3D Oral Device Printing With Scan Feedback and Automated Finishing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional techniques for oral device fabrication face challenges such as high costs, limited access to dental services, and inefficient processing methods, leading to poorly fitting or inaccurately manufactured oral devices, especially in remote dentistry settings where patients lack access to dental professionals and oral scanners.

Innovation Solution

A network-enabled 3D printing and automated processing system that includes a 3D printer, scanner, and finishing module, capable of receiving patient mouth data files over a network, printing, scanning, and automatically adjusting oral devices to ensure accurate fit and quality, using a server to convert data files into executable code and an autonomous robotic arm for support dissolution and finishing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If conventional oral device fabrication techniques are used, then costs are reduced and accessibility is improved, but manufacturing precision and fit quality deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecost and accessibilityVSAvoidoral device fit quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary scanning of the patient's mouth to create a digital model before fabrication begins. This preliminary digital assessment allows the system to plan and execute the fabrication process with high precision, ensuring the final oral device fits correctly while maintaining cost-effectiveness through automated remote processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates feedback loops where the scanned digital model of the patient's mouth is continuously compared against the fabricated oral device dimensions. This feedback mechanism allows real-time adjustments during the automated fabrication process, ensuring manufacturing precision is maintained even as costs are reduced through automation and remote operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If automated processing is implemented, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefabrication efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The automated processing system is designed as a multi-functional integrated unit that combines scanning, digital modeling, fabrication, and quality verification capabilities in a single system. This universal approach allows one complex system to perform multiple functions, improving productivity while managing overall system complexity through consolidation rather than separate independent systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates self-service capabilities where the automated fabrication system performs its own quality verification and adjustment through integrated scanning and comparison algorithms. The system automatically detects deviations and adjusts the fabrication process without human intervention, maintaining high productivity while reducing the operational complexity burden on users.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If remote dentistry is enabled, then accessibility is improved, but measurement precision and quality control deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepatient accessibilityVSAvoidoral scan accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces traditional mechanical measurement tools and in-person dental examinations with optical scanning technology and digital modeling. This substitution enables remote dentistry with high measurement precision, as the optical scanners can capture detailed oral measurements accurately without requiring physical contact or professional presence, thus maintaining accessibility while preserving measurement quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates precise digital copies (3D models) of the patient's oral structures through scanning. These digital copies serve as virtual replicas that maintain the same measurement precision as physical examinations would provide, enabling remote assessment and fabrication planning without sacrificing accuracy. The digital model can be repeatedly analyzed and verified to ensure quality control standards are met.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS20230008260A1Network enabled 3D printing and automated processing techniques for oral devices

Publication Date: 2023.01.12 RESET TECHNOLOGY CORP

AI summary

Network enabled 3D printing and automated processing techniques for oral devices are disclosed herein. An example technique includes receiving, via a network, a data file representative of a mouth of a user, and printing, by a 3D printer, a 3D oral device based on the data file. The example technique may further include automatically ejecting, from the 3D printer, the 3D oral device, and scanning the 3D oral device to generate a 3D scan file of the 3D oral device. The example technique may further include comparing the 3D scan file with the data file to determine at least one feature represented in the 3D scan file that exceeds a deviation threshold relative to a corresponding respective feature represented in the data file; and finishing, by a finishing module, the 3D oral device by smoothing the at least one feature on the 3D oral device.