Intraoral 3D Model Hole Filling for Low-Overlap Scans
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intraoral scanning is cumbersome and time-consuming due to the challenge of registering images with insufficient overlap, leading to discarded scans and scanner interruptions, which affect the accuracy and efficiency of 3D model generation.
Innovation Solution
Registering unregistered images from a current scan session to a historical template based on previous scan data, allowing for seamless integration of incomplete or non-overlapping images, and generating a comprehensive 3D model by combining current and historical scan data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If images are registered based on sufficient overlap, then registration accuracy is improved, but scan time increases due to need for multiple overlapping passes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by creating a historical template from previous scan sessions and pre-establishing registration reference points. When new images are captured, they are registered against this pre-built template rather than requiring extensive overlap with current session images, thereby reducing scan time while maintaining accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The historical template serves as an intermediary between current scan images and the final 3D model. Images that cannot be directly registered to each other due to insufficient overlap are indirectly registered through the historical template, enabling accurate registration without requiring direct image-to-image overlap
2Manufacturing precision
If scan coverage is increased to improve model completeness, then 3D model accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases due to need for multiple scan sessions
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges current scan session data with historical scan data from previous sessions by integrating images from both sessions into a unified 3D model through the historical template. This combination allows comprehensive model completeness to be achieved while simplifying the scanning process, as users can complete scans more quickly without requiring multiple separate sessions
3Productivity
If image registration threshold is lowered to accept images with less overlap, then scan efficiency is improved, but registration reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The historical template acts as a reliable intermediary reference that maintains high registration reliability even when current images have minimal overlap. By registering images against the well-established historical template with known reference points, the system achieves both high efficiency (accepting low-overlap images) and high reliability (accurate registration through the template)
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy of the dental site from previous scan sessions in the form of a historical template. This copy serves as a stable reference that can be repeatedly used to register new images, ensuring consistent and reliable registration results across multiple scan sessions without requiring high overlap thresholds
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes an intraoral scanner that generates a plurality of intraoral images of a dental site and a computing device. The computing device receives the plurality of intraoral images of the dental site during the intraoral scan session, registers the plurality of intraoral images together based on overlapping data of the plurality of intraoral images to generate a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model of the dental site, and fills in one or more missing areas in the virtual 3D model using data from a historical template.