3D Scanner Geometry Tracking for Soft Tissue Exclusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical methods for capturing the three-dimensional geometry of teeth often incorrectly detect soft tissues like the inside of cheeks or tongue, leading to erroneous recordings that are difficult to correct, especially in systems that stitch multiple areas together.
Innovation Solution
The method involves marking areas in virtual space where the scanner is located, such as over the tongue or cheeks, as 'empty' to exclude unwanted obstructions and reduce computational burden, using a defined scanner geometry that may be smaller than the actual scanner to minimize measurement errors and save resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If optical scanning is performed to capture three-dimensional geometry of teeth, then digital data is obtained for storage and transmission, but soft tissue such as tongue or cheeks is unintentionally detected and included in the recording
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by tracking scanner position and proactively marking areas as empty before actual soft tissue detection occurs. The scanner geometry is continuously monitored and corresponding virtual spaces are pre-marked, preventing erroneous soft tissue data from being incorporated into the final geometric model.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes erroneous soft tissue detections from the geometric data by identifying scanner positions and marking corresponding areas in virtual space as empty. This separation allows the system to exclude unwanted soft tissue regions while preserving valid tooth geometry data.
2Area of stationary object
If multiple individual areas are stitched together to capture complete geometry, then coverage is improved, but erroneous measurements from soft tissue cannot be corrected and falsify the recorded geometry
Solution Approach 1:
Before stitching multiple areas together, the system performs preliminary marking of empty spaces based on scanner position tracking. This ensures that when areas are combined, erroneous soft tissue detections are already identified and excluded, maintaining precision while achieving complete coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The scanning process is divided into multiple individual area captures that are subsequently stitched together. Each segment is independently marked with empty spaces based on scanner position, allowing accurate concatenation of valid geometries while excluding soft tissue artifacts from the final assembled model.
3Measurement precision
If scanner geometry is represented in full detail in virtual space, then accuracy is maintained, but computing resources and memory are unnecessarily consumed
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of representing the entire scanner geometry in full detail throughout virtual space, the system applies local quality by using simplified scanner geometry definitions only where needed for marking empty areas. The scanner geometry is defined with sufficient precision for position tracking but optimized to reduce computational overhead in the virtual model.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a simplified copy or representation of the scanner geometry rather than the full complex structure. This virtual scanner geometry copy maintains essential spatial relationships for marking purposes while consuming significantly fewer computational resources than a complete detailed representation.
Data Source
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AI summary
The three-dimensional geometry that is acquired in a virtual three-dimensional space (1) in the course of scanning by scanning head (13) of scanner (14) is noted. The positions of defined scanner geometry (2) of the scanning head of the scanner are noted relative to the object (4) that is acquired in the course of scanning. An area (6) in which the defined scanner geometry is located is determined. The determined area is marked as empty in the virtual space.