Mouth Guard with Sensor-Controlled LED Light Therapy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need in dentistry for a mouth guard that can apply light therapy to reduce viruses and bacteria in a patient's mouth while preventing inadvertent exposure to harmful blue or ultra-violet light, which can be harmful to the eyes of both the patient and the practitioner.
Innovation Solution
A mouth guard made of flexible material with a circuit board containing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that generates light and an electronic circuit to control the voltage applied to the LEDs, ensuring safe application by initiating a timer only when properly positioned, thus avoiding eye exposure to harmful light.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If blue or ultra-violet light is applied to the patient's mouth to reduce virus and bacteria, then the sterilization effect is improved, but the risk of eye damage to both patient and practitioner increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mouth guard is divided into distinct functional zones: a light-transmissive region that allows therapeutic light to pass through to the oral cavity, and an light-blocking region that prevents harmful light from reaching the patient's eyes. This segmentation enables simultaneous achievement of sterilization and eye protection without requiring separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The mouth guard acts as an intermediary device between the light source and the patient's mouth/eyes. It selectively transmits beneficial light wavelengths to the oral cavity while blocking harmful wavelengths from reaching the eyes, thus mediating the interaction between light therapy and the patient.
2Reliability
If light therapy is applied continuously to maximize sterilization, then the effectiveness is improved, but the exposure time to harmful light increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mouth guard segments the light spectrum into transmissive and blocking regions, allowing continuous light application while protecting the eyes throughout the entire treatment duration, thus eliminating the need to limit treatment time for safety reasons.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If eye protection measures are added to the light therapy system, then the safety is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The light-blocking function is merged into the mouth guard structure itself rather than being a separate component. The mouth guard combines light transmission, light blocking, and patient positioning functions into a single integrated device, simplifying the overall system while maintaining eye protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The mouth guard serves multiple functions simultaneously: it protects the patient's eyes from harmful light, allows therapeutic light to reach the oral cavity, and can be positioned to ensure proper light delivery. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate eye protection devices.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The mouth guard effectively reduces viral and bacterial activity in the patient's mouth while ensuring the patient's eyes are protected from harmful light, providing a safe and controlled light therapy application.
Implementation Method 1
a circuit board comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) suitable for generating at least a light
Implementation Method 2
Research has found that the of the application of blue, ultra-violet or a combination of blue and ultra-violet light to a surface is an effective means for reducing the activity of virus and bacteria
Data Source
AI summary
A mouth guard comprising a plurality of light sources is presented that provide for the emission of light in wavelength ranges that provide antiseptic benefits to a user, wherein the light outputted by the plurality of light sources are activated by a sensor configured to determine a proximity of the mouth guard to an object and generate a signal that is used to control the application of a voltage to the plurality of light sources, for a predetermined time period.