping increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows for progressive refinement of the surface descriptor by capturing coordinates at multiple locations. The practitioner can capture a minimum necessary set of coordinates to achieve adequate accuracy, or continue capturing additional points to refine the surface descriptor further. This partial action approach allows flexibility where excessive precision is only pursued when clinically necessary, avoiding unnecessary time expenditure while maintaining sufficient accuracy for the application.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of mapping a gingival surface of a patient's jaw using at least one spatially trackable reference object in a fixed spatial relation to that jaw and a spatially trackable mapping tool. A plurality of gingival surface coordinate sets are captured in a coordinate frame of the jaw. Each of the gingival surface coordinate sets is captured when the mapping tool is in contact with a corresponding gingival surface location on the gingival surface. A geometrical gingival surface descriptor is computed from the plurality of gingival surface coordinate sets.